News From Canada

Falun Dafa Celebration Parade in Ottawa and Toronto This Weekend
á-- Falun Dafa Week, August 21-27, 2000, Canada

To conclude the Canada Falun Dafa Week (August 21-27), celebration parades will be held in both Ottawa and Toronto this weekend. The parade in Ottawa will be from 1:30pm-4:30pm on Saturday, August 26, starting from the Confederation Park and going through China Town. Contact: Xun Li at 613-599-7494

The Ottawa Parade Route: Confederation park (Demo & Announcement) -> Elgin St. -> Wellington St. ->Bank St. ->Somerset St. -> Preston St. -> Gladstone St.->Bronson St.->Somerset St.->McLaren Park.

áPROCLAMATIONS FROM CANADIAN MAYORSá

Dave Hunt, Mayor of The City of Stratford, Ontario, proclaimed August 19, 2000 as "Falun Dafa Day":á

"Falun Dafa has equipped people with the understanding necessary to endure the hardest and unjust of tribulations without resorting to violence."á "The practitioners of Falun Dafa have remained true to the teaching of Mr. Li Hongzhi, who has worked tirelessly to convey Falun Dafa from China to the rest of the world and has touched the lives of countless people in many countries, earning an international reputation."á

L. M. Traboulay, Mayor of City of Port Coquitlam, BC, proclaimed August 21-27, 2000 as "Falun Dafa Week":á
"Falun Dafa's contribution to humanity has been widely recognized and honored in Canada"

LIST OF OFFICIALS SENDING CONGRATULATORY MESSAGESá

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canadaá
The Honorable Herb Gray, Deputy Prime Ministerá
The Honorable Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritageá
The Honorable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canadaá
The Honorable Stephane Dion, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairsá
Deborah Grey, Leader of the Oppositioná
The Honorable Ralph Klein, Premier of Alberta, Canadaá
The Honorable Lise Thibault, Lieutenant Governor of Quebecá
The Honorable Vivienne Poy,á Rob Anders, Member of Parliamentá
Eugene Bellemare, Member of Parliamentá
Brenda Chamberlain, Member of Parliamentá
Libby Davis, Member of Parliamentá
Gordon S. Earle,á Member of Parliamentá
Marlene Jennings, Member of Parliamentá
Inky Mark, Member of Parliamentá
Grant McNally, Member of Parliamentá
Val Meredith, Member of Parliamentá
Jerry Pickard, Member of Parliamentá
Jack Ramsay, Member of Parliamentá
Svend Robinson, Member of Parliamentá
Lou Sekora, Member of Parliamentá
Darrel Stinson, Member of Parliamentá

Sandra Pupatello, MPP, Ontarioá
Gordon Campbell, Provincial Official Leader of Opposition, British Columbiaá

Bob Chiarelli, Ottawa Regional Councilá
Dave Hunt, Mayor of the City of Stratford, Ontarioá
Mayor Hurst and the Members of Council, the City of Windsor, Ontarioá
Gerry Lelonde, Mayor of Cumberland, Ontarioá
Brent Needham, Acting Mayor of the City of Waterloo, Ontarioá
Merle Nicholds, Mayor of Kanata, Ontarioá
Bill Smith, Mayor of Edmonton, Albertaá
Carl J. Zehr, Mayor of the City of Kitchener, Ontarioá
á

PETITION AT CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL PEACE (8/26/00)

August 16-19, 2000, Ottawaá

The International Conference on Global Peace was held during August 16-19, 2000 in Ottawa. On August 17, Falun Dafa practitioners presented a speech "Falun Dafa - Peaceful Journey of Truth, Compassion, Tolerance" during the conference. Immediately after the speech, renowned peace advocate Dr. Hanna Newcombe, founder ofá Canadian Peace Research Institute, initiated a petition letter to be co-signed by conference participants, including professors and leaders of some NGOs.á

The petition calls on the Chinese government to stop persecution on the Falun Gong; and all governments and international organizations which treasure peace and justice to use every appropriate public and private forum to urge the Government of the People's Republic of China to release all Falun Gong practitioners and put an mmediate end to the practices of torture and inhumane treatment against Falun Gong practitioners, and to abide
by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.á

INTERFERENCE FROM CHINESE EMBASSY/CONSULATE IN CANADA (8/26/00)

CASE 1: Chinese Embassy denied passport renewal for a Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Weidong Guan, also a Canadian permanent resident from Montreal. On August 23, the clerk from Chinese Embassy requested him to denounce Falun Gong in order to renew his passport. The clerk from Embassy confiscated it and claimed that his passport is Chinese government's property.á

CASE 2: Two practitioners in Vancouver, both Canadian Citizens, were refused to issue visas for entering China. One practitioner applied a visa to go to Beijing for her father's funeral, while the other was sent by her employer for a joint project in China. In both cases, the Consulate did not give any legitimate reasons for the refusals. Ms. Jinyu Li, a Canadian Citizen and Falun Gong practitioner from Montreal, was also denied visa application without any legitimate reasons offered.á

CASE 3: Since three cities in Greater Vancouver (Vancouver, Port Moody, Coquitlam) either sent a greeting letter or proclaimed July 20th, 2000 as Falun Dafa Day, they all received pressures and interference phone calls from the Chinese Consulate General in Vancouver who complains that these cities should not do so as Falun Gong is banned in China.á

ONGOING INTERFERENCEá

Chinese Consulates, despite warnings from Police, are continuing to show the Chinese government's defamation video against Falun Gong to community groups in major cities like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. It is our understanding that this can be classified as "Hate literature" and is illegal in Canada.á

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