- Member of Parliament
- Minister of Justice
Attorney General of Canada
- Liberal
- Parkdale—High Park
- Ontario
- Voting Attendance: 64%
- Expenses Last Quarter: $120,537.19
- Government Page
- Apr/19/23 2:06:05 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, the Panchen Lama plays a critical role in Tibetan Buddhism as the person who recognizes the reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama. He also bears the distinction of being the youngest political prisoner in the world. Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was taken by the Chinese government at age six, and has never been seen since. That was 28 years ago. Despite demands from the international community, the PRC has continuously refused to reveal the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama.
Tenzin Thupten Rabgyal, the abbot of the Tashi Lhunpo Monastery, the official seat of the Panchen Lama, will be here in Ottawa this week to speak about the seizure of the Panchen Lama in 1995 and the subsequent seizure of over one million Tibetan children placed by the Chinese government into residential schools, where they are deprived of their language, their culture and their religion.
The human rights violations against Tibetan Buddhists in the PRC must stop. As we approach the 34th birthday of the Panchen Lama, I ask all parliamentarians to join with me in calling for his immediate release.
Thu-chi che.
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- Dec/13/22 11:03:14 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I appreciate the contribution of the member opposite.
With the Constitution of Canada, which dates back over 150 years, and with the changes that were made regarding the province that my colleague represents and all the other provinces, we have a way of managing the federation that gives the provinces a lot of power. That is what the Tibetans are looking for.
For example, Quebec has immigration rights. That is the kind of control and power that Tibet is looking for. It wants the same thing for its economy, culture and religion. If Canada can be example to the rest of the world in conflicts like this, it will help to resolve problems in a non-violent manner.
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- Dec/13/22 11:00:59 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I thank the member opposite for his contributions today and on many other occasions, on this issue and many others, in terms of holding the Chinese regime accountable.
In terms of Magnitsky sanctions, it is right to note that the legislation was passed in the 42nd Parliament. There was a gradual uptake in terms of leveraging the Magnitsky sanctions. They have been used extensively vis-à-vis Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, but I will agree with the member that it needs to be leveraged a bit more widely.
I was happy to see sanctions being imposed on certain Chinese actors with respect to what is taking place. We know there are a number of concerns that need to be addressed. I mentioned many of them in my statement, and I hope that with the launch of the Indo-Pacific strategy, we are more forthright with respect to what the Chinese regime represents and how sanctions can be applied to address numerous human rights concerns in that part of the world.
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- Dec/13/22 10:49:46 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I would like to start by acknowledging the news we heard yesterday about the passing of the member from Winnipeg. Jim Carr was an incredible parliamentarian and an incredible colleague. He will be dearly missed by all of us in this chamber and by all Canadians.
I also wanted to acknowledge that today is Khushali. To all the Ismaili Canadians, like myself, who are celebrating Aga Khan's birthday, I say Khushali Mubarak.
To all of the Tibetans in my community of Parkdale—High Park, to Tibetans across Canada and to Tibetans around the planet who are tuning into today's debate, tashi delek.
Today is a very important occasion because we are debating, in Canada's Parliament, the issue of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue. It comes at a momentous time. Just three days ago, we celebrated Human Rights Day.
December 10 is also the 33rd anniversary of the day on which the Dalai Lama was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. That prize was awarded to him by the Nobel committee because the Dalai Lama made significant contributions then to peace making, and he continues to make significant contributions now. Fundamental in his approach of compassion and reconciliation is the idea of dialogue.
Today, we are talking about the Sino-Tibetan dialogue. That dialogue was, at one time, quite robust. Between the period of 2002 to 2010, there were nine rounds of discussions held between representatives of the Tibetan people and representatives of the People's Republic of China in various parts of the world, such as in parts of Europe and in Beijing.
Since January 2010, since the ninth round of discussions, nothing has happened in this dialogue. It has clearly stalled. For 12 years, we have been waiting for this dialogue to resume. It is my fundamental conviction that dialogue is the only way forward, and that is what His Holiness is constantly talking about.
