November 13, 2003 Thursday

Final Edition

BY MINER AND NEWS STAFF

Kenora shoppers got a taste of Falun Dafa, also known as Falun Gong, Tuesday as a national campaign aimed to educate Canadians visited the Shoppers Mall.

Francis Medore and Mansour Sedighi have decided to drive from coast-to-coast to tell people about the human rights abuses to Falun Dafa practitioners in China, and asking Canadians to become aware of the impact of Canada's international trade.

"We want to let Canadians know how Canadian investments in China contribute to the persecution," Medore said, adding that the money gives the Chinese government the money it needs to continue with the alleged persecution.

Falun Dafa is not a religion, but is a practice which includes self-examination. It has three main tenants, truthfulness, compassion and tolerance.

The practice first became popular in 1992 and quickly took off in China. In [1999] the Chinese government under Jiang Zemin, banned the practice and organizations like Amnesty International accuse the Chinese government of human rights violations in their quest to rid the country of the practice.

Medore, who is from Montreal, said there are about 1,000 Falun Dafa practitioners in Canada, including groups in Winnipeg and Thunder Bay. The pair left Tuesday night for Thunder Bay and will be staying there over the weekend.

Medore said he's been pleased with the reception he's received on his cross-Canada trek so far. In Kenora, Medore and Sedighi demonstrated some of the meditation techniques employed by Falun Dafa and had literature on the practice and the alleged human rights violations available to anyone who was interested.

The pair who have been on the road for just over a month, expect to reach the Atlantic coast in about a month.