The Dalai Lama gives some beads to a supporter during his press conference Saturday, October 3, 2009 at the Bell Center in Montreal. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan Remiorz

MONTREAL - The Dalai Lama says he wants to set the record straight: he always supported China's bid for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The 74-year-old spiritual leader also denied claims made by the Chinese government in 2008 that he masterminded riots and violence in the Tibetan capital prior to last year's Games.

"People from China deserved the Olympic Games," he told journalists in Montreal Saturday at a news conference prior to a public speech.

He added that he begged his followers living near Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, not to disrupt the Olympic torch when it passed through the region.

Nonetheless, an estimated 80 people were killed in riots and unrest last year and some 25 others arrested.

It's the first time in 16 years the spiritual leader visited Montreal.

On Saturday morning, he met with a group of 500 students from Quebec universities to discuss the role of ethics in education.

"All religions send messages of love and compassion and all have the potential to bring inner peace," he said.

He also spoke to a crowd of thousands on the power of compassion.

The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader already visited Vancouver and Calgary this past week, speaking in front of large crowds and weighing in on various topics like technology, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the 60th anniversary of Communist rule in China.

But his constant message was one of peace and compassion.

The Dalai Lama fled China as a young man in 1959 after a failed uprising against communist rule and he has lived in exile in India ever since.