The Canadian Tamil Diaspora and the Politics of Multiculturalism

Abstract

This article explores Tamil diasporic engagement in Toronto, at the turn of the Sri Lankan struggle in 2009, to foreground the contested and transnational character of Canadian multiculturalism. It asks whether Canadian multicultural discourse provides a space for social and political identity-making within the Tamil-Canadian Diaspora. The article then sketches the way multiculturalism informed Tamil-Canadian identity-making amongst young and older Tamil-Canadians prior to these events. It explores how diasporic identity was then crystallized in 2009 through media and political responses within the mainstream and the Diaspora itself. The article argues that security discourses dramatically prefigured the terms of engagement for Tamil-Canadians during the final months of the civil war in Sri Lanka. It concludes by drawing attention to the transformative possibilities of multiculturalism and the way the diasporic lens that this case study uses may contribute to this discussion.

Keywords:

• Tamil Diaspora
• multiculturalism
• security
• identity-making

Acknowledgments

I thank Cheran Rudhramoorthy, Amali Philips, and Kendra Coulter for their helpful comments on this article

Notes

1. Tamils living in Canada are referred to as Tamil Canadians. I shorten the term to Tamil when referring to the Diaspora.

2. The research is based on extensive participant observation of Tamil Diaspora events. I also acted as one of several academic advisors to the coalition “Canadians Concerned About Sri Lanka.”

3. This is a very low estimate. The ICG suggests that many more thousands were killed in the last few weeks, but the evidence is under review.