[LINK] "McGuinty urges protesters not to carry Tamil Tiger flag"

[rfmcdonald]

It's worth noting that in the wake of Sunday's protests by Tamil-Canadians, protests which included the blocking of the Gardiner Expressway by a crowd that included small children, Torontonians are starting to become unimpressed.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has urged protesters not to carry the Tamil Tiger flag at their protests, as plans emerged for another mass protest to centre on Queen's Park tomorrow.

“I don't think that helps their case,” Mr. McGuinty said of the red flag featuring a tiger and crossed rifles.

There is a right way and a wrong way for the Tamil community to express their concerns about what is happening in Sri Lanka, the premier said.

“You can't block highways,” he said. “You endanger others and you endanger yourselves. You are welcome to the front lawn of Queen's Park at any time.”

[. . .]

The protesters prominently wave flags of the secessionist movement Tamil Eelam. The flag was the emblem of the Tigers until 1990, and still evokes that organization.

The Canadian government declared the Tigers a terrorist group in 2006.

But the Toronto protesters stand by the Tigers, calling them ‘freedom fighters' and insisting the Tigers are the only hope of Tamils caught in the northern Sri Lanka battle zone. Amid the repeated chants calling for a ceasefire and government action, protesters declare Tigers leader Velupillai Prabhakaran as “our national leader, our glorious leader.”

I caught up with the protest at Spadina and Dundas, in the heart of Toronto's largest Chinatown, on that day. I'll do a blog post, with photos, as soon as I can download the photos from my camera.