The way forward is not through confrontation. The way forward is not through military conflict. The way forward is through dialogue. What is important in debates like today's is that China needs to understand that Liberal, democratic nations of the world, the countries of the west, are calling for that dialogue to resume. Canada is calling for that dialogue to resume.
What needs to be resolved? Three fundamental things need to be resolved through the Sino-Tibetan dialogue, and these are things that I have learned about extensively from the thousands of Tibetan Canadians who I have the privilege to represent in my community of Parkdale—High Park.
The first is basic linguistic freedom. It is the ability to use, to learn and to cultivate the Tibetan language itself. Instead, right now we have quite a frightening phenomenon of colonial boarding schools in China. They are schools where children are forcibly housed away from their families.
Recent reports say that between 800,000 to 900,000 Tibetan children under the age of 18 are being forcibly removed from their families; housed in schools; prevented from speaking, learning or cultivating their Tibetan language skills; and are being forced to learn Mandarin.
If that sounds eerily familiar, it should be to any Canadian who knows about our own history with the residential school system. We are only now coming to grips with reimbursement, making reparations and coming to grips with the devastating legacy of the residential school system in this country. I shudder to think that the same could be occurring, as we speak, in China.
The second main point about the Sino-Tibetan dialogue is to talk about cultural freedom. This is the freedom not to be subsumed under dominant, Han Chinese culture, but instead to be able to celebrate the rich, historic and profound culture of the Tibetan people, which dates back to antiquity.
That flourishing of the culture must not be monetized, as we are seeing with tourist tours occurring at the Potala Palace in Lhasa. Instead, it must be celebrated in a legitimate manner by the Tibetan people themselves.
Third is religious freedom, the freedom of worship. That includes the freedom of Tibetans, which they rightfully have and must have, to openly practice Tibetan Buddhism within the Tibet Autonomous Region and to openly display pictures of His Holiness the Dalai Lama in their homes and in their communities.
I want to talk about the number of self-immolations that have been occurring. Since the winding down of that dialogue in 2010 to this year, 159 Tibetans have self-immolated. This is their only means of protesting. They are sacrificing their lives in such a graphic manner to protest the current discrimination and human rights abuses that people face in Tibet right now. That is a shocking statistic.
We heard the parliamentary secretary speak about the visit of Dominic Barton to the Tibet Autonomous Region. We know from reports that we have gathered through our own intelligence that, right now in Lhasa, in and around the Potala Palace, when we see security officers, we are more likely to see them carrying a fire extinguisher than a firearm. Why is that? It is because the Chinese security police and police officials are so concerned about the potential for more self-immolations. This is glaring evidence of the depth of the problem, that people are taking their own lives as a form of protest against the discrimination that continues to occur.
We heard the parliamentary secretary just advocating for something called the middle way approach. This is critical to understanding what we are talking about. This is not about separatism. This is not about clamouring for revolution or independence. This is about seeking autonomy for a group of people within the People's Republic of China. It would be within the federation of China, within the Chinese Constitution.
What they are looking for is a middle way that lies between two different sort of goals. It seeks genuine autonomy for all Tibetans living in three traditional provinces. It is non-partisan. It is a moderate position that safeguards the vital interests of people to preserve their culture, their religion and their national identity.
What is important is that it would relate to things like autonomy over religion, culture, education, economy, health, ecology and environmental protections. If that sounds familiar, it is because it is. It is the kind of decentralized federation we already have here in Canada, the kinds of authorities we already bestow upon provinces. That is what the middle way approach seeks. It is critical in understanding, and that understanding could be fostered only through a resumption of the dialogue.
Our government has been supportive in the past. We have heard talk about the first wave of Tibetans coming to this country in 1971, and there have been renewed efforts since then. We have had work happening on the ground, both in the Tibetan region and in other parts of South Asian, with entities such as Agriteam Canada. We have been dealing with the funding and development needs of the Tibetan diaspora in places such as India and Nepal. I personally was very happy and proud to be able to advocate with success for $5 million of development assistance that we delivered in the 42nd Parliament to the Tibetan diaspora in India.
