NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo was joined today by NDP Leader Howard Hampton, and fellow NDP MPPs Michael Prue and Paul Miller, at a Queen’s Park demonstration demanding the McGuinty Liberals put human rights before trade with China.

”We believe the government of Ontario has a unique opportunity to send a strong message on human rights, on how the world ought to be, to the government of China – a message that what is happening in Tibet right now is wrong,” said Hampton.

Several hundred Tibetan Canadians and their supporters marched from the Chinese Consulate to Queen’s Park for the demonstration to express their strong dismay at the McGuinty government’s decision to go ahead with a trade mission to China led by Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sandra Pupatello.

It was only after DiNovo’s dogged pursuit of the issue earlier this week that the government revealed that Pupatello would be going to China.

“We didn’t know about this trip to China. We had to dig for details, and we still don’t know when she’s going. Tibetan-Ontarians are trying to meet with the Minister before she leaves but we have not yet received a response,” said DiNovo.

During Question Period this week, both DiNovo and Hampton have demanded that the McGuinty government place human rights before trade. After a week of pressure, the McGuinty government tabled a vague motion that still does not guarantee that Pupatello will raise human rights issues on her trip.

“If the Minister is intent on making this trip, we want assurances from her that she will raise the matter of human rights. The rest of the world is speaking out. It’s time Ontario did the same,” said DiNovo.

“Demonstrators came here to Queen’s Park today, yet there wasn’t a single Liberal in sight. Instead the McGuinty government decided to table a half-hearted motion that does not go far enough for human rights in Tibet,” added DiNovo.