30,000 expected to hear Dalai Lama in Toronto

Last Updated: Wednesday, October 31, 2007 | 8:18 AM ET
CBC News
The Dalai Lama's visit to Toronto continues Wednesday, when he will address an estimated 30,000 people at the Rogers Centre.

The Dalai Lama's visit has raised the ire of China in spite of his attempts to keep his visit non-political.

Many people who will be in the audience to hear him speak believe the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhists is a symbol of the fight against oppression.

"I think of him more as a political figure you know, going out into the world in order to gain their freedom," said Johann Juarez.

The Dalai Lama insists the purpose of his trip is not to forward the cause of a free Tibet. He calls his trip to Canada "non-political."

Still, the Chinese government has been sharply critical of the attention being paid to the Dalai Lama's visit and says it could affect the economic relations between Canada and its second largest trading partner.

"I'm here just one simple person," he told reporters. "Of course morally we have obligation to serve people inside Tibet."

He was welcomed to Toronto Tuesday by Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns chanting on the sidewalk outside the Fairmont Royal York hotel.

For many, the Dalai Lama is the embodiment of peace, compassion and respect.

Helmut Wegner came from Hamburg, Germany, to hear him speak. Wegner said he's here to hear him talk about "freedom and peace, to feel good, and to feel love."