(Minghui.org) Canadian Parliament Members have presented a number of petitions in Parliament over the last several weeks, calling for the release of Canadian citizen Sun Qian, a Falun Gong practitioner, who was detained in Beijing in early February.
MP Tom Kmiec
On June 12, Member of Parliament Tom Kmiec, deputy critic for foreign affairs for the Conservative Party of Canada, presented petitions signed by over 200 of his constituents and others in Calgary.
“The petitioners remind the government of the illegal detention of Sun Qian,” Kmiec said, adding that there has been “no movement” on the part of the government to do more to secure Sun’s release.
MP Larry Bagnell
MP Larry Bagnell (Yukon, Lib.) presented two petitions to the Speaker of the House of Commons.
MP Bagnell stated, “The first petition is from 60 Yukoners who say that 'whereas Falun Gong is a spiritual practice, it consists of the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance.' They outline that for 18 years, practitioners have been victims of violence and illegal persecution, which has been condemned by, among others, the United Nations and Amnesty International.
“They go on to say that a Canadian citizen, Ms. Qian Sun, was illegally kidnapped and is being illegally detained in Beijing for practicing Falun Gong. They want the immediate and unconditional release of Canadian citizen, Ms. Qian Sun.
The second petition is signed by more than 40 Yukoners who say, 'whereas millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained, including family members of Canadians, there is mass extrajudicial imprisonment, forced labour, torture, rape and killing, along with hate propaganda.'
The petitioners 'therefore request that the Canadian government, among other things, take every opportunity to call for an end to the persecution of the Falun Gong, and urge the Chinese government to bring the perpetrators to justice.'”
MP Michael Cooper (St. Albert—Edmonton, CPC) said that the Chinese Communist authorities arrested Qian Sun for no other reason than she is a practitioner of Falun Gong.
After reading the petition, MP Cooper said, “I must say the silence from the government in standing up for her has been deafening.”
In the House of Commons, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May and several other MPs recently presented petitions calling for an end to the campaign of persecution being waged against Falun Gong practitioners in China.
On June 13, Liberal MP Robert-Falcon Ouellette presented a petition in the House calling for the release of family members of Canadians detained in China for practising Falun Gong—11 in all—and for the end of the persecution.
“It has been 17 years since the Chinese communist regime launched the persecution to eradicate Falun Gong, a spiritual practice centred on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance. Millions of Falun Gong practitioners have been arbitrarily detained, including family members of Canadians.
“Mass extrajudicial imprisonment, forced labour, torture, rape, and killing, along with hate propaganda, have all been reported by major human rights organizations,” said MP Ouellette, describing the persecution launched by the Chinese regime against the traditional practice in 1999.
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