Canada was one of the top sources of funding for Sri Lanka's LTTE, providing up to $12-million a year, says a secret intelligence report obtained by the National Post.

"Canada's Tamil community has been among the LTTE's largest sources of funds, having contributed up to $10- to $12-million annually in past years," the report says.

A copy of the report was released to the Post under the Access to Information Act. It was written last June, during the final months of a decisive Sri Lankan military offensive.

It said the RCMP began investigating LTTE fundraising efforts in Canada in 2002. Police believe the rebels raised money in Toronto and Montreal to finance weapons purchases, but investigators have never said the dollar figures were so high.

"The LTTE through its many front organizations in other countries, including Canada, has conducted extensive fundraising and other activities to support its efforts in Sri Lanka," the report says.
The tactics used to collect money were "often coercive," it said, naming the Toronto-based World Tamil Movement (WTM) as the rebels' leading front in Canada.

"As such, the WTM has been instrumental in fundraising in Canada on behalf of the LTTE."

Police searched the WTM offices in Ontario and Quebec in 2006. Last year, the government banned the group under the Anti-Terrorism Act.

Federal lawyers are now in court trying to seize its properties and bank accounts. The organization has denied any wrongdoing.
The Intelligence Assessment was written by the Ottawa-based Integrated Threat Assessment Centre, which consists of representatives of CSIS, RCMP, Foreign Affairs, the military and other agencies.

A second intelligence report written last year downplayed the possibility of violence in Canada stemming from the Sri Lankan war, noting rebel activities in this country were limited to fundraising and propaganda. "The LTTE's primary interest in Canada is as a major source of funds, mostly contributed by the large Canadian Tamil population," said the report, classified "Secret" and titled "LTTE Threat to Canada."

In May, demonstrators waving flags bearing the LTTE emblem blocked streets in downtown Toronto to draw attention to human rights abuses by the Sri Lanka Army. A Buddhist temple and Sri Lankan restaurant suffered fire damage but police have not made any arrests.