Guest Report by Tenzin Dechen
When Bhutila Karpoche made history in 2018 becoming the first person of Tibetan heritage to be elected to public office in North America, it was a significant win for the Tibetan community in exile. Karpoche represents the riding of Parkdale—High Park in Toronto, home to the largest concentration of Tibetans outside of Asia, earning the area its unofficial nickname, “Little Tibet”.
Within three years of taking office, Bhutila has demonstrated what it means to have one of our own champion our cause and propel our movement forward. Thanks to her efforts, Bill 131 Tibetan Heritage Month Act became law in Ontario in September 2020. This July, the Tibetan community in Ontario will mark and celebrate the first ever Tibetan Heritage Month; a feat no other jurisdiction in the world has achieved.
The recognition of the month of July as Tibetan Heritage Month in Ontario is significant. The systematic destruction of Tibetan culture, heritage and way of life in Tibet makes this month all the more important. Tibetan Heritage Month provides an opportunity for Tibetans in exile to promote and preserve Tibet’s unique identity and cultural heritage. It is also an opportunity to educate future generations about the significant roles that Tibetan-Canadians have played and continue to play across Ontario. July was selected as Tibetan Heritage Month to honour His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama whose birthday is on July 6 as Tibetans mark Trungkar Deuchen.
Today, Ontario is home to over 8,000 Tibetans. The Tibetan community is no stranger to grassroots organizing bringing together tsokpas from the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre (TCCC) to Tibetan Women’s Association of Ontario (TWAO), Regional Tibetan Youth Congress (RTYC), Chushi Gangdruk, Canada Tibet Committee (CTC), and Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) Canada all gearing up to celebrate this historic month.
Throughout the month, there will be events celebrating Tibetan heritage through cultural performances, online concert, virtual panel discussions, a physically distanced film screening and more! For more information on Tibetan Heritage Month and events in July, please visit: www.tibetanheritagemonth.ca. All Tibetan Heritage Month celebrations will follow local COVID-19 protocols.
3 Responses
Good Job. Thankyou to all Ontarians, and ms. Bhutila Karpoche. Thankyou so much, thanks to PHAYUL for sponsoring and making this announcment. Thankyou too all.
When I saw Bhutila Karpoche first time in the Parkdale area in 2003 she was then just a high school student and appeared very brilliant. I was newly arrived refugee, very anxious, missing my only little daughter who was less than 9 years left in India. A country I have no idea at all, looking for survival job to support myself and worried about my old parents left over in remote northern Himalayas whose survival was on my shoulder. Job is very essential and ready to compromise with any sort of work. I saw her living with mother and other three siblings. Survival was quite tough for all handful newly migrated Tibetan refugees at the time but she invested her interest in learning more about Tibetan language and culture. I had a chance to teach her basic Tibetan language for only a short period of time. I never thought this brilliant girl would one day become a member of parliament in the Parkdale constituency. When Bhutila ran for election, it shocked me (positive way) and simultaneously glad to support her. She was selected one of the best MPs of the year by the Now Magazine, a journal based upon her performance in the parliament of the Ontario province. Bhutila proved that the Tibetan women have the capability to walk equally with all advance country’s female leaders shoulder to shoulder and set wonderful example. I was so happy when I heard the news that the parliament session approved the bill to announce every July, a month of Tibetan Heritage Month. It is all Bhutila’s great effort and valuable contribution for the cause of Tibet.
བོད་ཀྱི་རིག་གཞུང་གཅེས་ནོར་ཟླ་བ་མ་རེད་ བོད་ཀྱི་རིག་གཞུང་གཅེས་འཛིན་་ཟླ་བ་རེད།