A local temple has been fined $140,000 by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) for donations it had given to an organization suspected to be a front for Sri Lankan rebels.
The Hindu Temple Society of Canada in Richmond Hill, which has declined to comment, raised over $130,000 for victims of a tsunami that ravaged Sri Lanka in 2004 according to an advocate for Tamil Canadians.
According to CRA, the temple gave the proceeds to non-qualified donees, including Tamils Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) in Sri Lanka, a group CRA considers part of the “support network” of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, a.k.a.Tamil Tigers).
In a notice given to the temple, CRA concluded the temple was fully aware of TRO’s affiliation with Tamil Tigers at the time and still knowingly gave it almost $120,000.
CRA decided not to revoke the temple’s status as a charity because of the “extenuating circumstances of the tsunami disaster” and that non-qualified donations seemed outside the normal operations of the temple.
David Poopalapillai, spokesperson for Canadian Tamil Congress, an advocacy group for Tamil Canadians, said that CRA went beyond punishing the temple by linking it to Tamil Tigers.
“That particular temple, in this particular case, donated money to a non-qualified donee. That’s a fact. Technically, they’re wrong,” he said. “Having said that, the way the CRA handled the whole issue, it’s very heavy-handed. It hurts the community.”
Poopalapillai does not believe TRO is a front for terrorism.
“If that is true, why is the recipient of this particular donation still operating in Canada?” he asked. He also said the temple was never concerned the funds would be used to buy arms or support LTTE efforts.
“The temple people are very well-respected people by the community,” he said. “They’re good people. Nothing is bad about these people.”