Vancouver, Canada: Practitioners Collect Signatures Calling for Prime Minister Harper to Help Stop the Persecution (Photos)

By Wang Mei in Vancouver

(Clearwisdom.net) On August 8, 2007, Falun Gong practitioners in Vancouver, Canada held activities in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery in downtown to clarify the truth and collect signatures. They wanted to call on Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to directly raise the issue of stopping the persecution of Falun Gong to Hu Jintao when he attends the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit to be held in September.

Vancouver Falun Gong practitioners clarified the facts about Falun Gong and collected signatures

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has persecuted Falun Gong for eight years. Thousands of practitioners have died as a result of the persecution, and tens of thousands of practitioners are still being illegally detained in prisons, forced labor camps, and brainwashing centers to endure torture and torment, both physically and mentally. It is a shame that the whole of humanity is tolerating such crimes that severely trample upon human rights and deprive citizens of their basic rights.

Prior to the APEC Summit to be held in Sydney in September, practitioners in Vancouver expressed their hopes that Canadian Prime Minister Harper would raise Falun Gong issues directly with Chinese leader Hu Jintao during the summit and urge him to immediately stop the persecution.

Falun Gong practitioners exhibited works from the Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance Art Exhibition that depict the brutal persecution practitioners in China in the square in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. They also displayed photos showing how widely Falun Dafa has spread around the world. Through truth clarification and demonstrating the exercises, the practitioners collected signatures from passersby. Many people learned about Falun Gong and the persecution of Falun Gong in China. They volunteered to sign the petition letter to Mr. Harper. By noon, nearly a thousand signatures had been collected.

In part, the petition letter to Prime Minister Harper said:

"Canada is a country of justice that dares to make a change when necessary. I sincerely ask you to raise the issue of the persecution of Falun Gong to Hu Jintao, so that he can understand that China must immediately stop the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and release all detained Falun Gong practitioners.

"You once publicly said that Canadians do not want to exchange their own precious traditional values for money. However, on the issue of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, particularly in face of the CCP's organ harvesting organs from living practitioners and selling them for profit, our government still keeps silent. The government's silence is tantamount to acquiescing to the CCP's illegal acts and conniving with the CCP's overseas organizations in attacking Falun Gong practitioners in Canada."

Fred Muzin, President of the British Columbia Hospital Employees' Union, came to express his support. He said in an interview that he hoped that more Canadians would pay attention to the human rights abuses happening in China. "If everybody shows concern," he said, "they can help stop the ongoing persecution."

Mr. Muzin continued, "We support normal international trade, but we should not communicate with evil regimes that will not abide by our common values. Currently the serious human rights persecution happening in China, particularly the persecution of Falun Gong, is not acceptable. Canada cannot trade with such a regime."

Former Canadian MP Sima, especially wearing a practitioner's Falun Gong T-shirt, explained to passersby about Falun Gong and the ongoing persecution in China, calling for people's support to stop the persecution.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/8/20/161194.html

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