http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/pol ... le1994736/Conservative cabinet minister Peter Kent is taking his own party to task for allowing a man who hosted a television tribute to the terrorist Tamil Tigers to be a candidate in the May 2 election.
“This program … is unacceptable and it flies in the face of the fact that our government listed the Tamil Tigers as a terrorist organization,” Mr. Kent told The Globe and Mail on Thursday, after he viewed on YouTube the “Heroes Day” special that Gavan Paranchothy hosted on a Tamil station.
It is certainly a reflection on the party’s lack of due diligence,” said Mr. Kent, a former foreign correspondent and current environment minister. “Someone’s obviously dropped the ball.”
Mr. Kent was responding to questions from The Globe after he endorsed Mr. Paranchothy in a campaign letter this week. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney endorsed the candidate in the same letter, despite Globe reports a week ago about the program, which aired last November and has been on the Internet ever since.
Mr. Paranchothy hosted the show under his former first name, Ragavan, by which he was well-known to Tamil Canadians. He shortened his name and removed all mention of his Tamil background from campaign materials once he became the candidate for Scarborough Southwest.
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper brushed aside questions about Mr. Paranchothy’s past last Thursday, and Mr. Harper’s spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, said the candidate had made it “crystal clear” that he was not a Tiger sympathizer before he was allowed to seek the nomination. The campaign continued, and Mr. Paranchothy remained in the race.
However, Mr. Kent said he only had to view the opening frames of Mr. Paranchothy’s TV special – in which he describes the Tigers as “freedom fighters” and “heroes” – to find it “outrageous,” and to see that Mr. Paranchothy should not be a candidate.
“The Tamil Tigers, in no context, can be portrayed as freedom fighters and heroes; they were terrorists,” Mr. Kent said, adding that he was unaware of the video until The Globe sent him a link to it Thursday morning. “It was a tribute and it’s unacceptable even if he didn’t write it, even if he didn’t believe it.”
Blacklisted by Mr. Harper’s government in 2006, the Tigers were notorious for using suicide bombings, child soldiers and political assassinations in their failed 26-year war for a separate Tamil state in Sri Lanka. Since the war ended in 2009, remnants of the Tigers’ large Canadian support base have aligned themselves with the federal Tories and the Ontario Progressive Conservatives.
The Globe contacted Mr. Kent on Thursday after it obtained a copy of an e-mailed letter sent out this week by Mr. Paranchothy’s campaign manager, Bret Snider, containing glowing endorsements from Mr. Kent and Mr. Kenney.
Mr. Kenney’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“As a fellow journalist and Broadcaster, I have great respect for Gavan,” Mr. Kent is quoted as saying in the letter. “He has a moderate, balanced world view and has had the courage to take on tough subjects in his career.”
Asked why he provided the endorsement, Mr. Kent said, “I assumed and I was told that the party had vetted Mr. Paranchothy.” He said he was unaware, due to the demands of campaigning, of last week’s Globe reports, which included an online link to the tribute.
Having now seen the video, Mr. Kent described Mr. Snider’s campaign letter as “misleading, and I have communicated with our central campaign headquarters that I think that due diligence wasn’t done.”
Mr. Snider said Thursday that he was unaware of Mr. Kent’s concerns but would look into them.
National party officials were not immediately available for comment
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If it isn't Bruce Carson and his hookers its this guy who supports a known terrorist organization getting national support from the CPC.
CKA Super Elite 
