[URBAN NOTE] "Toronto’s Tibetan community eagerly await a potentially historic election"

[rfmcdonald]

Aparita Bhandari's article in The Globe and Mail noting the ongoing elections for the Tibet government-in-exile being held in Toronto, home to one of the largest Tibetan communities outside of Asia, was enlightening.

A young, upstart candidate for prime minister was rousing the support of a new generation of voters. A day before Canadians made their final decisions that eventually saw Justin Trudeau become this country’s leader, another election, in which a new candidate was challenging the old guard, enthralled a thousand-plus voters in Toronto’s Tibetan community. They cast their ballots for representatives of a parliamentary body much closer to their hearts: that of a new Tibetan government in exile.

The distance from Toronto to Lhasa may be 11,800 kilometres, or a 33-hour flight, but Tibet is a constant state of mind for its diaspora. More than 80,000 Tibetans across the world participated in a preliminary round of voting to choose candidates for the positions of sikyong (prime minister) and chitue (members of parliament) that make up the 44-person parliament in exile. The final list of candidates will be announced on Dec. 2, with the ultimate election taking place next March to decide the new leadership based out of Dharamsala, India. It is only the second such election since the Dalai Lama stepped down as head of what’s known as the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA).

Toronto is home to the largest Tibetan community in Canada, and second largest in North America after New York. At the Tibetan Canadian Cultural Centre in Etobicoke, the lineup grew quickly after the doors to the main hall opened, past the colourful prayer flags and giant dharma wheels. A group of older women in dark chuba robes and striped pangden aprons offered Tibetan sweet tea to people waiting patiently to fill out the two forms.

“White is for sikyong, green is for chitue,” volunteer clerk Kalsang Dholker explained to a voter after checking his green book, an official document issued by the CTA, and crossing his name off the list. It’s been nearly two years since Ms. Dholker, 39, arrived in Canada as a refugee, leaving her husband and children in India as it’s difficult for Tibetans living there to obtain family visas.

“We don’t have recognition as a nation. It’s important to feel Tibetan,” she said with a grim smile. “For us, this day to vote, it’s very important.”