Group photo of Tibetan delegates with Arif Virani MP, Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet.

Ottawa: The Tibetan community in Canada marked the annual Tibet Lobby Day on 11 May with a renewed call for support from Canadian Members of Parliament – consisting of 10 MPs from all five national political parties – in Ottawa.

Honourable Canadian MPs who took part in the event include Arif Virani MP, James Maloney MP, Garnett Genies MP, Sameer Zuberi MP, Elizabeth May MP, Zaid Aboultaif MP, John McKay MP, Peter Julian(staff), Julie Vignola MP, and Anita Vandenbeld MP.

The representative of the Tibetan community in their appeal urged the MPs for their backup in the appointment of a special coordinator for Tibet in the Canadian government. Furthermore, the alarming reports of forced enrolment of more than 1 million Tibetan children in the residential schools which served as reeducation centres to fulfil the Communist Party of China’s sinicization policy, the concerning issues of mass DNA collection campaign to surveil Tibetans, and forced relocation of Tibetan nomads were also tabled by the Tibetan delegates during their dialogue with the MPs.

According to Kelsang Phuntsok, President of the Ontario Tibetan Association, “the participating MPs demonstrated their firm and continued support towards resolving the Tibet-China conflict. And ensured that they would discuss the matters with other MPs and report the same to the Prime Minister of Canada.”

The Tibet Lobby Day, coordinated by the Canada Tibet Committee (CTC) and Canadian Parliamentary Friends of Tibet, was participated by 34 Tibetan delegations representing Tibetan Associations of Toronto, Ontario, Ottawa and Montreal, along with the Regional Tibetan Women’s Association of Canada, Regional Tibetan Youth Congress of Toronto, Chushi Gangdruk and Students for Free Tibet.

-Report filed by Office of Tibet, Washington DC