We have also been vocal in our defence of human rights in calling out human rights violations. Members have heard about we did at the Human Rights Council in June 2021. In March 2021, at the 46th session of the Human Rights Council, we expressed deep concerns about what is happening with the custody of Tibetans. In November 2018, at the UN Human Rights Council, during China's universal periodic review, we called on China to end the prosecution and persecution on the basis of religion or belief, including for Tibetan Buddhists.
These are critical steps that we are taking, but we know that these steps have only become more difficult because of the aggressive positioning of the current government in China under Premier Xi. It has become a disruptive power, and we know that. Our approach is to have eyes wide open.
There are many reasons to be concerned about the basic protections not being afforded to minorities in the People's Republic of China. We could talk about Uighurs, the Falun Gong, the crushing of the dissenters in Hong Kong, but critical amongst these causes is one of the oldest struggles, and that is the struggle for basic human rights on the part of the Tibetan people. The Global Affairs Canada response to this foreign affairs committee report noted some of the actions we are taking.
We are continuing to monitor the cases of human rights defenders and seeking participation in trials. As I spoke about in my last intervention, we are seeking unhindered future access into the region, both for UN officials, Government of Canada officials and for the Tibetan people themselves. The whereabouts of the Panchen Lama need to be resolved. Canada has also been unequivocal in this regard. The Panchen Lama, when he was taken in 1998, was the youngest political prisoner on Earth at age six. He has never been seen in public since 1998. The whereabouts of Gedhun Choekyi Nyima must be assured.
I will add another matter that must be resolved, and that is the issue of religious of succession. I am speaking about the sovereign right of a religious community to determine their next incarnation of the 15th Dalai Lama, when that becomes necessary. That is a decision for Buddhist leaders and not for the Communist Party of China. I will be unequivocal in taking that position.
What I would say in conclusion is that my job as the member of Parliament for Parkdale—High Park, my job as the chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Tibet group, is to make good on the commitment I made directly to His Holiness the Dalai Lama when I had the privilege of meeting him in March 2018. He said to me, “Make sure that the world in the west does not forget my people and our cause.” What I say to him is,
[Member spoke in Tibetan]
[English]
This means that I will not forget the Tibetan cause.
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- Dec/13/22 10:46:35 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, I note that, in the Indo-Pacific strategy document, there is specific reference to human rights concerns in China and specific reference to the plight of Tibetans. I note that because it is important that our government is taking note of that.
Could the parliamentary secretary comment on reciprocal access and access to the Tibetan region? That is something that did exist at one point in time, when Canada was providing development funds into the TAR, but it has since ceased.
Could he comment upon the issue of accessing the Tibetan region, particularly where Canadian funds are being spent through international development assistance?
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- Oct/24/22 8:12:01 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I will be sharing my time with the member for Pierrefonds—Dollard.
Today is Diwali. I want to first of all wish my wife and two boys, who are celebrating tonight in Toronto, a happy Diwali. Diwali is the festival of light. It is the triumph of light over darkness. When we talk about light over darkness, I think that is actually an apt metaphor for what we are talking about today. We are talking about shedding light on a global situation that has thus far not garnered enough international attention from western governments, literally across the board.
I am speaking about the debate we are having this evening about the deplorable human rights situation of Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in East Turkestan. I use that term quite deliberately, because part of the propaganda exercised by the People's Republic of China is to refer to this area as Xinjiang or the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, but for the folks who live there and have made it their home for many years, it is known as East Turkestan.
The situation is outright deplorable. We have heard commentary in this vein thus far in tonight's debate. It is an outright attack on religion under the auspices of rooting out extremism. We have heard reference to the subcommittee on international human rights, and I want to go to a report that was done not one Parliament, but two Parliaments ago by that subcommittee. It was rendered on December 19, 2018, by the subcommittee on international human rights. I am going to read part of a section of the report that talked about what was taking place. This was four years ago, and we know that the situation has only worsened since.
