Dozens of Canadian Lawmakers Denounce China’s Oppression of Falun Gong

Falun Gong practitioners hold a candlelight vigil outside the Chinese consulate in Toronto on July 20, 2024, to peacefully protest and mark the 25th anniversary of the regime’s persecution campaign. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

Canadian lawmakers have voiced condemnation of the Chinese regime’s repression of Falun Gong practitioners, marking 25 years of severe human rights violations since the regime began its persecution campaign in 1999.

“We strongly condemn the 25 years of human rights abuses against Falun Gong practitioners in China,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement, urging the unconditional release of all detained Falun Gong practitioners and other prisoners of conscience in China.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice rooted in Buddhist traditions that includes meditative exercises and moral teachings centred on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Since its public introduction in 1992, millions have adopted the practice, with official estimates suggesting that between 70 million and 100 million people in China alone were practicing by the late 1990s.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) views Falun Gong’s popularity and spiritual teachings as a threat to its officially atheist ideology. The regime’s nationwide campaign, which began on July 20, 1999, aims to eradicate the practice and has resulted in harassment, arbitrary detention and imprisonment, numerous cases of torture, sexual and mental abuse, and deaths from live organ harvesting.

A signature initiative started by Liberal MP Judy Sgro, who co-chairs the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, received support from 38 incumbent MPs and senators, and a provincial lawmaker.

“This is an opportunity for us to stand in solidarity and affirm the importance of ending this long standing persecution of these peaceful practitioners,” Ms. Sgro wrote in an email statement to her colleagues, obtained by The Epoch Times.

Falun Gong practitioners and supporters attend a rally at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 20, 2024, commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Chinese regime's persecution of Falun Gong. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times

International Condemnation

On July 20, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international organization of cross-party lawmakers, released a separate statement condemning the CCP’s oppression of Falun Gong.

“Hundreds of thousands of Falun Gong practitioners have been imprisoned, with an unknown number subjected to the most severe forms of torture, including widespread credible reports of state-sponsored forced organ harvesting,” the group said in the statement posted on the platform X.

“No minority, irrespective of their beliefs, deserves to be stripped of fundamental rights. We call upon our governments to insist that Beijing immediately cease their persecution of religious minorities, and uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to which China is a signatory.”

There have been persistent international efforts calling for an end to the CCP’s campaign against Falun Gong, as indicated in the statement from the Canadian lawmakers. It cited a 2007 U.S. State Department Human Rights report, which noted that United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture Manfred Nowak had reported that Falun Gong practitioners “accounted for 66 percent of victims of alleged torture while in government custody.”

On June 25, the House of Representatives passed the Falun Gong Protection Act (H.R. 4132), the first U.S. bill addressing Beijing’s brutal repression of Falun Gong to advance through the chamber. The bill explores potential sanctions and visa restrictions on those complicit in the crime.

Similar efforts have occurred in Europe.

In January 2024, the European Parliament passed resolution 2024/2504 (RSP), urging Beijing to “immediately end the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and other minorities.” It also calls on the regime to “end domestic and transnational surveillance and control and the suppression of religious freedom.”

Voices of Support

On July 20, Conservative Deputy Party Leader Melissa Lantsman issued a statement on behalf of her party and its leader, Pierre Poilievre, which was presented at a Toronto rally where Falun Gong practitioners marked the anniversary of the persecution.

“I remain, along with Pierre Poilievre, one of your strongest supporters on Parliament Hill,” she wrote.

Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party Melissa Lantsman sent a congratulatory letter to Falun Gong practitioners on behalf of her party and Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre. Screenshot via The Epoch Times

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, who serves as co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, provided a separate video statement. He specifically highlighted a Canadian law, passed in December 2022, that criminalizes forced organ harvesting and trafficking abroad.

“Canada must always and everywhere be a principled defender of justice and human rights, of democracy, of self-determination, and of freedom,” Mr. Genuis said.

“As we prepare for this solemn anniversary, I want to thank Canadian Falun Gong practitioners for their leadership and tenacity in this country in service of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance, leading diverse coalitions that are advancing human rights throughout the world.”

Signatories

The lawmakers from three of Canada’s major parties who signed the joint statement condemning China’s persecution of Falun Gong include Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and Liberal MPs Judy Sgro, Ken Hardie, Kevin Lamoureux, Mark Gerretsen, Valerie Bradford, and Yvan Baker.

Conservative MPs who signed the statement include Ms. Lantsman, along with Arnold Viersen, Blaine Calkins, Dan Muys, Dane Lloyd, Dave Epp, Don Stewart, Gerald Soroka, Glen Motz, Larry Maguire, James Bezan, Jasraj Singh Hallan, John Brassard, Kelly McCauley, Marc Dalton, Mel Arnold, Michael Cooper, Michelle Ferreri, Kyle Seeback, Pat Kelly, Philip Lawrence, Rachael Thomas, Richard Martel, Rob Morrison, Scott Reid, Shuvaloy Majumda, Stephanie Kusie, and Ted Falk.

Also among the signatories was Independent MP Kevin Vuong. Senators Marilou McPhedran and Bev Busson, along with Manitoba MLA Cindy Lamoureux, have also signed to show their support for Falun Gong practitioners.

Several former officials have also added their names to the list of signatories, including former Liberal MP Irwin Cotler; former Tory MPs Joan Crockatt, Rob Anders, and Wladyslaw Lizon; former Senator Consiglio Di Nino; and former Ontario MPP Jack MacLaren.

Eva Fu contributed to this report.