Mr. Speaker, today I rise to congratulate Penpa Tsering on his decisive re-election as Sikyong, or leader, of the Central Tibetan Administration, Tibet's government in exile. More than 51,000 Tibetans in 27 countries voted in this election, a testament to the strength of Tibetan democracy.
The hunger of Tibetans for self-determination, a right unanimously recognized by this House in 2024, will also be on display on the streets tomorrow morning in Taiaiako'n—Parkdale—High Park. Tibetan Canadian youth, students and women's activists will begin a walk from Parkdale to the Chinese consulate to mark the Tibetan national uprising.
On March 10, 1959, tens of thousands of Tibetans in Lhasa rose up in peaceful opposition to occupation and were met with a brutal crackdown, claiming countless lives and forcing His Holiness the Dalai Lama and generations of Tibetans into lifelong exile. Inside Tibet, Tibetans are suffering a new form of oppression through colonial-style residential boarding schools, which are depriving as many as one million young Tibetans from connection to their family, language and culture.
Canada joins Tibetans and supporters around the world, guided by the Dalai Lama and his middle way approach, in steadfast support of Tibetans' right to self-determination.