Riding for human rights

Vancouver Sun, 07/24/08

http://communities.canada.com/vancouversun/blogs/thinktank/archive/2008/07/23/riding-for-human-rights.aspx

Canadian athletes are being encouraged to speak out at the Olympics about China's human rights' record. But it's a tough thing as I've written in my column in Thursday's Sun.

But one athlete who has already made his choice is former Canadian rowing team member David Kay. He's  cycling across the country to draw attention to China’s human rights violations and specifically its treatment of Falun Gong members and Tibetans. You can see his YouTube by clicking here.

“It’s meant to be as much as celebration as a demonstration or a consciousness raising event. I’m hoping from the bike ride an the attention it brings it’s just one more reason for China to uphold the reason for getting the Olympics in the first place,” Kay says in the video.

Kay saw the Dalai Lama when he spoke in Ottawa and was taken with his message of non-violence. It’s not the first time Kay has done a long cycling trip. In 2000, he rode from Canada to Guatemala and back. And it’s not his first activist role either. In his hometown of Kingston, Kay sits on an environmental advisory board and is an athlete ambassador for Right to Play. For more information on this cycling trip, click here.