Ottawa, May 11, 2023 – The annual Canada Tibet Lobby Day was marked by a renewed call for the continued support of human rights in Tibet. This appeal was made by members of the Tibetan community and their supporters from Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal to Members of Parliament (MPs) in Ottawa.
The event, coordinated by Canada’s national Tibet advocacy group, the Canada Tibet Committee, saw the participation of 34 delegates representing six distinct organizations. These included the Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario, Tibetan Women Association of Canada, Chushi Gangdruk Canada, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Toronto, Students for Free Tibet Canada, and the Ottawa Tibetan Cultural Association. The delegates engaged in dialogue with ten MPs, ensuring representation from each of the five national political parties. Many of the consulted MPs also sit on the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, and the Subcommittee on International Human Rights.
The central appeal of the Tibet Lobby Day was to urge the appointment of a Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues. This call builds on Canada’s historical and ongoing support for Tibet, including a unanimous motion supporting the resumption of Sino-Tibetan dialogue adopted by Parliament on December 14th, 2022 and the recent study conducted by the Parliamentary Subcommittee on International Human Rights into China’s residential boarding schools in Tibet.
Beyond seeking the appointment of a Special Coordinator, the delegates voiced concerns about numerous human rights issues affecting Tibetans. These include the forced separation of up to one million Tibetan children from their families and their subsequent enrollment in residential schools throughout Tibet, the compelled relocation of Tibetan nomads without consultation or compensation, and the numerous reports of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, and mass DNA collection for state surveillance.
The call for action against these egregious violations of human rights in Tibet, along with the request for the appointment of a Special Coordinator at the Global Affairs Canada, was supported by all MPs the delegates consulted during the Lobby Day. This list includes the Chair of Parliamentary Friends of Tibet MP Arif Virani, Vice-Chair MP Garnett Genuis, Vice-Chair MP James Maloney, MPs John McKay, Julie Vignola, Anita Vandenbeld, Sameer Zuberi, Elizabeth May, and Ziad Aboultaif. The formal request will be shared with additional MPs in the following days and ultimately submitted to The Honourable Melanie Joly, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Canada.
Primary ask for the Tibet Lobby Day: https://canadatibet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Primary-ask-Tibet-Lobby-Day-2023.pdf
Briefing on human rights situations in Tibet: https://canadatibet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Human-rights-situations-2023.pdf
By Sherap Therchin