Ottawa, June 12, 2024: On June 10, 2024, the annual Canada Tibet Lobby Day was marked with participation from 15 Members of Parliament and 45 delegates from Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. These delegates represented various Tibetan organizations, including the Regional Tibetan Youth Congress Toronto, Voluntary Tibet Advocacy Group Canada (V-TAG Canada), Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario, Chushi Gangdruk Canada, Tibetan Women’s Association of Ontario, Students for a Free Tibet Toronto, and Ottawa Tibetan Cultural Association.
During the Lobby Day, delegates met with MPs to discuss pressing human rights issues in Tibet. Key topics included the arrest of 1,000 Tibetans protesting dam construction in Kham Dege, the forced assimilation of Tibetan children into residential schools, and extensive surveillance in Tibet. They also presented a letter urging Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to support these concerns, including a motion in support of the Tibetan people’s right to self-determination.
The participating MPs represented all five political parties in Canada. Notable attendees included MP James Maloney, the newly elected chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet (PFT); MP Garnet Genuis and MP Julie Vignola, elected as Vice-Chairs of the PFT. Other supportive MPs included Michael Chong, Gord Johns, John McKay, Scot Davidson, Yvan-Baker, Ziad Aboultaif, Sameer Zuberi, Anita Vandenbeld, Elizabeth May, Ali Ehsassi, and Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe. MP Brunelle-Duceppe introduced a motion on Tibet’s right to self-determination, which received unanimous consent.
The motion acknowledges Tibetans as “a people and a nation” with the right to determine their social, economic, cultural, and religious policies, including the selection of the next Dalai Lama. This significant milestone followed extensive meetings by Sikyong Penpa Tsering, Representative Dr. Namgyal Choedup, and Canada Tibet Committee’s Samphe Lhalungpa and Sherap Therchin with Bloc Quebecois leaders, including Yves-Francois Blanchet, Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe, and Julie Vignola in Montreal, Ottawa, and Washington, D.C.
The eventful day concluded with speeches, food, and dance at a reception organized by the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet and Tibetan interns participating in a seven-week annual internship program in Ottawa. The reception was coordinated by Phuntsok Wangmo and Kelsang Tsomo from the office of the newly elected PFT Chair MP James Maloney, and outgoing chair and Minister Arif Virani, with support from the Ottawa Tibetan Cultural Association and Samphe Lhalungpa.
Prior to the event in Ottawa, members of V-TAG Canada organized a two-day workshop on advocacy, featuring an impressive lineup of speakers, including Dr. Namgyal Choedup, Dr. Tashi Rabgay, Dr. Gyalo, Phuntsok Wangmo, Winnie Ng, Tenzin Kunkhen, Tsultrim Gyatso, Gaphel Kongtsa, and Sherap Therchin. The workshop was hosted by V-TAG Canada’s coordinator, Namdol Tenzin, Tenzin Wangmo, and the team, supported by the Office of Tibet, Washington DC, Canadian Tibetan Association of Ontario and the Canada Tibet Committee.
