There was one such instance in Canada where a person by the name of Nalaka Weerasinghe from Toronto had been appointed as the ‘Tourism Ambassador’ to Canada. I knew Nalaka as a member of the Canada - Sri Lanka Business Council. The appointment had been made by Minister Faizer Musthapa,(who was the deputy minister of Tourism in the Mahinda Rajapaksa government) without consulting the Foreign Ministry and the Missions in Ottawa and Toronto. We heard that Faizer had issued Weerasighe the letter of appointment when the latter had visited Sri Lanka. It was evident that Weerasinghe was working towards furthering his personal interests rather than the interests of Sri Lanka or Canada.

I first got to know about the ‘appointment’ when I saw a press release from President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s Media office that officials of the Canada - Sri Lanka Business Council had met with the President at Temple Trees along with Nalaka Weerasinghe , Sri Lanka’s Tourism Ambassador to Canada. The release stated ‘The delegates in attendance were Nalaka Weerasinghe, Sri Lanka Tourism Ambassador to Canada & Hony. Treasurer of Canada Sri Lanka Business Council, Kula Sellathurai, President Canada Sri Lanka Business Council, Ganesean Sugumar, Vice President Canada Business Council, Dr. Pon Sivaji and Hon. Deputy Minister Sarath Gunarathne’

I was shocked. I didn’t have much time to settle down because angry Sri Lankan Canadians called us to find out if the Sri Lankan government had gone mad and if so who was really mad, and why such a foolish appointment was made. They had heard the news through the Sri Lankan media and through friends of Nalaka Weerasinghe who had boasted to them about his ‘new’ appointment. Sri Lankan Canadians started to blame the foreign ministry and the Consul General and the embassy in Ottawa. I informed them that we were not aware of the appointment and I would disregard the appointment of Weerasinghe as the ‘Tourism Ambassador’ to Canada, which was a ‘terrible joke.’ I told them that I will not accept it under any circumstances. It was also a mystery to me as to how the Canada - Sri Lanka Business Council made the visit to Colombo to meet the President without our knowledge. I had suspicions about a few Business Council members who had political agendas and were hell bent on discrediting Sri Lanka. Earlier, I had warned them not to undermine Sri Lanka and even informed Colombo about certain members.

A note sent to me by a respected community member at the time read - Dear Mr. Jayasekara, "Looks like he was not kidding. I am petrified that the government allows arbitrary appointments like this to happen. Does not augur well for moral and ethical delivery of state appointments. If an Immigration Consultant who brings ‘refugees’ to Canada for a living is appointed the Tourism Ambassador for Sri Lanka in Canada - I rest my case. The newly appointed Tourism Ambassador came to Canada as a ‘refugee’ renouncing his rights as a citizen of Sri Lanka alleging that Sri Lanka has persecuted him and it would have been a danger to his life had he stayed. And now, the Minister of Tourism Promotion appoints the same person as "Tourism Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Canada". This is a sad day for Sri Lanka, a sad day for President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s administration and a disastrous day for Canadian Immigration authorities."

It was a crazy situation where anyone could visit Sri Lanka, meet a minister and get an appointment as some sort of ‘ambassador’. I immediately wrote to the Secretary to the President, Lalith Weeratunga and told him that I will not accept Nalaka Weerasinghe as the Tourism Ambassador though Faizer had issued him a letter. I informed Lalith that Weerasinghe was an Immigration Consultant and there was a conflict of interest and it would only discredit Sri Lanka even further. He could use that title to further his business interests as an Immigration Consultant in Canada which is a big business. I told Lalith that the Foreign Ministry in Colombo was not informed of the appointment either. I expressed my displeasure that the President’s Office hadn’t checked with us or the foreign ministry in Colombo.

I received a note from Lalith Weeratunga that the matter will be taken up seriously and resolved at the very earliest. I moved on as my term ended and don’t know what happened to this Immigration Consultant who was appointed as the ‘Tourism Ambassador’ to Canada making a mockery of Sri Lanka.

(By Bandula Jayasekara – island.lk)