CHATURANGA PRADEEP SAMARAWICKRAMA 
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Australia coming to CHOGM, but Canada not
Despite the Canadian Government having decided earlier this week to boycott the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to be held in Sri Lanka later this year, Australia had reiterated its stance that it would attend.The Australian High Commission in Colombo said that the commitment made by Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Bob Carr, during his recent visit to Sri Lanka confirming Australia’s decision to attend had not changed.
“Australia most certainly will be at CHOGM, and we would urge nations like Canada to do so as well. Further we would suggest that Canada engages in talks with Sri Lanka as the best way of elevating human rights concerns is by discussing the issue. We'd suggest that the report of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission is the basis for such engagement, and accepting accountability for events at the end of the civil conflict is part of that reconciliation process,” Senator Carr said last month, while in Sri Lanka.
However, the fact that Canada did not heed this advice was evident by the statement made by Canadian Minister of Citizenship, immigration and Multiculturalism Jason Kenney, on Monday. “We will not go along to get along. If the issues of human rights, accountability, political reconciliation, resettlement and the independence of the judiciary, are not addressed Prime Minister Harper has said he will refrain from attending CHOGM in Sri Lanka,” he said. (Dianne Silva)
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