A number of Canadian members of parliament (MPs) have expressed support for more legislation to back Falun Gong, the Chinese faith suppressed by the Communist Party, as its believers face harrowing abuses such as forced labor and execution by organ harvesting.
The MPs’ statements follow the May 5 passage of the Falun Gong Protection Act (HR 1540), which cleared the U.S. House of Representatives with no objections. That bill, if signed into law, would have the American government take greater steps to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong, including by imposing sanctions and other restrictions targeting the Chinese organ trade, as well as increased countermeasures to tackle Beijing’s transnational repression.
Canadian MPs voice support for Falun Gong
Also known as Falun Dafa, Falun Gong was introduced to the Chinese public in May 1992 by Master Li Hongzhi, and is rooted in a millennia-long tradition of spiritual faith.
On May 28, during an event to commemorate the 33rd anniversary of Falun Dafa’s global spread held on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, over a dozen cross-party MPs publicly supported the Falun Gong Protection Act and urged global action to take the CCP to task for its persecution campaign, which began in July 1999.
Garnett Genuis, a Conservative MP and who together with Liberal MP co-chairs the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, commended the Chinese spiritual practice for its peaceful principles, while noting that it has been subject to “some of the worst persecution that we have seen.”
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“We have to stand together in solidarity for truth and justice and stand against the threats to world peace and to universal human dignity that are presented by the CCP,” he said, citing Article 18 from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which calls for the protection of religious freedom and calling upon global leaders to call for an end to the persecution of Falun Gong.
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Genuis has been a strong advocate for Canadian legislation against forced organ harvesting. In December 2022, the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed Bill S-223 to criminalize illegal organ harvesting and trafficking, allowing Ottawa to impose sanctions on CCP officials known to be engaged in organ transplant abuses.
Speaking at the May 28 event, he lauded S-223’s passage, saying that it helps prevent Canada from being complicit in forced organ harvesting and trafficking.
“But the work is not done on that. We can work with partners around the world to have similar legislation adopted in some other jurisdictions, and work with provincial and territorial leaders to ensure the full implementation of measures to prevent any kind of Canadian complicity in forced organ harvesting and trafficking,” he said.
Falun Gong’s principles ‘antithetical to what the communist regime stands for’
Prior to the persecution in 1999, Falun Gong was practiced by tens of millions of Chinese, according to government estimates, and praised by senior Chinese officials for improving morality and public health.
But fearing the influence of Falun Gong’s spiritual teachings would threaten the Communist Party’s atheist Marxism, the CCP first began to put pressure on Falun Gong, then launched a full-scale campaign to stamp out the faith entirely, leading to atrocities nationwide.
“For most of the 33 years, Falun Dafa has been persecuted by the highest levels of the Beijing communist regime in China and abroad,” Conservative MP Cathay Wagantall said at the event.
She added that she stands with Falun Dafa practitioners “today and every day,” noting that the practice has been a source of “mental, moral, and physical enrichment” for millions of people, even as it faces persecution in China and increasing transnational repression by the CCP in other countries.
“It’s no wonder why Beijing works so tirelessly to suppress followers of Falun Dafa. Its main tenets of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance stand antithetical to what the communist regime stands for,” Wagantall said.
Liberal Party senior MP Kevin Lamoureux has submitted petitions on behalf of Falun Gong practitioners for years, calling for an end to forced organ harvesting, saying that he is deeply troubled about all forms of human rights violations and hopes to take feasible actions to fight them.
He noted the significance of Falun Gong practitioners’ work not only in Ottawa and his constituency in Winnipeg, but “around the world” to ensure “the spiritual well-being” of their communities and to raise awareness about the persecution in China under the CCP.
MP Shadow Minister for Democratic Reform and MP Michael Cooper, of the Conservative Party, echoed Wagantall, saying that Falun Dafa’s tenets are the “antithesis of everything” that the CCP’s ideology represents.
