Canada: Falun Gong Rallies in Vancouver Prior to Visit by CCP Head

At noon on June 19th, prior to Chinese Communist Party Head Jintao Hu's visit, Vancouver Falun Gong practitioners and supporters rallied outside the Chinese Consulate to urge Hu to end the persecution. They also called on the Canadian government to express disapproval of the CCP's human rights atrocities, with an emphasis on the persecution of Falun Gong.

Vancouver Falun Gong practitioners and supporters rally to call for an end to the persecution

After a statement from the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, Bill Siksay, Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong Canada chairperson, gave a speech to express the organisation's solidarity with Falun Gong. Two practitioners who were persecuted in China also gave their personal accounts of the persecution and urged Prime Minister Harper to raise human rights issues with Hu during the G20 summit in Toronto next week. The rally drew interest from many passersby.

The Falun Dafa Association statement urged the Prime Minister and members of Parliament to pressure Hu Jintao and the CCP regime to end the persecution of Falun Gong and release all incarcerated practitioners, including 12 family members and relatives of Canadian citizens. The statement also appealled to the Canadian government to openly discuss human rights issues with the CCP to uphold Canadian values.

In his prepared speech, Bill Siksay said: "Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted over 10 years and their unyielding spirit has inspired the public. We [Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong] feel very honoured and proud to work with them. We continue to focus on the persecution of Falun Gong happening in China, where people are being imprisoned, tortured and killed for their religious belief or spiritual practice. We are also very concerned for local Canadians' Chinese relatives who are being imprisoned or who have disappeared because of their Falun Gong belief. Today, Friends of Falun Gong Canada once again urges the prime minister to raise these important human rights issues and these individual cases to Mr. Hu Jintao during the summit next week. We believe that Canada must stay alert on these issues and Mr. Prime Minister shall express our public concern to Falun Gong practitioners in China. We also urge Mr. Prime Minister to bring up our concern for the 12 Canadian relatives who are being imprisoned in China for their belief."

Practitioner Cai Jing is from China and she shared her family's experience. "My mother, brother, sister and brother-in-law, and I myself were all persecuted in Mainland China for our belief in Falun Gong. My brother is still detained in a prison in Dalian City and he is forced to do heavy labour."

For their belief, Cai Jing and her sister were detained many times and later were sentenced to 13 years in prison. While in prison, Cai became critically ill and was released on bail for medical treatment. She was lucky to flee from China and get settled in Canada. Unfortunately, sentenced to 10 years in prison, her brother is doing forced labour in Dalian. Her mother was shocked with electric batons in a labour camp and consequently loss vision in one eye. She also lost several teeth. Cai's brother-in-law was also brutally tortured in a labour camp.

Cai said: "The CCP continues its crimes and is generating more tragedies. Its evil nature has never changed. Respect for freedom, democracy and human rights makes Canada a great county. I hope the prime minister will raise Falun Gong issues with Mr. Hu next week during the summit."

Practitioner Ge Nie was a cancer patient and lost her parents and aunt in a deadly car accident. While feeling desperate, she ran into Falun Gong and found her new life. However, her life was interrupted again as soon as the CCP started to persecute Falun Gong. In the first three years of persecution, from 1999 to 2001, she was arrested 4 times and was tortured. She later moved to Singapore to visit her daughter. Because of the CCP's overseas persecution, she was repeatedly harassed and was forced to leave.

"Falun Dafa saved my life and teaches me to be a good and better person. Every Falun Dafa practitioner lives up to the universal principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance. The practice brings harmony to families and benefits society. However, such a group of good people is being brutally persecuted in China. Tens of thousands of children have lost their parent(s), seniors have lost their adult children... If they refuse to give up the practice, adults are laid off, children are expelled from school, men and women are forced to divorce their practitioner spouses. The brutality of the CCP is beyond our imagination."

After the rally, to collect more public support to urge the Prime Minister to raise Falun Gong issues in his meeting with Hu, the practitioners collected signatures and distributed postcards downtown.

The signature campaign was started last week. Many practitioners commented that they had received a great response from the public as many already knew about the persecution. In just one hour, some practitioners had collected over 30 signatures.

Practitioner Ms. Zhang said: "We collect signatures to call for an end to the persecution. The campaign also inspires many people's compassion and helps the Canadian government to do the right thing for the people."