News From Canada (8/26/00)

Falun Dafa Celebration Parade in Ottawa and Toronto This Weekend
 -- Falun Dafa Week, August 21-27, 2000, Canada

To conclude the Canada Falun Dafa Week (August 21-27), celebration parades will be held in both Ottawa and Toronto this weekend. The parade in Ottawa will be from 1:30pm-4:30pm on Saturday, August 26, starting from the Confederation Park and going through China Town. Contact: Xun Li at 613-599-7494

The Ottawa Parade Route: Confederation park (Demo & Announcement) -> Elgin St. -> Wellington St. ->Bank St. ->Somerset St. -> Preston St. -> Gladstone St.->Bronson St.->Somerset St.->McLaren Park.

 PROCLAMATIONS FROM CANADIAN MAYORS 

Dave Hunt, Mayor of The City of Stratford, Ontario, proclaimed August 19, 2000 as "Falun Dafa Day": 

"Falun Dafa has equipped people with the understanding necessary to endure the hardest and unjust of tribulations without resorting to violence."  "The practitioners of Falun Dafa have remained true to the teaching of Mr. Li Hongzhi, who has worked tirelessly to convey Falun Dafa from China to the rest of the world and has touched the lives of countless people in many countries, earning an international reputation." 

L. M. Traboulay, Mayor of City of Port Coquitlam, BC, proclaimed August 21-27, 2000 as "Falun Dafa Week": 
"Falun Dafa's contribution to humanity has been widely recognized and honored in Canada"

LIST OF OFFICIALS SENDING CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES 

Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Governor General of Canada 
The Honorable Herb Gray, Deputy Prime Minister 
The Honorable Sheila Copps, Minister of Canadian Heritage 
The Honorable Anne McLellan, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada 
The Honorable Stephane Dion, President of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada and Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs 
Deborah Grey, Leader of the Opposition 
The Honorable Ralph Klein, Premier of Alberta, Canada 
The Honorable Lise Thibault, Lieutenant Governor of Quebec 
The Honorable Vivienne Poy,  Rob Anders, Member of Parliament 
Eugene Bellemare, Member of Parliament 
Brenda Chamberlain, Member of Parliament 
Libby Davis, Member of Parliament 
Gordon S. Earle,  Member of Parliament 
Marlene Jennings, Member of Parliament 
Inky Mark, Member of Parliament 
Grant McNally, Member of Parliament 
Val Meredith, Member of Parliament 
Jerry Pickard, Member of Parliament 
Jack Ramsay, Member of Parliament 
Svend Robinson, Member of Parliament 
Lou Sekora, Member of Parliament 
Darrel Stinson, Member of Parliament 

Sandra Pupatello, MPP, Ontario 
Gordon Campbell, Provincial Official Leader of Opposition, British Columbia 

Bob Chiarelli, Ottawa Regional Council 
Dave Hunt, Mayor of the City of Stratford, Ontario 
Mayor Hurst and the Members of Council, the City of Windsor, Ontario 
Gerry Lelonde, Mayor of Cumberland, Ontario 
Brent Needham, Acting Mayor of the City of Waterloo, Ontario 
Merle Nicholds, Mayor of Kanata, Ontario 
Bill Smith, Mayor of Edmonton, Alberta 
Carl J. Zehr, Mayor of the City of Kitchener, Ontario 
 

PETITION AT CONFERENCE ON GLOBAL PEACE (8/26/00)

August 16-19, 2000, Ottawa 

The International Conference on Global Peace was held during August 16-19, 2000 in Ottawa. On August 17, Falun Dafa practitioners presented a speech "Falun Dafa - Peaceful Journey of Truth, Compassion, Tolerance" during the conference. Immediately after the speech, renowned peace advocate Dr. Hanna Newcombe, founder of  Canadian Peace Research Institute, initiated a petition letter to be co-signed by conference participants, including professors and leaders of some NGOs. 

The petition calls on the Chinese government to stop persecution on the Falun Gong; and all governments and international organizations which treasure peace and justice to use every appropriate public and private forum to urge the Government of the People's Republic of China to release all Falun Gong practitioners and put an mmediate end to the practices of torture and inhumane treatment against Falun Gong practitioners, and to abide
by the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 

INTERFERENCE FROM CHINESE EMBASSY/CONSULATE IN CANADA (8/26/00)

CASE 1: Chinese Embassy denied passport renewal for a Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Weidong Guan, also a Canadian permanent resident from Montreal. On August 23, the clerk from Chinese Embassy requested him to denounce Falun Gong in order to renew his passport. The clerk from Embassy confiscated it and claimed that his passport is Chinese government's property. 

CASE 2: Two practitioners in Vancouver, both Canadian Citizens, were refused to issue visas for entering China. One practitioner applied a visa to go to Beijing for her father's funeral, while the other was sent by her employer for a joint project in China. In both cases, the Consulate did not give any legitimate reasons for the refusals. Ms. Jinyu Li, a Canadian Citizen and Falun Gong practitioner from Montreal, was also denied visa application without any legitimate reasons offered. 

CASE 3: Since three cities in Greater Vancouver (Vancouver, Port Moody, Coquitlam) either sent a greeting letter or proclaimed July 20th, 2000 as Falun Dafa Day, they all received pressures and interference phone calls from the Chinese Consulate General in Vancouver who complains that these cities should not do so as Falun Gong is banned in China. 

ONGOING INTERFERENCE 

Chinese Consulates, despite warnings from Police, are continuing to show the Chinese government's defamation video against Falun Gong to community groups in major cities like Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. It is our understanding that this can be classified as "Hate literature" and is illegal in Canada. 

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