Peace and Compassion Day: Greetings and Support from the Premier of Ontario, Members of Parliament and Members of the Provincial Parliament

By Toronto practitioners

(Clearwisdom.net) Toronto's "Peace and Compassion Day" which was held on Nov. 03, 2001 has won wide support and positive response from three levels of government as well as non-governmental organizations and people from various walks of life.

Based on rough calculation, we have received more than 40 congratulatory letters and greeting phone calls from elected officials, including MP's, MPP's and City Councilors.

MPP Carl DeFaria has personally supported us after 2 years of continuously clarifying the truth to him, and on several occasions he has asked Mike Harris, Premier of Ontario to support Falun Gong. Thanks to the continued efforts of Mr. DeFaria, Premier Harris has approved Mr. DeFaria's request for support and as a result, MPP DeFaria sent very warm greetings on behalf of Premier Harris and the Government of Ontario to Falun Dafa practitioners who organized the event. This is the first time the provincial government of Ontario has voiced its support of Falun Gong. Enclosed, please find the original greetings.

Mr. Tony Clement, Ontario's Minister of Health also sent us greetings and his support from the heart, even though he is currently busy running for Progressive Conservative Party leadership for Ontario as well as preparing to run for Premier of Ontario. In his kind letter, he wrote,

"It is my pleasure to convey my thoughts to you although I am unable to join you personally. We are in a time of reflection on society, the reaching out to, and understanding of others. The principles of Falun Dafa, tolerance, compassion and truthfulness are keys to greater understanding. These lead us to acceptance and peace and all of us need to take time to reflect and act on these principles. Please accept my best wishes for your celebration today."

Another distinguishing response to this event is that we have received numerous greetings from trade and business circles and from well-known Canadian business leaders and entrepreneurs to whom we previously had little opportunity to clarify the truth. Some of the businesses include Edison, TD Bank Financial Group, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company among others.

Canadian M.P. and Secretary of State-Finance, the Honourable Jim Peterson, wrote us a wonderful letter of greeting. In his letter, he regretted that he could not join our event, but wanted to extend his greetings to all those participating in the Peace and Compassion Day Festival. Then he reiterated that the Canadian government will continue, as they have frequently done over the past two years, to convey its concerns about the suppression and ill-treatment of Falun Gong practitioners under arrest in China. Canada's Prime Minister Jean Chretien voiced his concern specifically on the Falun Gong issue during his Team Canada visit to China and during his more recent ASEAN Regional Forum meeting. Enclosed please find the original greetings.

There have also been a number of senators who have sent their greetings and support to Falun Gong practitioners. Among them are A. Raynell Andreychuk, Marisa Ferretti Barth and Lucie Pepin who emphasized that Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance are the foundation of the peace that Falun Dafa practitioners were honouring on Peace and Compassion Day.

Several MPs and MPPs as well as leaders of non-governmental organization have officially sent invitations to Master Li Hongzhi, founder of Falun Dafa, inviting him to lecture to the general public at Toronto City Hall.

For more details on the above information, please see the Clearwisdom article below.
Chinese version available at http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2001/11/12/15702.html

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