Archive for the ‘News’ Category


Interior Designer, Subi Shehaan

By Editor - April 21st, 2015

Interior Designer, Subi Shehaan

This week on Talent Tuesday, we have Subi Shehaan! She is the founder of Design Contours (DC Interiors) established in 2008 which specializes in interior designing, home staging, and renovations in Toronto. Her company is catered towards residential owners – simple residential room decor to large interior renovations and basement finishing.



Clandestine Camps of Torture

By Editor - April 17th, 2015

Clandestine Camps of Torture

Many of those that went missing were usually arrested by people in military uniforms. Witnesses of these events are coerced with serious threats to remain silent. Because of this coercion, the cases of the missing are often weak. Very few are brave enough to speak out and that is only under the condition that their names are not to be disclosed. Mayuran, who disappeared in 2009, was discovered in a hospital for urinary treatment where several of his relatives reported seeing him. However, when his mother went to see him the hospital administration informed her that no such patient was ever admitted. It was later revealed that the hospital administration was threatened.



Award Winner, Manosilah Yoganathan

By Editor - April 12th, 2015

Award Winner, Manosilah Yoganathan

This week on Talent Tuesday, we have Manoshilah Yoganathan! She is a a Master’s student in Globalization and International Development. She was awarded the 2014 Co-op award in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.



RFT: Iron in Heels – Let’s Get Started!

By Editor - April 10th, 2015

RFT: Iron in Heels - Let's Get Started!

Why do I even bother putting myself through this? Forcing myself to finally leave the change room, my mind narrows in on the path leading to the least intimidating machine next to the fragile, old woman, blurring out all that surround it. There I stand, fidgeting with the machine that this old woman used with ease, but I finally get it started! For the next hour, I speed walk on this treadmill, just analyzing the environment of the gym. Tomorrow I will find myself on this same machine – it’s now, the one thing in this place that I can use without the fear of looking clueless.

This was once something, I too, had felt when I started going to the gym. Let it be known, the fear that comes with entering a new environment is inevitable. However, that fear can be diminished by speaking to someone that frequents a gym or educating yourself with what a gym has to offer, its equipment and how it impacts your body. This can help mentally prepare those first timers and make your first experience one that doesn’t turn you off of your initial goals.



Tamileelam Challenge Cup – Volleyball 2015

By Editor - April 2nd, 2015

Tamileelam Challenge Cup – Volleyball 2015

The battle to crown the new Tamileelam Challenge Cup Champion is fast arriving as the Athletics Council of CTYA will be hosting the 2015 Volleyball Tamil Eelam Challenge Cup. The tournament is open to everyone and we are having a call out of teams from 6 to 10 players. To register a team, please email: athletics@ctya.org or contact 416.428.8467. The last day to register is Sunday, April 19th 2015.



Launch of Canadian Tamil Women’s Congress (CTWC)

By Editor - March 8th, 2015

Launch of Canadian Tamil Women's Congress (CTWC)

On this International Women’s day, an organization called the Canadian Tamil Women’s Congress (CTWC) has launched to advocate for justice, equality and safety for all women. It will provide a forum for Tamil women to engage in dialogue and advocate for change. Furthermore, CTWC will be working to enhance knowledge and understanding of rights of women and facilitate projects to protect women’s rights.



Happy International Women’s Day!

By Editor - March 7th, 2015

Happy International Women's Day!

Today marks the 105th International Women’s Day. The idea of an international women’s day was first initiated by Clara Zetkin – Leader of the Women’s Office for the Social Democratic Party in Germany at a conference in Copenhagen in 1910. It was first honoured on March 19, 1911 in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland in the form of rallies campaigning for women’s rights to work, vote, be trained, to hold public office and end discrimination.



Remembering Thangathurai’s Speech from the Courthouse Dock

By Editor - March 1st, 2015

Remembering Thangathurai's Speech from the Courthouse Dock

March 1, 2015 marks the 32nd anniversary of the impassioned speech made by Nadarajah Thangathurai from the dock of a courthouse. Thangathurai was arrested in 1982, along with Selvarajah Yogachandran, a.k.a. Kuttimani – both remain important figures in the struggle for Tamil Eelam.

Thangathurai and Kuttimani were among the second batch of Tamil youth who were tried under Sri Lanka’s draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Modelled after Apartheid South Africa’s Terrorism Act and used by the Apartheid Government to arrest Nelson Mandela and other anti-apartheid militants and activists, the PTA was brought into law by President Jayewardene, with the intention to subdue the strengthening Tamil resistance movement. The PTA still remains in existence today and is now used to arrest anyone who dares to speak out against Sri Lankan state oppression.



News Release: CTYA Stands in Solidarity with the Jaffna Students protesting the decision to defer the release of the UNHRC report

By Editor - February 24th, 2015

News Release: CTYA Stands in Solidarity with the Jaffna Students protesting the decision to defer the release of the UNHRC report

The Canadian Tamil Youth Alliance (CTYA) strongly disagrees with the latest UN decision to defer the release of the investigation into the mass crimes committed by the Sri Lankan state against the Tamil people. The UN has continued to fail the Tamil community in search for accountability through international measures, as this deferral is a direct denial of human rights and justice.



Enforced Disappearances of Tamils – “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds”

By Editor - February 21st, 2015

Enforced Disappearances of Tamils - “They tried to bury us. They didn’t know we were seeds”

An enforced disappearance is defined as: “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State”iii. Sri Lanka has the second highest number of enforced disappearances in the world – the first being Iraq.

The Sri Lankan state uses a policy of enforced disappearances against those who are critical of its genocide on the Eelam Tamil population. Sri Lankan state agents, such as the police and army, use a broad network of white vans and secret detention centres to abduct Tamils from their homes, on the street, in hospitals or checkpoints. Tamil journalists, activists and students are often targeted. Enforced disappearances are used as a way to send a message to the wider Tamil community, a warning to anyone who may have been considering speaking out against the state’s oppression.