A national Tibetan student group is calling a China tourism advertisement on some Toronto Transit Commission vehicles disgraceful and is demanding the posters be taken down.
The advertisement, which was brought to the attention of Students for a Free Tibet last week, displays a black-and-white picture of a Tibetan landscape to a more modern and developed Tibet.
The student group said a letter has been sent to TTC CEO Andy Byford asking for the posters to be pulled.
“The ad in question is a propaganda ad sponsored by the Chinese government through the China National Tourist Office that reads ‘Old Culture’ and ‘New Tibet,'” Sonam Chokey, national director for Students for a Free Tibet, wrote in the letter.
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“This racist ad violates the Ontario Human Rights Code because it paints Tibetans as backwards and underdeveloped, and disregards the military invasion that resulted in decades of violent crackdowns and oppression of my people.”
The group goes on to say that the ad sends “problematic messages” and offends Tibetans on their daily commute.
“All of this is extremely offensive to Tibetans such as myself, as I am a former refugee whose father had to flee Tibet during China’s invasion,” Chokey said.
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The TTC said it can review the ad after five complaints but maintains not liking an ad’s message or being offended by an ad is not enough to reject it.
“The Supreme Court of Canada, in fact, has ruled that transit systems must accept advertising that some may deem controversial in an open and democratic society,” TTC spokesman Brad Ross said in an email.
Toronto is home to the largest Tibetan community in Canada with the latest Statistics Canada data showing 4,245 Tibetan-Canadians living in the city in 2011.
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