Ottawa – Canadian MP Garnett Genuis introduced a motion on Tuesday entitled "Resumption of the Sino-Tibetan Dialogue". The motion was unanimously adopted by members of the Canadian House of Commons on December 14, 2022. It supports the resumption of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue and the restoration of freedom for Tibetans.
Canadian MP Garnett Genuis introduced a motion entitled "Resumption of Sino-Tibetan Dialogue" on December 13, 2022 and had it unanimously adopted by Canadian MPs on December 14, 2022. The motion passed with 324 votes in favour.
The bill aims to support the self-determination of Tibetans without interference from the Chinese government, and the resumption of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue that has not been engaged since 2010.
In introducing the motion, MP Garnett Genuis asked the House to make a clear call on the future of Tibet by recognising the adoption of the Middle Way Approach and allowing dialogue between the representatives of the Tibetan people and the Chinese government to enable Tibetans to exercise their rights to self-determination through Genuine Autonomy.
The motion reads, “[We] call for dialogue between representatives of the Tibetan people (His Holiness the Dalai Lama or his representatives and or the Central Tibetan Administration) and the government of the People’s Republic of China with a view to enabling Tibet to exercise genuine autonomy within the framework of the Chinese constitution.”
MP Garnett introduced the same motion in the last parliamentary session in May 2022 and received a majority vote for its adoption. "And now, with this concurrence debate, the House plans to formally express its agreement with this motion. We finally have an opportunity for the Canadian House of Commons to take a decisive stand on the status of Tibet and make a clear call on the future of Tibet," he added.
Expressing his concern for the plight of Tibet under the oppressive regime, he urged the Canadian government and legislators to use their power to do what is right for Tibetans by passing the motion allowing Tibetans to exercise their right to self-determination and shape their future independently.
He also acknowledged that the Tibetan people's efforts for the Middle Way Approach constitute a realistic and effective resistance, which has been maintained over the past 60 years despite numerous efforts by the Chinese Communist Party to erase the Tibetan identity. In this context, he expressed the world's concern for Tibet and explicitly pledged to politically defend Tibet's efforts to resolve the Sino-Tibetan conflict through a Middle Way Approach. “Until the Tibetan people's aspirations for genuine Autonomy are met, Tibet's allies will not rest,” he said.
"We will not rest until dialogue between China and Tibet is resumed and a genuine Autonomy for Tibet is established, that gives freedom, democracy, human rights and self-determination for Tibetans," said MP Garnett Genuis.
The Tibetan community and activists organised a peaceful protest against the CCP on December 14, 2022, from the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa to the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa, Canada and called on China to respect human rights in Tibet and to resume the Sino-Tibetan Dialogue. They also held a reception for MP Garnett Genuis and other MPs for supporting and voting for the Resumption of the Sino-Tibetan Dialogue on December 14, 2022 and thanked those MPs who supported the Resumption of the Sino-Tibetan Dialogue Bill and who support justice and human rights in Tibet.
Canada Tibet Committee writes, "Tibetan Canadians are urging Parliament to actively support the long-stalled Sino-Tibetan dialogue and help resolve the 70-year-old international conflict. Community members from Canada expect all-party support for a parliamentary motion on a Sino-Tibetan dialogue that will be debated and voted on this week in the House of Commons. The last time any Tibetan motion received unanimous consent in the House of Commons was in 2007 when NDP MP Peggy Nash introduced a motion on the same topic – Canada’s support for the resumption of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue."
"Earlier this year, Tibetan activist Sangyal Kyab from Parkdale High Park, Toronto, went on cross-Canada cycling from Vancouver to Toronto to raise awareness about the ongoing human rights violations in Tibet and to ask for Canada’s support to negotiate a dialogue between the representatives of the Tibetan people and the Chinese government. It marked his third consecutive year of the long-distance rally for Tibet. In 2020 and 2021, Sangyal completed over 800km of peace walk (Toronto to Ottawa roundtrip) to bring the Canadian government’s attention to Tibet." they continues.
"Similarly, another group of activists led by Pema Kunga from Toronto completed a long-distance marathon covering a distance of more than 1,000 km from Toronto – Montreal – Ottawa and back to Toronto. They also called for Canada’s active support to the resumption of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue," they added.
"The calls for Canada’s support to Tibet come amidst the reports of growing human rights violations in Tibet, including the news of thousands of Tibet children being put into residential schools, an increase in arbitrary arrest and torture, forced relocation of Tibetan nomads, destruction of Tibetan heritages sites, and other forms of a systematic attack on Tibetan identity," they concluded.
