(Clearwisdom.net)
OTTAWA, July 8, 2002
The Hon. Bill Graham
Minister of Foreign Affairs
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A OA6
Dear Minister:
As you are surely aware a group of Canadian Falun Gong practitioners were recently prevented from entering Iceland during the visit of Chinese President Jiang. A constituent of mine, Ms. Yang, has told me that she was part of a group that was stopped at Oslo International Airport by First Secretary Mr. Skafti Johnsson of the Icelandic Embassy in Oslo because their names were on a list of Falun Gong practitioners. The intended purpose of her trip was to participate in a conference held by the Iceland 2002 Peace Institute.
Given the above, I would appreciate your assistance in addressing my constituents concerns, which revolve around the following:
- Has our government discussed with Icelandic officials the matter of Canadian citizens being barred from entering Iceland, a country with whom Canada has diplomatic ties?
- In light of the fact that apparently the list of Falun Gong practitioners provided to the Icelandic government supposedly by the Chinese government contains names of Canadians that are not listed on any other public site, i.e., the Web, has the Canadian government examined the possibility that Chinese diplomats / nationals may be documenting / "blacklisting" Canadian citizen on Canadian soil?
You may address your comments directly to Ms. Yang, with a copy to my office for my own reference. Ms. Yang's particulars are as follows:
(Address omitted)
I thank you for your attention to this matter.
Sincerely,
(signature)
Marlene Jennings, MP
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