Ottawa: Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration, rounded off his four-day engagement in Ottawa from 20-23 November, 2023 with a series of meetings with Parliamentarians, government officials, think tank representatives, community organisations and a media interview.
As part of his engagements, the democratically-elected leader held back-to-back meetings with 32 Members of the Canadian Parliament across all political parties, including four Cabinet Ministers: Minister Arif Virani, Minister Dominic LeBlanc, Minister Kamal Khera, and Minister Gary Anandasangaree. Moreover, Sikyong met with the co-chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet, MP Garnett Genuis and MP James Maloney and held discussions with MP Rob Oliphant, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and MP Anita Vandenbeld, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of International Development.
During a meeting with Leader of the Bloc Quebecois, Yves-Francois Blanchet, and MPs Alexis Brunelle-Duceppe and Julie Vignola, Sikyong discussed ways in which the party could bolster Canada’s support for Tibet.
Sikyong met with Canada’s Speaker of the House, The Honourable Greg Fargus who was congratulated on his election and apprised of the current situations of human rights in Tibet.
Similarly, Sikyong also held discussions with officials from Canada’s Foreign Ministry – Global Affairs Canada, on the current human rights situation in Tibet, including the forced separation of Tibetan children into boarding schools and concerns regarding religious freedom for the Tibetan people.
Furthermore, Sikyong also engaged with public policy think tanks, meeting with Goran Samuel Pesic, the chair of the Policy Insights Forum, facilitated by Anvesh Jain, a former associate of the Policy Insights Forum and a friend of Tibet.
In his interactions with the members of the Tibetan community in Ottawa which form a core part of his engagements, Sikyong briefed them on the Central Tibetan Administration’s ongoing efforts to strengthen global Tibet advocacy and to gain insights into the state of Tibetan language and cultural learning opportunities in Ottawa.
Sikyong concluded his final day of engagements in Ottawa on 23 November to attend a luncheon with MPs James Maloney, John McKay, Scott Anderson, Judy Sgro, Anita Vandenbeld, and Julie Vignola.
Sikyong Penpa Tsering was accompanied by Representative Dr. Namgyal Choedup of the Office of Tibet, Washington DC and Sherap Therchin, Director of the Canada Tibet Committee, during his engagements.