In another case, in Montreal, Canada, a prominent political former refugee who
is heavily involved in the Buddhist temple there is also concerned about ensuring
that Buddhist monks from Laos who might be sympathetic to the Lao PDR government
not stay at the temple. He told me that he has made it clear to the monks that
his temple is for “refugees.” He said that monks from Laos can come to stay at the
temple, but their political views must be guaranteed by members of the Lao refugee
community who are related to them before they are approved to reside at the temple. Again, Lao people opposed to the Lao PDR government are interested in
retaining political control of Buddhist temple space.