In section A, paragraph 3, the report reads:
While prohibitions on outward displays of religion had formerly applied only to public sector workers and to students, “now, an entire religion is criminalized.” Witnesses described prohibitions on a wide array of religious practices or expressions of Islam through anti-terror legislation. This includes a prohibition on facial hair and religious clothing. Individuals with names bearing religious significance have been forced to change their names. Qurans, religious literature and prayer mats kept at home are confiscated. Keeping Islamic dietary practices is prohibited. Halal signs are now illegal, and restaurants must stay open during Ramadan. It is also prohibited to teach Islam to children. Individuals have been detained for praying five times a day and for circulating religious text among family. Most mosques have been demolished; the Muslim call to prayer is no longer heard. Effectively, outward displays of faith among Uyghurs, Kazakhs and other Turkic Muslims in the XUAR have effectively stopped.
I read that out in its entirety because it carries a lot of impact in terms of helping members of this House to understand and in terms of helping Canadians watching these parliamentary proceedings to understand exactly what is transpiring. Again, this report was rendered at the end of December 2018.
We understand this attack on Muslims in the People's Republic as part of a broader sweep of attacks. I am sure that if they have not come up yet, they are going to come up in the context of tonight's debate: attacks on Hong Kong democracy protesters, attacks on people who dare to practise Falun Gong and are members of Falun Gong, attacks on Tibetan Buddhists, of whom I represent several thousand in my riding of Parkdale—High Park, whose linguistic, religious and cultural traditions are being repressed and actively attacked. That has been the status quo since 1959.
The repression of Tibetan religious practices dates back over 60 years. The repression, in its acute form, of Uighur Muslims dates over the last 20 years, also outlined in that subcommittee report.
What is interesting is that it also spills over, so we are not talking just about an internal domestic situation within the People's Republic of China. There is pressure exercised on nations that are largely dependent economically on China to deport Uighurs back to the PRC, so they can effectively undergo persecution under the guise of re-education. There is targeting of Uighurs here in Canada, Uighurs like Mehmet Tohti, whose name has been mentioned before, who dare to speak up or to try to reach out and contact their loved ones, who have effectively disappeared into camps in China.
There is the targeting of others here, such as Tibetans, some of whom are my constituents. One of them, whom I want to mention by name, has decided not to be silenced and not to let attacks or surveillance or harassment or bullying diminish her voice. In fact, that woman, even today, is running for municipal office in the city of Toronto.
Her name is Chemi Lhamo. She is a former intern who served in my office. She is a very proud Tibetan Canadian and a very strong advocate. I salute her for having the courage to not be silenced but to continue to advocate for the causes she believes in and for seeking public office this very evening through a city council seat in Parkdale—High Park.
The human rights violations also raise grave concerns because they harken back to a different time. What am I speaking about here? I am speaking about the massive detention camps that we have learned about through human rights accounts, through parliamentary studies and through the debates that are entering this chamber this very evening. These detention camps are occurring as we speak in the People's Republic of China, housing, by some accounts, hundreds of thousands of Uighurs. By other accounts, over a million Uighurs are being housed in these detention camps.
People have used the term “concentration camps”. That harkens back to only one thing for every one of us in this chamber. That harkens back to World War II Europe and the devastation and horrific human rights abuses that were wrought by the Third Reich at that time, yet that is what we are talking about in 2022 on this planet in a country in Asia in the People's Republic of China.
What is taking place in these camps? Again, I am going to go back to this report. I am in chapter C, paragraph 17. It talks about these camps, political re-education camps. A witness named Mr. Byler described sessions where detainees were forced to publicly denounce their past crimes such as studying the Quran, learning Arabic or travelling abroad. Those who did not fully comply faced harsh punishment, including psychological measures designed to break the detainees, including the targeting of their families, their masculinity or forcing them to eat pork.
