| Summary/Abstract |
Canada’s policy toward Sri Lanka underwent a significant shift following the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in May 2009. Originally, the Harper government viewed Sri Lanka’s war with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) through the prism of the global war on terrorism. Canada listed the LTTE as a terrorist group and offered only mild and sporadic criticism of the Sri Lankan government’s human rights record. However, after winning a majority government in 2011, the Harper government has described itself as one of the world’s leading proponents of reform in Sri Lanka and has condemned the government of Sri Lanka in strong terms. This paper examines the Harper government’s foreign policy toward Sri Lanka and argues that electoral politics came to play an increasingly significant role.
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