Canadian Car Tour (Part III): Meetings with Four Members of Parliament

Written by the Canada Car Tour Group

(Clearwisdom.net)

The Canadian car tour christened, "Keep It Up, Canada!" initiated jointly by Falun Gong practitioners from across Canada and the "Global Mission to Rescue Persecuted Gong Practitioners," got underway on February 20, 2003. During this tour, we would visit nearly all of the 103 Members of Parliament within Ontario (one-third of the MPs in the Canadian Parliament). We also visited many MPs in other provinces, Members of the Provincial Parliaments, City Councilors and many City Mayors. We planned to hold press conferences with the local media at stops all along the tour route. Before the car tour began, practitioners in Toronto visited four Members of Parliament.

On January 24, three members of the rescue team from Toronto visited MP John Godfrey. Mr. Godfrey was very happy to see us and listened carefully to our introduction telling about the progress of the rescue efforts. MP Godfrey felt gratified that we had successfully rescued several family members, and he encouraged us to continue our efforts.

One practitioner spoke about the situation of her father and younger brother, who had been released from detention in China before their sentences were fully finished. She mentioned that at present they are still kept under strict surveillance by the local police, and their passports have been withheld, making it impossible for them to join their family in Canada. John Godfrey was very sympathetic to the family's situation and expressed his willingness to offer as much help as he could in order to help the family be united again.

Practitioners have met with John Godfrey on more than twenty separate occasions within the past four years. He is one of the MPs who stepped forward early on to support Falun Dafa. He braved tremendous pressure to attend our press conference and he openly supported Dafa. He is also the first MP to invited Teacher to visit Canada and give a public lecture. He has previously expressed to us that until the persecution of Falun Gong comes to an end, he will not stop in his efforts to uphold justice for Falun Gong. He has mentioned the issue of Falun Gong on several occasions in Parliament and has talked to the Prime Minister in person, asking Canada to give more support to Falun Dafa.

On February 10, two members of the rescue team in Toronto met MP Karen Kraft Sloan. We introduced the results of the rescue campaign initiated by practitioners in Canada last July. MP Karen Kraft Sloan listened carefully to our narration and when she heard that five Falun Gong practitioners' family members had been released, and that the Canadian government succeeded in rescuing Ms. Wang Yuzhi, she was very happy. She was visibly saddened, however, when she learned that there were still fifteen family members of Canadian practitioners remaining in detention.

We mentioned that we had encountered obstacles in helping those practitioners who had been released to reunite with their family members in Canada. MP Karen Kraft Sloan said immediately that she would write letters to the Foreign Affairs Department and the Immigration Department to seek their help.

We have one practitioner who for the past three years has been intensively clarifying the truth to government officials at different levels in an effort to rescue fellow practitioners in China. She has built up a very good personal relationship and trust with many MPs. During our meeting, Karen Kraft Sloan praised her especially, for her unselfish contributions and indomitable spirit.

In the course of our conversation, MP Karen Kraft Sloan expressed many times that the great efforts that the practitioners are making to end the persecution have moved many Canadian MPs. She said that Falun Dafa and Dafa practitioners have won the respect of many MPs, and that practitioners' long-term efforts should be rewarded.

On February 14, two members of the rescue team in Toronto met MP Tom Wappel. Mr. Tom Wappel listened to us with great interest about the results that we have achieved since we started the rescue campaign, and he praised our accomplishments.

When we mentioned that China did not allow the released family members to leave China and come to Canada to reunite with their families in Canada, Mr. Wappel asked us a question: He does not believe that Falun Gong is any threat to the Chinese government; therefore, why does the Chinese government persecute Falun Gong, yet at the same time prohibit Falun Gong practitioners from going abroad? He cannot understand why China wants to persecute Falun Gong in the first place. We explained to Mr. Wappel that the persecution of Falun Gong started because Falun Gong grew very quickly in China after it was brought to the public in 1992; in only seven years, over one hundred million people were practicing it. The number of Falun Gong practitioners outnumbered the Communist Party members. This made Jiang Zemin extremely jealous, and he started the persecution. We also pointed out to him that many people inside the Chinese government actually are against this persecution.

Mr. Wappel has twice visited China, and has raised the Falun Gong issue in meetings with Chinese government officials. He has pointed out to them that the persecution of Falun Gong is incompatible with China's hopes to join the WTO and promote international communication. He appealed to China to respect the right of individual belief, and to stop the persecution.

Mr. Wappel also compared the severe persecution of Falun Gong with the persecution of the early Christians by the Roman Empire, pointing out that these two persecutions had a striking similarity. He also sees that Falun Gong practitioners will never give up their belief, and so he believes that eventually Falun Gong will be recognized and well received in China.

On January 15, two members of the rescue team in Toronto met MP Jim Peterson. Mr. Peterson is a highly respected politician. We have known him for three years now, and have met him several times on both formal and informal occasions. He has evolved from simply being a government official who listened to his constituents as a matter of routine business, to a friend who is deeply concerned about Falun Gong. He changed as a result of Falun Gong practitioners' sustained pursuit of "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" and our peaceful efforts in appealing to the Chinese Government for an end to the persecution.

Mr. Peterson showed great concern over China's apparent ignorance of the international appeal to stop the persecution. He acknowledged the importance of safeguarding individual dignity and integrity. He said that he admired the courage of Falun Gong practitioners and he encouraged us to continue our peaceful appeal.

Mr. Peterson told us that the issue of Falun Gong had been raised in the annual Cabinet meeting this past summer. He was very happy to see so many MPs supporting Falun Gong. Based on this positive impression, Mr. Peterson said that he felt confident that Falun Gong will finally prevail.

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