Carney Backs Public Safety Minister After Revelation He Penned Immigration Support Letters for Man Allegedly Linked to Tamil Tigers

Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree responds to a question during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 12, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Mark Carney is standing behind his public safety minister, Gary Anandasangaree, who has acknowledged asking Canadian officials to authorize the permanent residency of a man with alleged links to a Sri Lankan terrorist organization.

The Toronto-area MP penned two letters to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA)—one in 2016, and one in 2023—asking to reverse its decision to reject the immigration request of Senthuran Selvakumaran.

The agency had rejected the request on the grounds Selvakumaran had previously admitted being affiliated with the Tamil Tigers, a group that was designated as a terrorist entity by Canada in 2006. The Tamil Tigers are a militant group also known as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

The letters were written on Anandasangaree’s House of Commons letterhead and were sent prior to his appointment to cabinet in July 2023, although the second was penned while he was parliamentary secretary to the Minister of Justice.

A Federal Court judge rejected the Sri Lankan resident’s latest appeal, saying in a July 9 ruling that despite Anandasangaree’s letters of support, the CBSA had rightly placed national security and public safety as top priorities. The ruling noted contradictory statements made by the applicant about his involvement with the Tamil Tigers.

Anandasangaree said in a media statement earlier this week that the letters were a bid to help the husband of a constituent be reunited with his family living in Toronto, noting that it is not unusual for an MP’s office to field immigration-related requests.

Carney was asked about Anandasangaree’s involvement in the immigration case during an unrelated July 16 press conference. He told reporters the cabinet minister had been honest about endorsing the man’s immigration.

“The public safety minister has been transparent about the details of that situation and he has my confidence,” Carney said. He did not offer any additional comment on the matter.

Ongoing Case

Anandasangaree said in his July 14 statement that it “would be inappropriate” to comment on any court-related matters, but said he has not sent any immigration support letters since becoming a member of cabinet.

“When I was appointed Minister in July 2023, I instructed my constituency staff to no longer provide such letters,” he said. “The letters in question here date from before I entered Cabinet.”

He said his office in Scarborough-Guildwood-Rouge Park “handles hundreds” of immigration matters each year, totalling more than 9,000 since he was first elected in 2015.

“That is the nature of representing a diverse riding in the country’s largest city. That a constituent, a Canadian citizen, with a Canadian child, would want to reunite her family in Canada is not unusual,” he said. “MPs from all parties provide letters of support for constituents as a routine matter, including in Ministerial Review cases.”

Anandasangaree’s July 2023 letter to the CBSA said his constituent Nilushie had married Selvakumaran in 2005 but they had spent the majority of their marriage separated from one another, “relentlessly striving to be reunited.”

“Senthuran’s claims of affiliation to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was erroneously made when he sought asylum in the United Kingdom in 1998 to escape the growing conflicts in Sri Lanka. He was wrongfully counseled by his legal representative to lie,” Anandasangaree’s letter said.

“However, his claims were found lacking credibility, and the UK Refugee Tribunal had established that Senthuran did not have any affiliations to the LTTE. This is consistent with Senthuran’s position all along.”

Selvakumaran told Canadian immigration multiple contradictory statements when he applied to immigrate to Canada to reunite with his wife, according to court documents.

He first told Canadian officials he had never helped the Tamil Tigers and then said he had done so unknowingly. He later said he had worked for the organization and was paid by them, but then said he had only been involved with the group because he wanted to help a friend, the documents said. On another occasion he told officials he had never done any work for the LTTE willingly or for payment.

He was denied entry to Canada, prompting his lawyers to request a review of the decision by the public safety minister at that time. The ministry upheld the decision last year to deny him entry to Canada and the case landed before the Federal Court, which arrived at the same conclusion this month.

Public Safety Role

Anandasangaree, a native of Sri Lanka, has lived in Canada since 1983. He was appointed as the public safety minister in May and has recused himself from files on national security issues related to the Tamil community.

“In an abundance of caution and to ensure that there is no perception of any conflict, I’ve asked the public safety officials to implement a screen on national security issues relating to the Tamil community,” he said during question period on June 12.

A conflict of interest screen refers to when an elected official agrees to “abstain from any discussions, decisions, debate or votes concerning the matter that forms the subject of the conflict of interest,” according to the ethics commissioner’s website.

The measure is meant to minimize the chance of “conflicts arising between the public duties of the public office holder and their private interests or those of their relatives and friends.”

Anandasangaree has been involved with several Tamil groups such as the Canadian Tamil Congress and the Canadian Tamils’ Chamber of Commerce and previously campaigned against human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan Civil War, which lasted from 1983 to 2009.

He helped 76 migrants who arrived by ship from Sri Lanka seeking refugee status in Canada in 2009 when he worked with the Canadian Tamil Congress.

Canadian authorities investigated the ship occupants for possible links to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) before releasing them.

Anandasangaree was asked about the ship during a June 3 press conference in Parliament. He told reporters he has a “very strong history in supporting and working with asylum seekers and those who have come to Canada as refugees.”

“I continuously work with many agencies that provide front-line services to refugees,” he said. “So I do believe I have the credibility to talk about issues at our border, issues of ... those who come to Canada by irregular means.”

Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.