Ottawa, February 5, 2020: Representative of Office of Tibet in Washington DC Mr. Ngodup Tsering and CTC director Sherap Therchin called on Canadian parliamentarians, think tanks and top international diplomats in Ottawa to support human rights and democratic freedoms of the Tibetan people.
The series of meetings over two days included a meeting with over 25 Members of Parliament representing all major political parties where Representative Ngodup Tsering and Canada Tibet Committee’s director Sherap Therchin congratulated the MPs for their successful election and return to Parliamentary Friends of Tibet (PFT) group. Among those returning to the PFT group after the federal election in October 2019 are Liberal MP Arif Virani as chair of the group, MP Garnett Genuis as vice-chair representing Conservative Party of Canada, MP Randall Garrison as vice-chair representing New Democratic Party, and MP James Maloney as vice-chair representing Liberal Party of Canada. Two new executive members are joining the group as vice-chairs: MP Alexis Brunel-Duceppe representing Bloc Québécois and MP Paul Manly representing the Green Party of Canada. The participating MPs across all party lines expressed their commitment to take a stand against China’s discriminatory policies in Tibet and to broker negotiations between the representatives of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and China through various parliamentary procedures.
Accompanied by the president of Ottawa Tibetan Community Association Mr. Lobsang Tsewang, the delegates also met with Senator Thanh Hai Ngo to discuss the next steps of strengthening Tibet advocacy at the Canadian Senate and to thank him for his incredible support to Tibet issues. Last year, Senator Ngo hosted Sikyong Dr. Lobsang Sangay to testify before the Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade and introduced a motion on Tibet calling for Canada’s support to CTA’s Middle Way Approach and reciprocal access to Tibet.
As part of reaching out to Canadian think tanks, Representative Ngodup Tsering and CTC director Sherap Therchin met with Communications Director of Macdonald-Laurier Institute Mr. David Watson, and the co-executive director of Women’s Nobel Initiative Ms. Liz Bernstein. Macdonald-Laurier Institute, a key think tank in Canada-China policies, has been instrumental in promoting awareness about China’s record of human rights violations. Women’s Nobel Initiative has led a delegation of women Nobel laureates to meet His Holiness the Dalai Lama in past.
Representative Ngodup Tsering and Sherap also met with Taiwanese ambassador in Ottawa Mr. Winston Wen-yi Chen todiscuss the commonly shared values of democracy and human rights.
Concluding the series of important meetings in Ottawa, the President of Ottawa Tibetan Community Association Lobsang Tsewang hosted a thank-you dinner to Representative Ngodup Tsering for his commitment and hard work in promoting Tibet issues.