On the afternoon of August 26, several hundred Falun Dafa practitioners from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa gathered at Ottawa, the Capital of Canada, for a grand parade to celebrate Canada~{!/~}s "Falun Dafa Week".
When the Falun Dafa Association of Canada announced August 21 to 27 as ~{!0~} Falun Dafa Week~{!1~}, dozens of officials from various levels of the Canadian government sent us congratulatory letters, including the Canadian Governor General, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of the Canadian Heritage, the Minister of Justice, the Attorney General, the Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, the Leader of the Opposition, the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, the Premier of Albert, and Members of the national and provincial Parliaments. The congratulatory letters highly praised the fact that Falun Dafa is based on the universe principle of ~{!0~} Zhen-Shan-Ren~{!1~} (Truth-Compassion-Forbearance). They also commended the peaceful and open environment that Falun Dafa brings to society, as well as the physical health and noble mind that Falun Dafa brings to people. Some congratulatory letters also praised the Falun Dafa practitioners in China, who are suffering the hardest of tribulations and unjust treatment, but still stick to the teachings of the founder of Falun Gong and face the persecution fearlessly in a peaceful, non-violent manner. The Mayor of Stratford proclaimed August 19th to be ~{!0~} Falun Dafa Day~{!1~}. The Mayor of Port Coquitlam also bestowed honor by proclaiming August 21st to August 27th as ~{!0~} Falun Dafa Week~{!1~}.
Before the parade, Chinese and English print and TV reporters interviewed some practitioners while others performed the Falun Dafa exercises in the background. Practitioners sincerely thanked the officials from various levels of Canadian government for their great support of Falun Dafa. They also expressed the hope that the Chinese government would not be deceived any longer by a few people obsessed with personal interests and would stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners immediately. We called for peaceful dialogue once again. Then Falun Dafa Association of Canada read the proclamation of ~{!0~} Falun Dafa Week~{!1~} and the congratulatory letter from the Canadian Governor General. During his TV interview, one practitioner mentioned that the Chinese Embassy refused to extend his passport, confiscated his passport, and even required him to write a statement defaming Falun Dafa. That evening, one TV station reported another practitioner's account of her husband~{!/~}s being sent to a labor camp without any legal procedure and without any visitors being allowed to see him.
At 2:15PM, the parade started. At the beginning and end of the parade line there were cars with ~{!0~} Falun Dafa~{!1~} and ~{!0~}Zhen-Shan-Ren~{!1~} printed on them. Between the two cars, over two hundred Falun Dafa practitioners walked vigorously forward, carrying banners with various messages. The ~{!0~}Falun Dafa Week~{!1~} had reached its climax. Accompanied by the music of "Pudu", the Falun Dafa practitioners distributed Chinese and English newspapers to the passers-by along the route and thus introduced them to what Falun Gong is, as well as how the practitioners have been persecuted in China. Some passers-by signed a letter to the Chinese government petitioning it to stop the persecution of Falun Gong immediately. Over its two hours~{!/~} duration, the parade passed through the Canadian Capitol Hill and other populated areas including Ottawa~{!/~}s downtown and Chinatown. When the parade passed through Capitol Hill, it caught the attention of a tourist group from China. Many practitioners went over to introduce the truth of Falun Gong to them. The parade went through Chinatown twice, so practitioners took advantage of this opportunity to keep introducing Falun Gong by distributing several kinds of newspapers to passers-by, restaurants and stores.
The Central News Agency wrote in their report on August 9th that: " The Canadian politicians dare to openly support and commend Falun Gong. This is probably due to the excellent performance of Falun Gong practitioners in their communities, at their work places and in the professions, as well as their persistent spirit in introducing Falun Dafa."
Probably the great compassion and tolerance exhibited by Falun Gong practitioners under unprecedented brutal persecution has surprised the people around the world. And maybe the great compassion and benevolence that Master Li Hongzhi shows as he conveys the Great Law of the Universe to all beings and silently tolerates all groundless accusations and slanders has moved the heavens. The rain that had been forecast for the day was postponed. Over the nearly three hours of activities, the weather was very bright. At about a quarter past four in the afternoon the very successful parade was concluded. Just as the practitioners from Toronto and Montreal were starting on their way back to their homes, the rain began.
Special Team for reports on Canada~{!/~}s " Falun Dafa Week"
August 27, 2000
