Quebec, Canada: Introducing Falun Dafa at a Community Event

(Minghui.org) Practitioners were invited to demonstrate the exercises at a community event in St-Eustache, a small town north of Quebec, Canada on September 10, 2022.

People learn the Falun Dafa exercises at a community event on September 10, 2022People learning about Falun Dafa in a community event on September 10, 2022

The Seigneurie Neighborhood Party was held in St-Eustache. It’s a community-organized event that invites neighbors to come outside and enjoy the sunshine before the summer season ends.

Invited by Isabel Mattioli, the city councilor of St-Eustache, practitioners participated in the activity held in the Parc Pierre Laporte park to introduce the practice to the residents and teach them the exercises. 

Isabelle Baril and her friends learned the exercises on the spot. She said, “I am very interested. It is helpful to relax my mind. I will read the leaflets and surf the Internet to learn more.” She said that she agreed with the words “Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance” printed on the cover of the Falun Dafa flyer.

A woman who works in the local health center told practitioner Josée that she lived nearby, and she often saw Josée doing the exercises in the park. She asked Josée why Falun Dafa could not be practiced in China. Josée told her that Falun Dafa was very popular in China in the 1990s and spread all over China in just a few years. At first, it was allowed and even promoted by the Chinese government. The number of practitioners increased rapidly. By 1999, there were one hundred million people practicing it. Seeing that more people were practicing Falun Dafa than there were official communist party members, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) banned it that July. Countless practitioners were tortured, injured, and killed because they did not give up their belief. 

The woman was touched after listening to her explanation, saying that she didn’t know this, and she would take the time to learn more about it online. She was interested in learning the exercises. 

Isabel Mattioli (right), one of the organizers of the event, has a group photo with practitioners. 

City Councilor Isabel Mattioli told practitioners that many residents watched the exercises from a distance and said that Falun Dafa was great.

Towards the end of the event, residents came to the Falun Dafa booth to talk with practitioners. Some wanted to learn the exercises, and some said that they felt peaceful while watching the demonstration. 

Recovering from Concussion After Practicing Falun Dafa

Josée (left) demonstrates the fifth Falun Dafa exercise – the meditation. 

Josée lives in St-Eustache, and described her amazing experience of recovering from a concussion after practicing Falun Dafa for just three days. 

One day in 2012, when Josée was working in a bank, she deposited cash in the lower level of an old-fashioned multi-story safe. When she got up, her head slammed into the open door above her, causing her to suffer a concussion. The after-effects of the concussion caused Josée to have headaches, nausea, fatigue, and cognitive difficulties. She was unable to do any exercises, and became very sensitive to light and noise. She had to stop working for two years and had to stay at home. Her life was miserable.

Josée’s condition worsened in 2019. Even slight movements would cause her to be nauseated, tired, irritable, and have a headache. She had trouble reading, and when she tried she was nauseous. Even if she slept more than 12 hours at night, she still needed to take naps during the day. As a last resort, she quit working again.

In the summer of 2019, her cousin suggested she try practicing Falun Dafa. But her head injury made it difficult for her to read or practice the exercises. Her cousin encouraged her to go to a group practice site in Chinatown in central Montreal to do the exercises. 

She went there for three days in a row. On the third day, an incredible change took place. She felt that her whole body was full of powerful energy. Her body and mind were relieved. She felt a huge wave of happiness come over her. 

Less than a year after she began practicing Falun Dafa, Josée’s concussion symptoms disappeared. In her 50s, she feels the energy she had in her 20s. She has clear mind. She can do all the sports she used to love. 

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.