The Tran family of four traveled from Nova Scotia specifically for the performances. They had closed their business, pulled their son out of university, booked an Airbnb, rented a car, and arranged for friends to join them. Tran told Vision Times she had previously seen Shen Yun in Montreal and understood it as more than a stage production. “It transmits moral values and goodness,” she said. “I wanted my children to take something positive from it.” Her son had been equally eager, seeing Shen Yun as a way for young people to connect with authentic history and positive values.
When the cancellation came, the mood collapsed. “The main purpose of our trip is gone,” Tran said. “This whole journey has become pointless.” Her son said watching his parents’ efforts come to nothing at the last moment was especially painful. He called on the Four Seasons Centre to stand firm against what he described as a false threat, cooperate with police, and bring Shen Yun back as soon as possible.
Toronto couple Alba Menjivar and Julio Chinchilla had bought tickets after seeing a Shen Yun advertisement on Instagram, drawn in by enthusiastic audience testimonials. “I assumed it might be closed for Easter,” Alba said. “Finding out it was because of a threat — that was really sad. The artists and staff worked so hard. Audiences traveled from far away. And now none of it has happened.” She said the sudden cancellation left her feeling deeply powerless, but she remained confident in Canadian institutions. “I am not afraid. If the show continues, I will walk through those doors. I trust the authorities to handle this properly. I hope Shen Yun comes back, and soon.”
Recent arrivals from China: ‘A government across the Pacific is ruining our lives here’
Wang Haoyu and Zheng Hengtong, both recently arrived from mainland China, had never seen Shen Yun. On March 29, they arrived at the venue with high expectations. About twenty minutes before showtime, an emergency evacuation announcement came over the speakers. They later exchanged their tickets for the April 1 date, only to learn the theater had canceled the remaining five performances as well.
“A CCP government sitting on the other side of the Pacific Ocean managed to affect the lives of audiences in Canada,” Wang told Vision Times. “That is persecution, plain and simple. Our time, our energy, our money — all wasted.” He said he planned to keep supporting Shen Yun regardless. “Shen Yun represents five thousand years of Chinese civilization, the artistic heritage that belongs to Chinese culture, not to the Party. It shows the glory, the moral values, and the human spirit that existed before communism. Only through Shen Yun can the world see what real, uncontaminated Chinese culture looks like.”
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Zheng argued that venues facing similar threats elsewhere had conducted thorough security sweeps and continued performing normally. He said the cancellations represented exactly the outcome CCP transnational repression was designed to achieve. “We came to Canada for freedom,” he said. “If we cannot even freely attend a cultural performance, how is that acceptable?”
Four MPs go public; one plans to attend Shen Yun himself
The cancellations drew swift and unusually direct responses from federal legislators.
Judy Sgro, a veteran MP, former immigration minister, and chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, issued a public letter on April 3. “I must express my acute concern and unequivocal condemnation of a troubling and escalating pattern of foreign-directed intimidation occurring here on Canadian soil — acts that strike at the very core of our sovereignty, our democratic institutions, and the safety of our communities,” she wrote.
Sgro called the events involving Shen Yun deeply troubling. The company, she noted, is a legitimate cultural organization widely popular across Canada that has become the target of a coordinated campaign of threats, including fake bomb threats, some of which have been traced to individuals linked to the Chinese Communist Party. She recounted two recent incidents: the evacuation of the Living Arts Centre in Mississauga on March 15, which forced audiences to wait outside in cold and difficult conditions while security measures were carried out, and the March 29 evacuation at the Four Seasons Centre that led to the cancellation of a nearly sold-out show, leaving many audience members who had traveled long distances disappointed, disrupted, and understandably concerned for their safety. “These incidents are not isolated disruptions,” she wrote. “They represent a deliberate effort to intimidate, to silence, and to interfere with lawful cultural expression in Canada.” She expressed particular alarm at reports that coordinated threats had extended beyond performance venues to Parliament Hill and Canada’s national leadership, calling it “an unacceptable affront to our democratic system.” “Let me be clear: foreign interference, intimidation, and harassment have no place in this country.”
