Sri Lanka Friendship Group in the Federal Parliament in Ottawa

At the Annual General Meeting of the Canada – Sri Lanka Friendship Group in the Federal Parliament held on 13th December 2017, the following were elected. Chair: Yasmin Ratansi, M.P., Co-Chair: Senator Salma Ataullahjan, Vice Chair: Ramesh Sangha, Vice-Chair: Terry Duguid, Executive Members: Ali Ehsassi Treasurer, Tom Kmiec, Irene Mathyssen, Kelly Mc Cauley, Robert-Falcon Ouellette, Ruby Sahota.

Speaking after the election, Chair, Yasmin Ratansi, expressed great satisfaction at the progress made by the Friendship Group in promoting greater and stronger relations between Canada and Sri Lanka in the past year. In particular, she highlighted the tour undertaken by a 25-member business and investment delegation, comprising 22 Canadians of Sri Lankan extraction along with three federal parliamentarians, and the extensive meetings they had with a cross section of Sri Lankan society. The understanding that was generated, she observed, would enable the Friendship Group to play an even more effective role in the future. She expressed the hope that the group would contribute its best in this direction in 2018 as well.

Ahmed A. Jawad, Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to Canada, while congratulating the new office bearers observed that Sri Lanka – Canada bilateral relations had grown exponentially in the past year in a number of sectors, culminating with Sri Lanka’s participation at the UN Peacekeeping Defence Ministerial Meeting hosted by Canada in Vancouver in November 2017. High Commissioner Jawad expressed confidence that such multi-faceted ties would contribute immensely in furthering relations between the two countries and that the Canada – Sri Lanka Friendship Group in the Federal Parliament had a special role to play in the future as well.