Gold standard for political humour already set by Canada!

Canadian High Commissioner in Sri Lanka, David McKinnon, recently tweeted Sri Lanka sets the gold standard for political humour. He further tweets, “maybe there’s a way to monetize this as an export?”

Poor McKinnon, representing Canada, to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, does not seem to be aware that the gold standard for political humour has already been set by Canada. Sri Lanka maybe trying hard to win the title from Canada but once again Canada has set the bar too high for Sri Lanka. In fact, this writer believes McKinnon might have just made it impossibly high.

McKinnon is the High Commissioner for Canada but he does not even know that he is a diplomat. As such, McKinnon is ignorant that such undiplomatic commentary as that he made of Sri Lanka, his host country, is a faux pas at its worst. Very difficult to beat a tactless diplomat in political humour!

We would never hear such crass commentary from any of our neighbouring countries or, for that matter, from even Middle East or Africa. These diplomats do not suffer from an undue superiority complex. Instead, they are professional and empathetic.

As such they make a sincere effort to be with the people of their host country in their hour of need instead of laughing at their troubles. It is such humaneness that strengthens bilateral relations, which is the reason for their presence in the host country in the first place.

When our neighbours are making our troubles theirs and working hard to bridge our shortfalls to ease our burdens, McKinnon is busy tweeting. What a bird! His cheap cracks are certainly not the way to strengthen bilateral relations. This makes one wonder if he is only here for the Arrack and the sun.

McKinnon is not the only one to entertain us with cheap theatrical humour. His colleague Shelley Whiting, too, had her own sense of political humour.

When we eradicated terrorism from our country, she, as the then Canadian High Commissioner, was invited to celebrate the dawn of a peaceful Sri Lanka. This was a big deal for us as we had been denied peace, or a normal life, for nearly 30 years.

With peace, children were free to go to school and, more importantly, return home in one piece or without been forcefully conscripted as slave labour to a terrorist organization. People can now keep all of their earnings and savings without been extorted by criminal elements. The fog of fear and suspicion was lifted. Instead of destruction, we could finally rebuild our country to prosperity. The dark shadows of fascism vanished as democracy swung into full action. Provinces, as North and East, were able to elect Provincial Councils, just as the rest of the country.

Whiting, however, refused to join our celebrations. She wanted to stay home to cry over the dead. Though she said that she is not shedding tears over Prabhakaran, for she knew he was a naughty boy, she never did clarify who it was that she rather be at home thinking. It certainly could not have been the Tamil civilians for this peace was every bit theirs as it was for the Sinhalese and other Sri Lankan communities.

Judging by the open support the LTTE international network receives officially from Canada, it is not hard to figure out to whom Whiting dedicated her thoughts. Oh, the prank the Canadian Government pulled on the LTTE ideologists pretending to mull over dedicating an entire week to remember the genocide that never took place in Sri Lanka was hilarious. After allowing real hope into the hearts of the LTTE ideologists the Canadian Government dashed it with a single “nah! Not happening.”

It is really funny how Canada is always preaching to us on the importance of maintaining rule of law but allowed Tamil ethnic Canadian citizens to be intimidated, bullied, extorted and terrorised by LTTE terror gangs to fund terrorism back in Sri Lanka. Looks like Canadian law is selective who it protects.

This story gets funnier still. Canada is always overlaying their sympathy on Tamils, clearly implying that the Sinhalese are discriminating against the Tamils. Yet, Sinhalese – especially the educated or skilled – have no problem gaining visa or PR from Canada. While needlessly embarrassing the Sinhalese and getting Tamils all miffed with the Sinhalese, Canada is getting both Sinhalese and Tamils alike to contribute towards their economy. What a hoot!

The best ever joke was when young PM Trudeau demanded that Pope come immediately to Canada and apologise to the indigenous community for killing their young and burying their bodies in the back garden of Catholic schools. Someone eventually had to whisper into his ear that it maybe in the name of the church that the indigenous people were made to suffer, but it was really for the benefit of the Caucasian settlers who were occupying their land illegally. That was how young Trudeau and his father before him got to be the head of the government of a country that is not theirs in the first place.

When Canada has set such a high bar in political humour, mocking others only to be exposed of their own ignorance, the best Sri Lanka can hope to set standard for would be bronze.

Shivanthi Ranasinghe

ranasingheshivanthi@gmail.com