2009 Tamil Diaspora Protests in Canada

The 2009 Tamil diaspora protests in Canada refer to a series of demonstrations and protests which took place in major Canadian cities with a significant Tamil diaspora population during the year 2009 regarding the alleged genocide of Sri Lankan Tamil people in the Northern Province of the island nation Sri Lanka. It was part of a global outcry by the Tamil diaspora to end the Sri Lankan Civil War, investigate acts of war crimes by the Government of Sri Lanka, and restore civil rights for Tamils in Sri Lanka. The aim was also to create awareness and appeal to leaders, notably the Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, the President of the United States, Barack Obama and the Consulate General of Sri Lanka in Canada, Bandula Jayasekara, to take action in ending the conflict. Several Tamil Canadian citizens and business-owners from different parts of Canada and the United States took part in major protests set up in Toronto and Ottawa, while smaller scale demonstrations took place in Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary.

The first notable demonstration took place on 28 January 2009 in front of the Consulate of Sri Lanka in Toronto involving a few hundred people. The following day, several thousands gathered in front of the Consulate of the United States in Toronto to appeal to the Government of the United States to take action on ending the civil war. A 5-kilometre (3.1-mile) human chain of several thousands of citizens took place the next day along major streets in Downtown Toronto. There after, demonstrations began to escalate in size and occurred on Parliament Hill in Ottawa for sometime, until returning to continue in Toronto. Other tactics by protesters included occupation of major streets, sit-ins, hunger strikes and Internet activism.