(Minghui.org) At the 18th anniversary of Falun Gong’s peaceful resistance against the persecution in China, about 1000 Canadian Falun Gong practitioners assembled in Toronto and held a series of activities on July 21, 2017, including a group exercise and rally at Nathan Phillips Square in the morning, and a grand march in the afternoon. Practitioners held the activities to raise awareness of the persecution, and to tell more people about Falun Gong.
Performing the group exercises.
At the rally.
Canadian Lawmakers Expressed Strong Support
Several politicians gave speeches at the rally, expressing their support to the peaceful resistance of practitioners.
Former MP Consiglio Di Nino, one of the co-founders of “The Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong,” said Falun Gong's voice of the peaceful resistance should never disappear, and that basic human rights are not limited by the boundaries of the countries. He said that the communist party is not giving the people their basic human rights.
MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj said that the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” is for everybody, and based on this principle, China can have a bright future. The lawmaker said that human dignity should not be treated as a threat to a political power, and that the political power should not be abused.
MP Peter Kent listed a few facts about the persecution, including the imprisoning of the Canadian citizen Sun Qian. MP Kent believes that the Canadian government should speak for the persecuted practitioners in China. He hopes that one day people can shout out loudly and freely at the Tiananmen Square “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
Sam Oosterhoff, the Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) in Ontario, said the 18-years of persecution is too long. He promised to continue to speak for practitioners at the provincial parliament.
Former MP Wladyslaw Lizon said he will not stop fighting for practitioners until the persecution ends. He told practitioners that they are not alone, and they will not be forgotten.
Li Xun, the chair of Falun Dafa Association in Canada commented that the persecution will not last long.
People from All Walks of Life Learn the Exercises
Many people stopped by, watched the exercise demonstration, listened to the speeches, and then learned the exercises at the rally.
Joyakhanthan Yohadeva (left) learning the exercises.
Joyakhanthan Yohadeva got a Falun Gong flyer a week ago, and when he heard about the rally, he came back to learn the exercises.
Sylvie Lebeau, a tour bus driver, liked the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.” She said most of her passengers are Chinese, and she will give the flyers to them.
Bierre Bissady, a French journalist, condemned the persecution. “It is a shame what the communist party has done. Falun Gong is so peaceful. They should not be persecuted for their belief,” he said.
Grand March Raises Awareness of the Persecution.
The grand march kicked off after the rally at 1:30 pm, and went on for two hours with 1000 practitioners participating.
The march going through downtown Toronto.
Many Chinese people, local residents and tourists, who watched the march that went through downtown and Chinatown, expressed their support.
Mr. Chen, who has lived in Toronto for more than 10 years, said Falun Gong is a good practice.
“The communist party has made up a lot of lies, and the people cannot talk about human rights in China. I am touched to see so many Falun Gong practitioners here,” he said.
“I took a lot of photos and videos of the march,” he added, “and I will send them to my friends and relatives in China.”
Numerous Chinese tourists learned about the state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting from living Falun Gong practitioners from the banners in the march and the flyers passed out by practitioners. Many of them were horrified, and some agreed to quit the party.
Ms. Liu was one of them. She could not believe a government would harvest organs from living people for profit. After reading the evidence, she said: “the party is really bad. Now, I want to quit.”
A few Chinese tourists agreed that the former communist head Jiang Zemin who launched and directed the persecution, has committed mountains of crimes, and they were glad to see that 250,000 Falun Gong practitioners have filed lawsuits against him. They believe that he should be brought to justice.
Many westerners also expressed support to the peaceful resistance.
Adrienne Armstrong greets practitioners.
Adrienne Armstrong admired practitioners. She said she could feel “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” deep in her heart, and people should respect this principle. The Chinese government should stop all the injustice.
She had tears when talking about the persecution. She said she supported the rally and the march, “When the media is controlled by the government, we need the actions that bring people the truth,” she said.
Local banker John Arsenal watched the march with his wife. He liked the principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance,” and said that it is a great way to live your life, and that the persecution is so unfair.
John said he is worried about the practitioners in China, and he will find out online how to help them. “Today's activities are excellent,” he said, “This is why we came to watch it. It is great to see so many parliament members and people supporting Falun Gong. This is great!”
Related report in Chinese:多伦多千人大游行-法轮功真相震撼人心
Category: Rallies & Protests
