United States: Ottawa's Carleton University "Falun Gong: The Truth Behind the Propaganda" Truth Clarification Activity

On Monday, March 31st the Carleton University Falun Dafa Club held an all-day event entitled "Falun Gong: The Truth Behind the Propaganda" on the university campus in Canada's capital city, Ottawa. The purpose of the event was to help students learn the facts about the practise and the persecution to a greater extent than the club had done in the past. This activity was on a larger scale than the club's previous activities and enabled many more people to learn the truth.

The day consisted of exercise demonstrations, exercise teaching, truth-clarifying videos, a photo exhibit, speeches by practitioners and supporters from the University, as well as casual chats with the students. Everything took place in a public area with many students. Right from the very beginning, Carleton journalism students began reporting on the event. They made video footage of all of the many of the activities that were taking place and held interviews with different practitioners. As the activities continued, more and more students stopped to see what was going on.

At around noon, when the student traffic was very high, the Carleton University Falun Dafa Club's president began with the event's opening speech. Afterwards came voices of support and voices condemning the persecution from guest speakers Bill Skidmore (a Carleton University human rights professor), Joseph Zanger Bright, Jr. (President of the Carleton University Students Union Association), and Gordie Wornoff (Ontario Public Interest Research Group -- Carleton). In his speech, Prof. Skidmore made clear his stance on the propaganda that has been put forth by the Chinese regime:

"When I read it and go through many of these articles I am struck by the incredible clumsiness and transparency of the Chinese propaganda. [...] It is amazing for me, who is someone who is not really involved in this, to do the reading of what the embassies are putting out, what the Chinese government is putting out. And saying, this doesn't hold water. It is not convincing."

After the guest speakers had finished, practitioners shared experiences, reading articles from Dafa websites, and reading poetry written by other practitioners, while passers-by continued to stop and listen. Some practitioners spoke in English and others in Chinese.

Many Chinese students who have been studying abroad also stopped to listen to practitioners speak. Some stood for a moment and then left, some stood and listened for a quite a while, and many spoke with practitioners directly. Quite a few had already spoken to practitioners before and seen the tables that the club held at the University in the past and accepted the facts very easily. No matter what, all of them were able to hear the truth, and after hearing practitioners speak from their hearts, they were able to decide for themselves which path to take.