Tulip Festival Says Sorry to Falun Gong Band (Photos)
May 13, 2008 (Clearwisdom.net) Organizers of Canada's Tulip Festival have formally
apologized for abruptly pulling a performance by a marching band whose members
practice Falun Gong. Tian Guo Marching Band at the Montreal Canada Day parade last
July. (Courtesy of Tian Guo Band) Having invited the Tian Guo Marching Band to perform "O Canada" at
the festival's opening ceremony on May 2, organizers cut the band just minutes
before they were to take the stage, and called on police to have band members
removed. Statements from festival staff at the time suggested the group was dropped to
avoid upsetting Chinese embassy officials who had a tent at the festival, which
runs to May 19. After the incident whipped up a media storm, festival organizers changed
their tune and on Tuesday issued an official apology. In a statement to media, festival chair David Luxton and president Teri Kirk
expressed regrets over how the incident was handled. "Unfortunately, the Festival's decision was made in haste in the moments
before the official Opening," Ms. Kirk said At the time, festival reps had taken issue with the band member's uniforms,
which included the words "Falun Dafa," a spiritual group persecuted by
the Communist regime in China. Falun Dafa is also known as Falun Gong. Tian Guo band members pose in their uniforms with a "Falun
Dafa" banner. This image appears on the homepage of their website. (Tian
Guo Band)
In comments to media, the festival's director of marketing Doug Little
claimed the band had "deceived" organizers with the intent to
"embarrass us and embarrass the Chinese embassy." "If they had told us who they were, they would never have been asked to
perform," Mr. Little told the Metro newspaper. But band members pointed out that they had provided the festival organizers
with materials and photographs that showed their uniforms. They had also
provided their website, which states clearly that band members are Falun Gong
practitioners. They added that they only intended to play music and expressed no political
or human rights message. They said that being excluded from the event on the
basis of their practise of Falun Gong amounted to discrimination. "Comments in the media attributed to festival staff dealing with the
incident exacerbated the feelings of grievance by band members, which the
festival regrets," said Mr. Luxton. Little also apologized for his comments to the press. "I am very sorry that my remarks have not reflected well on band
members, on Falun Gong or the festival. I extend my heartfelt apologies to the
Tian Guo Marching Band and to each one of its members," said Mr. Little. A Tian Guo Band member accepts "The Canada Day Parade
President's Trophy" in Montreal in July 2007. (Tian Guo Band) The festival also "re-extended its invitation" to the band to
perform at the Festival, giving them the 1-2:00 pm slot on Sunday at Dow's
Lake. "We certainly support the right of religious groups to bring forward
diverse views." said Ms. Kirk. The Tian Guo band accepted the apologies after meeting with the festival's
executives over the weekend. "We're happy for them to correct these wrongs and uphold Canadian values
instead of caving in to a foreign dictatorship to marginalize a persecuted
group," said band representative Lucy Zhou. In response being dropped from the opening ceremony, Tian Guo said in a news
release that "the actions of a few Tulip Festival officials ... caused
great distress and loss of dignity to both our band and to Falun Gong
practitioners in general. These actions have also damaged the reputation and
integrity of the Tulip Festival." The Tulip Festival is sponsored by all three levels of government. Speaking in the Ontario provincial legislature on Monday, MPP Randy Hiller
said that, "the Ottawa Tulip Festival, in partnership with the Embassy of
China, banned Falun Gong." "This government gave the tulip festival $300,000 and with it they
became the latest voice of silence," said MPP Hiller. On Tuesday, he applauded the decision to allow Tian Guo to perform. "It is important when people do the wrong things that sensible honest
people tell them that they are wrong and encourage them to do the right
thing," he said. It's a minimum for them to apologize for their
wrongdoings." Tian Guo has performed in about 40 parades in the past 18 months and has won
numerous prizes including the top award of "The Canada Day Parade
President's Trophy" in Montreal in 2007 and "Best Band" in the
Ottawa St. Patrick's Day parade in March. "We know that Festival audiences will enjoy both the visual and musical
appeal of this large and colourful marching band," said Ms. Kirk. Source: http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-5-13/70635.html
Chinese version available at
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2008/5/17/178678.html
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