Tibetan Administration Welcomes Honorary Canadian Citizenship for His Holiness
Friday, 23 June 2006, 10:00 AM
Dharamshala: The Central Tibetan Administration welcomes the decision of the House of Commons, Canada, to grant Honorary Canadian Citizen to His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
The motion to declare His Holiness the Dalai Lama an Honorary Citizen of Canada was unanimously approved on 22 June in the House of Commons. Members of Parliament agreed unanimously to a Conservative motion to grant the honour to the Tibetan spiritual leader.
It’s the third time Parliament has approved such a measure.
The only other honorary citizenships were bestowed on iconic South African leader Nelson Mandela, and on Raoul Wallenberg, credited with saving the lives of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Second World War.
His Holiness the Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit Vancouver in September – his second visit to Canada in as many years.
Below is the motion that was put forward by David Sweet, M.P. (Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale)
“That whereas Tenzin Gyatso, the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet, has been recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize as one of the world’s leading champions of peace and non-violence; and
Whereas His Holiness the Dalai Lama will visit Canada from September 9th to the 11th; and
Whereas this House has previously acknowledged historic visits to Canada by other leading champions of human dignity, such as Raoul Wallenberg and Nelson Mandela, by adopting motions granting them ‘Honourary Canadian Citizenship’;
Therefore, this House resolves to bestow the title ‘Honourary Canadian Citizen’ on His Holiness the Dalai Lama of Tibet.”
(www.tibet.net is the official website of the Central Tibetan Administration.)