I want members to digest that. I apologize for the pun, but it is the idea of openly violating a person's religious traditions in the name of re-educating someone out of their Islamic practices, in violation of strict religious dietary laws. The punishments include beatings, stress positions and isolation. This is what is transpiring right now. This is what we are speaking about.
In these final few minutes, I want to talk about the reproductive rights of people in East Turkestan. We have heard about forced sterilization. Forced sterilization and, indeed, forced abortions were cited by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in a report that is dated this year, August 22, 2022. What they talk about is forced sterilization.
We have heard about the definition of genocide. I am going to cite it now. I do this having been a UN war crimes prosecutor on the Rwandan genocide. I think it is important to turn back to how genocide is defined. A genocide is defined in the UN convention under article II as “any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group” and then it lists five different indicia. The fourth is “Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group”.
There is only one way to characterize a forced sterilization or a forced abortion. The rates of population growth among Uighurs in East Turkestan are one-sixth of what they are in the rest of the People's Republic of China. We know what is going on. If that can be proven as evidence and successfully prosecuted, that amounts to genocide. That is why this debate is important. That is why what this motion calls for is important.
Let me finish on this motion because it calls for understanding the pressure that Uighurs in third countries are facing in terms of their fear of deportation and making sure that Canadian immigration measures are supple and flexible enough to accept these individuals. I say this quite emotionally. We heard the member opposite talk about those who have faced safe haven or received safe haven in this country. I include myself among those persons. Fifty years ago, I came here as a Ugandan Asian refugee at the age of 10 months, fleeing the persecution of a guy named Idi Amin Dada, who decided that there was no place for Asians in Uganda at that time. If Canada did not open its doors then, I would not be standing here today.
Canada has a moral duty and an obligation to ensure we continue that humanitarian tradition. Doing so through immigration measures, such as those being proposed today, is one way we can do exactly that and show the world that the persecution being faced by Uighurs and other Turkic Muslims in the People's Republic is unjust and cannot be countenanced. To go back to the metaphor of light over darkness, that is the light that we need to shine today.
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- May/5/22 2:06:26 p.m.
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Mr. Speaker, I rise today to welcome Mr. Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong, or president, of the Central Tibetan Administration. Tashi delek.
He is here to spread awareness about the lack of linguistic, religious and cultural freedoms for Tibetans. He is here to advocate for the middle way, an approach crafted by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, which simply seeks genuine autonomy for Tibet within the framework of the People's Republic of China.
The Sikyong is here calling for a resumption for the Sino-Tibetan dialogue, and he is here to raise awareness about the whereabouts of the Panchen Lama. At the time of his abduction by the CCP in 1995, Gedhun Choekyi Nyima was six years old, making him the youngest political prisoner in the entire world. He has not been seen in public for 27 years.
Today in Parliament, the Sikyong is accompanied by the venerable Tenzin Rabgyal, the abbot of the Panchen Lama Monastery. I ask all members of the House to take up the cause of Tibetans' struggle for basic human rights and to join me in welcoming these two Tibetan leaders. To them I say thu-chi che.
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- Dec/10/21 11:06:45 a.m.
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Madam Speaker, tashi dalek. I rise today to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to his Holiness the Dalai Lama in 1989.
His Holiness is an honorary Canadian citizen and a global symbol of peace, compassion and harmony as a spiritual leader of six million Tibetans.
I had the privilege of meeting His Holiness in India in 2018. In that meeting, he asked me to ensure that elected leaders around the world would not forget about Tibet and the cause of Tibetan linguistic, cultural and religious freedoms.
Today, on this international Human Rights Day, I renew the commitment I made to His Holiness then; that I will continue to champion the cause of the Tibetan people, a resumption of the Sino-Tibetan dialogue and the middle way approach, an approach that seeks nothing more than greater autonomy for Tibet within China, based on the concepts of equality and mutual co-operation.
For His Holiness the Dalai Lama, thuchi che, ka drin che for all that he has done, not just for the Tibetan people but for the global community, and promoting the cause of peace and pluralism
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