Hon. (Dr.) Suren Raghavan, M.P, was elected as the President of Sri Lanka – Canada Parliamentary Friendship Association. He was appointed at the revival meeting of the association for the ninth Parliament held yesterday (21).
The meeting was held under the patronage of Hon. Speaker Mahinda Yapa Abeywardena. His Excellency David McKinnon, High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka was present at the revival meeting as the special guest. The Secretary General of Parliament Mr. Dhammika Dasanayake was also present.
At this meeting Hon. Udayana Kirindigoda was elected as the Secretary and the Hon. Members of Parliament G. G. Ponnambalam, Diana Gamage and Ishak Rahuman were elected as the Vice Presidents. Furthermore, Hon. Geetha Kumarasinghe, MP was appointed as the Assistant Secretary whilst Hon. Sivagnanam Shritharan, MP was appointed as the treasurer.
Addressing the meeting, the Hon. Speaker said that the two countries have strong bilateral relations based upon shared participation in the Commonwealth, and development assistance through the Colombo Plan, in addition to the presence of a vibrant community of Canadians of Sri Lankan origin.
Adding to it, in economic and trade front, the Hon. Speaker invited more and more trade and investment delegations from Canada to Sri Lanka to explore new opportunities to develop trade and investment and since Canada is among the top ten sources of tourism to Sri Lanka, the Hon. Speaker further stated that he looks forward to welcoming an increasing number of tourists during the coming years with the dying down of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
H.E David McKinnon, High Commissioner of Canada to Sri Lanka stated that given strong education links and periods of conflict and turmoil in Sri Lanka that Canada has become beneficiaries of an enormous population of Sri Lankan Origin who are Canadians. For both Canada and Sri Lanka Democracy is central to our histories and as diverse countries democracy is the best way to accommodate different communities and Parliaments and Parliamentarians have a crucial role to play in supporting, defending and expanding democracy, he further said.
Speaking on the occasion, newly elected President of the Sri Lanka-Canada Parliamentary Friendship Association Hon. (Dr.) Suren Raghavan proposing the vote of thanks stated that he envisions a future collaboration of two post-colonial, multinational countries learning from each other for a better tomorrow.
Several Ministers, State Ministers and Parliamentarians from both Government and the Opposition were present at the meeting.