Conservative MP James Bezan, who serves as Shadow Minister for Defense, said the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and forbearance practiced by Falun Dafa practitioners is “really all about the principles of us Canadians.”
“We’re going to continue to celebrate Falun Dafa Day every year,” he told the practitioners on Parliament Hill. “And I know that each and every one of you, whether you’re born a Canadian or you have come here to become a Canadian, I thank you for making Canada the True North Strong and Free.”
Sanctioning CCP officials and targeting Beijing’s transnational repression
Cooper praised the Falun Gong Protection Act, saying that the U.S. House bill’s provisions for imposing sanctions on Chinese officials for taking part in the persecution of Falun Gong and other communist human rights violations are precisely the actions he proposes for the Canadian government to take.
In addition to the mass arrests, torture, forced labor perpetrated by Beijing, spoke about the mounting evidence indicating that Communist China has spent decades engaged in forced organ harvesting from religious prisoners, primarily Falun Gong adherents.
“There is one word that sums up the Beijing-based communist regime, and that is evil,” Cooper said.
“As a member of Parliament, I will go–as I have for years–into that chamber to stand up and speak out in support of the Falun Dafa,” he said. “Good will prevail, Falun Dafa will prevail.”
MP Bezan also called for holding the CCP accountable for organ harvesting, so as to eventually bring the atrocity to an end. He called attention to his efforts to help pass the 2017 “Sergei Magnitsky” law, also known as the “Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act.” Created in response to the death in custody of Russian tax advisor Sergei Magnitsky, who exposed corruption in his country, the law allows sanctions against foreign officials involved in human rights abuses in their own countries.
“There is no reason why those bureaucrats, doctors, corrupt businesspeople should be able to bring their families and their wealth to Canada and use us as a safe haven when they have really benefited from the torture and the atrocities against Falun Dafa,” Bezan said.
In addition to directly persecuting Falun Gong in China, the CCP also exports its anti-Falun Gong campaign abroad, particularly the United States, in an attempt to discredit and marginalize it.
The Protection Act calls for the U.S. government to step up defenses against the Party’s transnational repression, which deploys frivolous lawsuits, hit pieces against Falun Gong in the media, and threats and miscellaneous thuggery.
In late May, Texas Gov. Greg Abbot signed a state law targeting Beijing’s transnational repression. Last November, Abbot issued an executive order for the state’s Department of Public Safety to track and arrest those acting as agents for Beijing in its operations to hunt down dissidents and other individuals wanted by the CCP present in Texas.
“The Chinese Communist Party has engaged in a worldwide harassment campaign against Chinese dissidents in attempts to forcibly return them to China,” Abbott said in a news release at the time. “Texas will not tolerate the harassment or coercion of the more than 250,000 individuals of Chinese descent who legally call Texas home by the Chinese Communist Party or its heinous proxies.”
The new law, which goes into effect on Sept.1, introduces offenses of “transnational repression” and unauthorized execution of foreign laws, targeting agents acting illegally on behalf of foreign governments or terrorist organizations in the U.S., with severe penalties, including a minimum sentence of 15 years.
Wu Shaoping, who worked as a human rights lawyer in China before emigrating abroad, stated that the Texan anti-transnational repression act is a direct response to the CCP’s infringement on U.S. judicial sovereignty. He noted that U.S. law enforcement previously lacked sufficient legal grounds to prosecute CCP agents harassing Chinese dissidents on American soil, and this law addresses that gap, “allowing law enforcement to hold perpetrators accountable rather than letting them off the hook.”
He added that the law provides a legislative model for other U.S. states to counter the CCP’s “silent war” waged against overseas dissent. Wu urged states like New York and California, where CCP activities are frequent, to follow suit with similar legislation to form a legal barrier against transnational repression across the U.S., saying, “This is not just about protecting Falun Gong but about safeguarding religious and speech freedoms for all in the U.S.”
With reporting by Xiao Ran.
