MONTREAL, March 4 – A group of fifteen prominent Canadians sent a letter today to Prime Minister Paul Martin, urging him to meet with the Dalai Lama when he visits Ottawa in April. The fifteen, who make up the Advisory Committee of the visit, include representatives from Canada’s first nations, business, non-governmental, labour and entertainment communities such as Alanis Morissette, Alexandre (Sacha)Trudeau and Ed Broadbent.
The Canada Tibet Committee (CTC), the host organization for the visit, has requested a meeting between the PM and the Dalai Lama, but there has been no response to date. The letter by the members of the Advisory Committee asks the Prime Minister to ensure that the Canadian government “…receives the Dalai Lama with the highest level of respect due a person of his stature.” The Dalai Lama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989, visits Ottawa from April 21-24, 2004.
“The diversity of the committee reflects the broad-based support for Tibet among Canadians,” said Thubten Samdup, National President of the (CTC). “We hope that this will motivate the Canadian government to take concrete action on the issue of Tibet.”
As part of the CTC’s Tibet-China Negotiation Campaign, more than 130 Members of Parliament have requested the Prime Minister to broker a negotiated solution between representatives of the Dalai Lama and China. The CTC initiated the campaign to rally parliamentarians’ support for a peaceful resolution of the Tibet issue.
The April visit will be the Dalai Lama’s fourth visit to Canada and second to Ottawa. He has not met with the acting Prime Minister of Canada during those past visits. Over the last few years, the Dalai Lama has met other prominent heads of states including George W. Bush, Tony Blair and Bill Clinton.
The Canada Tibet Committee (CTC) is an independent non-governmental organisation of Tibetans and non-Tibetans living in Canada, who are concerned about the continuing human rights violations and lack of democratic freedom in Tibet.
