role="main" class="main-container container js-quickedit-main-content" id="main-content">

Bill 104, Tamil Genocide Education Week Act, 2021

Thanigasalam, Vijay

Royal Assent received. Statutes of Ontario 2021,

chapter 11

Please select

View bill

Status

Debates

Royal Assent

Original

Bill 104 Royal Assent (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

This Explanatory Note was written as a

reader’s aid to Bill 104 and does not form part of the law.

Bill 104 has been enacted as

Chapter 11 of the Statutes of Ontario, 2021.

The

Bill proclaims the seven-day period in each year ending on May 18 as Tamil

Genocide Education Week.

Bill 104 2021

Act to proclaim Tamil Genocide Education Week

Preamble

The

Tamil community in Ontario is one of the largest concentrations of Tamils

outside southeast Asia. It stretches across the province but the highest

concentration is in the Greater Toronto Area. Tamil-Ontarians play an important

role in the social, economic and political fabric of the province.

Tamil-Ontarians

have families still suffering in their homeland in the north and east of the

island of Sri Lanka. They have lost their loved ones and have been physically

or mentally traumatized by the genocide that the Sri Lankan state perpetrated

against the Tamils during the civil war which lasted from 1983 to 2009, and

especially so in May of 2009. Genocide is the deliberate and organized killing

of a group or groups of people, with the intention of destroying their identity

as an ethnic, cultural or religious group. Acts of genocide against the Tamils

started in 1948 after Sri Lanka gained its independence and were perpetrated

through Sinhala-Buddhist centric government policies, pogroms, land grabs and

ethnic cleansing. The United Nations Organization estimates that in May 2009

alone about 40,000 to 75,000 Tamil civilians were killed. Other estimates place

the death toll at 146,679 civilians. These figures only reflect the death toll

in 2009 leading up to May 18, the day on which the civil war ended. The loss of

Tamil civilian lives during the genocide, which continued for decades in Sri

Lanka, is much higher.

addition, the Sri Lankan state has systematically disenfranchised the Tamil

population of their right to vote and to maintain their language, religion and

culture. For example, the Sinhala Only Act of 1956 made

Sinhalese the official language of Sri Lanka ignoring the 29 per cent of the

population whose primary language was Tamil, thereby putting them at a serious

disadvantage for participating in the public service of Sri Lanka.

is important for many reasons to acknowledge publicly that the killings and all

aspects of the genocide constitute a heinous act. Not only does this

acknowledgement honour the lives that were lost, but it gives a sense of hope

to those who have suffered since it represents the first step to healing and

reconciliation. Most importantly, by recognizing the Tamil genocide, we affirm

our collective desire to maintain awareness of this genocide and other

genocides that have occurred in world history in order to prevent such crimes

against humanity from happening again.

Therefore,

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of

the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Tamil

Genocide Education Week

(1) The

seven-day period in each year ending on May 18 is proclaimed as Tamil Genocide Education

Week.

Same

(2) During

that period, all Ontarians are encouraged to educate themselves about, and to

maintain their awareness of, the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have

occurred in world history.

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Tamil Genocide Education

Week Act, 2021 .

Bill 104 Original (PDF)

EXPLANATORY

NOTE

The

Bill proclaims the seven-day period in each year ending on May 18 as Tamil

Genocide Education Week.

Bill 104 2019

Act to proclaim Tamil Genocide Education Week

Preamble

The

Tamil community in Ontario is one of the largest concentrations of Tamils

outside southeast Asia. It stretches across the province but the highest concentration

is in the Greater Toronto Area. Tamil-Ontarians play an important role in the

social, economic and political fabric of the province.

Tamil-Ontarians

have families still suffering in their homeland in the north and east of the

island of Sri Lanka. They have lost their loved ones and have been physically

or mentally traumatized by the genocide that the Sri Lankan state perpetrated

against the Tamils during the civil war which lasted from 1983 to 2009, and

especially so in May of 2009. Genocide is the deliberate and organized killing

of a group or groups of people, with the intention of destroying their identity

as an ethnic, cultural or religious group. Acts of genocide against the Tamils

started in 1948 after Sri Lanka gained its independence and were perpetrated

through Sinhala-Buddhist centric government policies, pogroms, land grabs and

ethnic cleansing. The United Nations Organization estimates that in May 2009

alone about 40,000 to 75,000 Tamil civilians were killed. Other estimates place

the death toll at 146,679 civilians. These figures only reflect the death toll

in 2009 leading up to May 18, the day on which the civil war ended. The loss of

Tamil civilian lives during the genocide, which continued for decades in Sri

Lanka, is much higher.

addition, the Sri Lankan state has systematically disenfranchised the Tamil

population of their right to vote and to maintain their language, religion and

culture. For example, the Sinhala Only Act of 1956 made

Sinhalese the official language of Sri Lanka ignoring the 29 per cent of the

population whose primary language was Tamil, thereby putting them at a serious

disadvantage for participating in the public service of Sri Lanka.

is important for many reasons to acknowledge publicly that the killings and all

aspects of the genocide constitute a heinous act. Not only does this

acknowledgement honour the lives that were lost, but it gives a sense of hope

to those who have suffered since it represents the first step to healing and

reconciliation. Most importantly, by recognizing the Tamil genocide, we affirm

our collective desire to maintain awareness of this genocide and other

genocides that have occurred in world history in order to prevent such crimes

against humanity from happening again.

Therefore,

Her Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of

the Province of Ontario, enacts as follows:

Tamil

Genocide Education Week

(1) The

seven-day period in each year ending on May 18 is proclaimed as Tamil Genocide Education

Week.

Same

(2) During

that period, all Ontarians are encouraged to educate themselves about, and to

maintain their awareness of, the Tamil genocide and other genocides that have

occurred in world history.

Commencement

This Act comes into force on the day it receives Royal Assent.

Short

title

The

short title of this Act is the Tamil Genocide Education

Week Act, 2019 .

Date Bill stage Event Outcome Committee

May 12, 2021

Royal Assent

Royal Assent received

May 6, 2021

Third Reading

Vote

Carried

May 6, 2021

Third Reading

Debated

May 5, 2021

Second Reading

Ordered for Third Reading

May 5, 2021

Second Reading

Reported without amendment

May 5, 2021

Second Reading

Consideration of a Bill

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

May 16, 2019

Second Reading

Ordered referred to Standing Committee

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

May 16, 2019

Second Reading

Vote

Carried on division

May 16, 2019

Second Reading

Debated

April 30, 2019

First Reading

Vote

Carried

Debates and Progress

First Reading

April 30, 2019

Committee

Second Reading

May 16, 2019

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam, Mr. Gurratan Singh, Mr. Stephen Lecce, Ms. Rima Berns-McGown, Ms. Natalia Kusendova, Ms. Suze Morrison, Mr. Kaleed Rasheed, Ms. Doly Begum, Ms. Mitzie Hunter, Mr. Paul Calandra

May 16, 2019

Declared carried. Referred to the Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills.

Committee

Standing Committee on Regulations and Private Bills

May 5, 2021

May 5, 2021

Reported to the House without amendment. Ordered for third reading.

Third Reading

May 6, 2021

Mr. Vijay Thanigasalam, Mr. Gurratan Singh, Mr. Logan Kanapathi, Ms. Doly Begum, Mr. Aris Babikian, Mr. Tom Rakocevic, Ms. Andrea Horwath, Ms. Marit Stiles

Declared carried.

Royal Assent

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Was this page helpful? Yes , I found this page helpful. An optional survey will open in a new tab. No , I didn’t find this page helpful. An optional survey will open in a new tab.

Back to top