Vancouver didn’t get a chance to celebrate the passing of the Beijing Olympic torch in the same way that cities like London and Paris did. But on May 10, the “Tibet Freedom Torch” will be run through our city’s streets.

Like the Olympic torch, the Tibetan version was first lit in Olympia, Greece, and it has also travelled the world (but on a slightly smaller budget, via courier package as opposed to private jet).

“The Tibetans have chosen to have an alternative to the Olympic torch,” Mati Bernabei, vice president of the Canada Tibet Committee‘s Vancouver chapter, explained. “The Freedom Torch is their opportunity for expressing their hopes and dreams and their truths.”

Bernabei was frank about her organization using the 2008 Summer Olympics to draw attention to China’s occupation of Tibet.

“They [The Chinese] are in the spotlight, they are on the world stage, they put themselves there, and Tibetans are capitalizing on that,” she said. But the idea [of the Freedom Torch] is to inform people about an occupation that began in 1949 and will likely continue long after Beijing’s Olympic medals have been handed out, Bernabei noted.

Vancouver’s Freedom Torch relay is scheduled to begin at the Chinese consulate, proceed through a circuit that focuses on the Burrard Street Bridge and Furry Creek, and conclude at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

At the VAG, a host of Tibetan performers and local personalities will take the stage, including NDP MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East).

Speaking from Ottawa, Davies said that her May 10 speech will express concerns about human rights in China. “I think it is a very important period to focus attention on what is going on there [in China] and have the international community be strong about [China] needing to have a meeting and dialogue with the Dalai Lama,” she said.

Davies praised Prime Minster Stephen Harper for planning to miss the Beijing opening ceremonies, but she argued that Canada could apply greater pressure on China in certain areas. “We should be ensuring that all areas of China, including Tibet, are open to the media,” she said.

The Freedom Torch was lit in Olympia on March 10. From there, it has travelled to several European cities before touching down in North America in San Francisco. After relays in Victoria and Vancouver, the torch will appear in Ottawa on May 15, Montreal on May 16, and Toronto on May 18. The torch is scheduled to be taken into Tibet on August 7, according to its website.

For more information on the Tibet Freedom Torch relay, see the websites for the Canada Tibet Committee, Students for a Free Tibet, and tibetanfreedomtorch.org.