July 12, 2001

You have to wonder. Who is running this city anyway?

Are the comrades of the Chinese Consulate in Calgary now wielding their hammer and sickle even here?

It all starts when the handful of Calgarians who follow Falun Gong want to put up a billboard on 6 Ave. S.W., by the consulate of the People's Republic of China.

[...]

Falun Gong is a growing movement practising certain physical exercises and a moral philosophy they say embodies the principles of truth, compassion and tolerance.

But the butchers of Beijing don't like Falun Gong's popularity. In fact they call the Falun Gong adherents all kinds of names before banning them, re-educating them, jailing them, torturing them and killing them.

Two years ago this month, the Chinese tyrants stepped up their attacks on Falun Gong. The billboard would remind people of this fact. It would read: China, stop persecuting Falun Gong. 225 killed, 50,000+ jailed.

Falun Gong goes to work. The billboard is paid for, the art work is accepted and sent out. Then, at the last moment, Glenna of Pattison Outdoor Group phones the Falun Gong people. Their billboard contract is with Pattison.

"Hi, it's Glenna from Pattison calling. I need you to call me. Um ... we have to change the location ... There's political reasons because of it. If you would get back to me, so we can discuss this."

Ian Oliver of the local Falun Gong group says he then got back to the people at Pattison. Ian was told the "political reasons" was a request by the Chinese Consulate to nix the billboard. This request by the Chinese was supposed to have been passed on to Pattison by the City of Calgary.

Silly Hall spin doctors spring into action. The city requested nothing, they cry. "We did not ask Pattison to suppress any billboards," says the city's communicator Vickie Megrath.

Even if there is no city request to do anything, the question remains. Did the city PASS ON a Chinese request?

And if the city isn't involved, is the Chinese Consulate acting solo? Would the Chinese pick up the phone and call a private company in this city to lean on them? Or would they more likely work through a city hall that's played footsie with them, white-hatting its dictators and snubbing its dissidents?

If the city didn't talk to Pattison, and the Chinese didn't talk to Pattison, who did? What are the "political reasons?" Did Pattison decide on its own to approve the billboard and then suddenly shoot it down because of a newfound respect for Beijing? Where is truth?

Glenna is "out of town." The appointed spokesman for Pattison is in the office but not taking calls. [...]

The Chinese Consulate has circled the tanks ... er ... wagons.

[...] "This is Canada. They are stamping out our freedom of speech," says Ian. "All we'd like is to put the sign up."

http://www.canoe.ca/CalgaryNews/cs.cs-07-12-0009.html

Category: Falun Dafa in the Media