Canada: Toronto Practitioners Rally to Call on Prime Minister to Help Stop Persecution

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin will start an 8-day trip to Asia on January 15. He will visit China and Hong Kong from January 20 to 22. On January 11, despite the cold, Toronto practitioners rallied in front of Chinese Consulate to call on Martin to help stop the persecution and killing of practitioners and rescue those being persecuted when he visits China.

At the press conference held during the rally, Toronto Falun Gong spokesman Joel Chipkar said, "Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) came into power 50 years ago, the total number of Chinese people who have been killed by CCP is 400 times higher than the total death of this recent South Asia Tsunami. In the past five years, CCP has been brutally persecuting practitioners who believe in the principles of "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance", and at least 1238 practitioners have been murdered. The tremendous loss due to the overwhelming natural cause is heartrending, the sustained murder of innocent people by politics and power is more disgusting."

Toronto practitioner Bill Liang and Lizhi He who was detained in China for 3 years and rescued to Canada last year spoke out on behalf of 14 practitioners who have relatives in China suffering persecution. They called on Prime Minister Martin to help rescue their relatives. Mother of Bill Liang, 69, has been sentenced to 3 years in prison for not giving up Falun Gong belief. Bill said, "I call on Prime Minister Martin to rescue my mother during his trip to China... Sanshui Forced Labour Camp in Guangdong told me that they forced my 69-year-old mother to get up 6am every day to work, however, they refused to tell me what kind of work my mother is being forced to do and how long she has to work everyday."

During the rally, practitioners met a MP who went to the Consulate to get visa. This MP is to visit China together with the Prime Minister. Practitioners told the MP to urge Martin to bring up Falun Gong issue during their trip to China, the MP expressed his support to practitioners.

Chipkar said, "Supporters of Falun Gong hope Martin can clearly bring up Falun Gong issue during his meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao. For the sake of China, Chinese people and Canada, it is time to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. In the future, if we look back the history of today and realise that such an atrocity of contrived persecution could have been stopped while people chose not to do anything, it will be the greatest regret of humanity."

A reporter from Toronto Star, Toronto's largest newspaper, published a photo report about this rally on January 12. The title of this photo report is "Falun Gong members seek PM's support on his visit to China." Another Toronto newspaper published an open letter from Mr. Chipkar on the persecution and Prime Minister's China trip.