Canadian  assistance and  programming with the Ministry of National Languages and Social Integration came to the fore when Canadian High Commissioner Bruce Levy  called on the Minister Vasudeva Nanayakkara today.


Other topics of discussion with the Minister of National Languages and Social Integration included the general language policy in Sri Lanka, recruitment of personnel with the ability to communicate in the official languages and also forging links with the diaspora in the rebuilding and reconstruction process.


Canada, as a country with two official languages (English and French), has invited senior ministry officials to study the Canadian experience as they consider how best to move forward in implementing language policy in Sri Lanka.  A Sri Lankan team was in Canada for discussions in June 2010, a press release from the Canadian High Commission stated. 


During their meeting, the Minister noted the significant efforts by the Government of Sri Lanka to recruit Tamil-speaking personnel to serve their communities.  


The Minister and the High Commissioner also touched on the topic of political reconciliation discussions between Government and TNA delegations.  The High Commissioner noted that the issue of languages will also feature in any reconciliation process and added that he hoped that effective ways could be found to involve the large diaspora in Canada.


Canada is a long standing partner of Sri Lanka, dating back to the earliest days of the Colombo Plan.  More recently, it has been a major humanitarian contributor, including after the 2004 tsunami and the IDP emergency at the conclusion of the violent conflict in May 2009.