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Dalai Lama welcomed with white cowboy hat in Calgary

The Canadian Press

Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier puts a white cowboy hat on Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in Calgary, Alberta, 30 September 2009. The White Hat ceremony is a Calgary tradition reserved for dignitaries and is a symbol of Calgary’s hospitality.Reuters/Pool/Canada

The Dalai Lama was welcomed to Calgary Wednesday with a time-honoured Western tradition — the placing of a white cowboy hat on his head by the city’s mayor.

The Tibetan spiritual leader is in the city for the first time in decades to take part in a conference organised by the University of Calgary.

University president Harvey Weingarten said he hopes the appearance will encourage students to think about what they can do for their community.

“Most of us worry about what is the future of our community, what kind of community are we trying to build, what will the future look like for our children,” he said.

“These kind of themes are exactly the kind of themes that someone like the Dalai Lama prompts us to think about in a deep way.”

Former South African president and Nobel laureate FW de Klerk also spoke at the conference.

South Africa barred the Dalai Lama from a peace conference in Johannesburg in March, saying the government didn’t want to endanger its relationship with China. De Klerk withdrew from the conference in protest.

He said Wednesday that Canada has set a good example by inviting the Dalai Lama because he espouses “tolerance and compassion.”

“Who could be against that?” de Klerk asked.

“(The South African government) must just get their own house in order and resist pressure from China, and say we take our own decision.”

His last visit to Canada, in 2007, was greeted with controversy when China objected to his public meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

But Weingarten said this visit is about spreading peace and ideals and he has not heard of any protests planned around the event.

Copyright © 2009 The Canadian Press

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