Conservative MP Shuv Majumdar said the situation was dangerous regardless of whether the threat came from an authoritarian regime or a lone bad actor. “Shen Yun is a production I have very much enjoyed watching for many years,” he said, “a spectacular production created by many people who have put in enormous effort to present the stories of ancient people.” He said he was deeply troubled by a response that punishes the victims rather than pursues the perpetrators. “The correct response is to protect those who are peacefully presenting a beautiful artistic performance, to allow normal life to continue — not to let an aggressive party successfully intimidate Canadians and strip away the freedoms we have fought for and cherish.” He called on authorities to identify and prosecute those responsible and to protect religious freedom for all Canadians.
MP Marc Dalton expressed regret and called for a firm government stance, describing the conduct as “very serious and malicious.” He warned that if a single email can shut down a public event, more disruptions will follow. Dalton said he planned to attend Shen Yun himself the following week, praising it as “a treasure of art and culture” that conveys goodness, courage, and universal values.
Ned Kuruc, MP for Hamilton East-Stoney Creek, had already visited a theater in his own riding to present Shen Yun artists with a commendation and attended a performance with his family. He called the Toronto cancellations “very troubling,” describing them as a symptom of CCP infiltration and interference in Canada that risks setting a dangerous precedent, and urged Ottawa to take the correct stance toward Beijing.
Hong Kong community leaders demand RCMP investigation
Richard Tse, president of the Toronto Hong Kong Parents Association, had purchased tickets for April 4. “As an audience member, to see a professional production that has been preparing for over a year canceled for this reason is extremely disappointing,” he told Vision Times. He said he understood exactly how deflating the experience must have been for the performers. A venue of its stature, he added, should have the capacity to protect its audiences — and was put in an impossible position by a campaign of CCP-directed intimidation.
Tse argued that the correct response to a genuine safety concern was to call in Toronto police immediately, conduct a full sweep of the premises, and substantially reinforce security measures, including police checks on everyone entering the venue.
He said this was not the first time Shen Yun had faced interference in Canada, and that he strongly suspected CCP-linked actors were behind the campaign. “I strongly condemn the shameless conduct of the CCP. They show complete disrespect for the Canadian government, openly trying to destroy artistic freedom and free expression in Canada.” Tse also called on the RCMP to investigate the origin of the threatening emails and determine whether they could be traced to CCP-linked actors operating across borders. He urged the Canadian government to provide the public with transparent answers about whether Canada’s freedoms and national security have been compromised by foreign interference, and to guarantee Shen Yun’s right to perform in Canada without further disruption.
Victor Wong, president of Alliance Canada Hong Kong, told Vision Times the episode was “clearly a low-cost cross-border suppression operation by the CCP.” He added: “The bomb threats were obviously fake. That performances were canceled because of them is simply incomprehensible.” Friends of Hong Kong Canada and other organizations also took to social media to condemn what they described as Beijing deciding what Torontonians are allowed to watch.
Toronto police found no danger; Six shows were canceled regardless
Toronto police confirmed the bomb threat was a hoax and no real danger existed. The Four Seasons Centre was put in an impossible position by a campaign of CCP-directed intimidation — and its decision to cancel all six performances is nonetheless without precedent in Shen Yun’s global touring history.
Shen Yun, founded in 2006 by Falun Gong practitioners, has faced repeated CCP-directed interference throughout its two decades of global touring. This episode is being read by observers as a conspicuous instance of CCP transnational repression inside a Western democracy, and as a test of Canada’s resolve to defend artistic freedom, sovereign independence, and resistance to foreign interference.
NTD Television’s English-language service recently released a documentary, Unbroken: The Untold Story of Shen Yun, tracing the company’s twenty years of performances under conditions of CCP suppression, fake bomb threats, and death threats, told through the eyes of the artists themselves.
