It is my honour to welcome to Queen’s Park the president of the Central Tibetan Administration, the honourable Sikyong Penpa Tsering. Joining him are Namgyal Choedup, representative of his Holiness the Dalai Lama and the Office of Tibet in Washington, DC; and Mr. Sherap Therchin, executive director of the Canada Tibet Committee. Welcome.

It is my pleasure to welcome the new executive committee members of the Tibetan Women’s Association of Ontario. They are Tsela Wangmo, president; Yangchen Dolma, vice-president; Tenzing Yangchen and Yeshi Choedon, secretaries and program coordinators; Migmar Lhamo, accountant; Lobsang Dolma, treasurer; Kyipa Tsering, religious coordinator; Dolma Dolma and Rinzing Wangmo, cultural and Lhakar coordinators. Welcome to Queen’s Park.

March 10 this year marks the 65th anniversary of the Tibetan people’s uprising against China’s illegal occupation of Tibet in 1959. Today, Tibet remains an occupied territory under tight military surveillance.

Since 2008, over 160 Tibetans have self-immolated to protest China’s repressive policies. UN experts have raised alarms about the forced separation of one million Tibetan children from their families for assimilation into Chinese colonial boarding schools.

Just recently, more than a thousand Tibetans were arrested in one day in Derge county, as there were unprecedented protests against the construction of a hydroelectric dam on the Drichu River by the Chinese government which would force the displacement of thousands. This proposed dam would also cause significant environmental harm and destroy six monasteries, including submerging the Wontod monastery, founded in the 14th century, which has one of the finest examples of Tibetan Buddhist murals, and is of great historical and cultural significance.

Even to see footage of these protests on social media is incredibly rare, as Tibet has consistently been ranked as one of the least free countries in the world by Freedom House, with little to no information making its way out.

Tibetans inside Tibet have shown extraordinary courage. Language, culture, history and identity is under threat in Tibet, but resistance is as strong as ever.

I strongly condemn the brutal crackdown and urge the international community to call on China to free the protesters and halt the construction of the dam.

I’d like to give a very warm welcome to my guest, Tenzin Choezin. She is a member of the 17th Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile and the youngest MP in the history of the Central Tibetan Administration. Welcome.

It is my distinct honour to welcome Dhondup Wangchen to the Legislature today. He is a Tibetan filmmaker who became a political prisoner for six years for his documentary Leaving Fear Behind. He was named an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience and is the recipient of the International Press Freedom Award. Speaker, I worked on the campaign to free him, and I can’t believe he’s in the House today. Joining him is Youngdoung Tenzin, who is an executive member of the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre.

Before I do my introductions, I’d like to share with the House that today is Losar, Tibetan new year, and I’d like to wish Tibetans in Ontario and across the world a very happy new year. Losar Tashi Delek.

Speaker, in the galleries I have my OLIP intern, Téah U-Ming; placement student from University of Toronto, Alex Boross-Harmer; and my new constituency assistant, Margarita Tsetsekas.