Canada: Members of Parliament Call for Action Against CCP’s Transnational Repression

(Minghui.org) At a May 28 event on Parliament Hill to commemorate the 33^rd anniversary of Falun Dafa’s introduction to the public, Canadian Members of Parliament (MP) called for action to counter the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) transnational repression of this peaceful mind-body cultivation practice. Citing the fact that the CCP has used the U.S. media and judicial system to attack Shen Yun and Falun Gong (Falun Dafa) since the beginning of last year, Members of Parliament condemned the CCP and called for investigation and further action. Several theaters where Shen Yun Performing Arts have performed this year have received bomb threats and threats of mass shootings.

The MPs said that instances of CCP interference and transnational repression have also occurred in Canada and threaten Canada’s sovereignty, safety, and freedom. They noted that it is a crime to make death threats and bomb threats, and said Canada should take swift action against this transnational suppression, and designate those involved as members of a terrorist organization.

Members of Parliament (MP): Michael Guglielmin (3rd from left), Rhonda Kirkland (4th from left), Cathay Wagantall (3rd from right), and Garnett Genuis (2nd from right), join Falun Gong practitioners during the 33rd anniversary celebration to commemorate Falun Dafa’s public introduction on May 28, 2025, on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Dan Muys MP (third from left), Melissa Lantsman MP (fourth from left), James Bezan MP (second from right), and Dafa practitioners at the celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the public introduction of Falun Dafa on May 28, 2025

MP: Death Threats Are Criminal Offenses

The Falun Dafa Information Center (FDI) reported that over the past year, there have been more than 100 anonymous messages threatening violence against Shen Yun, Falun Gong practitioners, and elected officials who support Falun Gong. The threats mention bombings, shootings, rape, and murder.

Scott Reid, MP, pointed out that the CCP’s suppression of Falun Gong has become, “More sophisticated about finding ways of trying to use instruments in other countries to silence advocacy for Falun Dafa and Shen Yun.”

He said the core value of Shen Yun is to show the essence of traditional Chinese culture to Western audiences through the most outstanding artists, including dancers and musicians. At the same time, Shen Yun also highlights the relationship of Falun Dafa to traditional Chinese culture, which the CCP regime is trying hard to downplay. He indicated that this was why the CCP was so actively trying to stop Shen Yun performances.

MP Reid further explained, “Shen Yun has been a very effective tool for bringing awareness both of Falun Dafa itself and traditional Chinese culture to the wider public in these countries. So [the CCP wants to] shut it down through a variety of mechanisms, denying a venue, trying to make people not want to go through threats of violence. These are tactics that can reduce the transmission of information. 

“And it’s very hard to believe that the threats of violence associated with Shen Yun in various countries are not in some way coordinated,” he said. “These things seem to be happening spontaneously. After years of not happening, suddenly, they are all happening at once. It seems far more likely that the CCP has a role in that. And look, that’s foreign interference here and in other countries. And we absolutely should have investigated that a great deal more thoroughly than was actually done.

“Threatening to have a bomb or some kind of other violence is actually against the law, it’s a criminal offense to do that. To have a state in one country sanctioning people doing that in another country is absolutely unacceptable,” MP Reid said.

MP: The Government Must Take Action Against the Transnational Suppression

Bill C-70 (An Act respecting countering foreign interference), which received royal assent in June 2024, aims to strengthen Canada’s ability to respond to foreign interference, especially in preventing transnational repression.

Bill C-70 addresses transnational repression by expanding the powers of intelligence agencies such as the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), establishing foreign influence transparency registries, and strengthening law enforcement, such as amending the Criminal Code to more strictly regulate conduct related to foreign interference, including intimidation, threats and other forms of transnational repression.

Garnett Genuis, MP and Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong in Canada, said, “We see continuing transnational repression, targeting the Falun Dafa movement, targeting politicians, and targeting academic institutions. We need to see the implementation of the foreign interference legislation that the Conservative Party pushed for. And we need the government to step up and take these issues seriously.”

Michael Cooper, MP and conservative Shadow Minister for Democratic Reform, said about the transnational repression, “It’s very disturbing and it’s unacceptable. It underscores the lengths to which the Chinese communist regime will go. But certainly the legislation [C-70] that was passed in the last parliament could provide some additional tools to deal with foreign interference and oppression on our soil.”

The CCP’s Long-term Agenda Contradicts the Ideals of Liberal Nations

Since August 2024, The New York Times has published ten articles attacking Shen Yun, eight of which have Chinese versions. These articles echo the CCP’s propaganda and contain distortions and false statements about Falun Gong and Shen Yun. The publication of these articles allows the CCP’s narrative to enter mainstream American society and be widely disseminated by the Chinese regime’s overseas forces and agents.

Referring to how the CCP manipulates U.S. media to attack Shen Yun and Falun Gong, Mr. Genuis said, “I think there needs to be more awareness across the board about the impacts of foreign state-promoted misinformation, and I think there are a lot of different institutions that can fall victim to that, or make the mistake of buying into certain narratives.

“We need to be very careful about identifying just how the CCP tries to use all kinds of means to criticize their opponents,” MP Genuis said. “Notwithstanding a lot of all the challenges we face in the world, we need to keep our eye on the ball in terms of recognizing that the CCP has a long-term agenda and it is not aligned with the values of free, open, democratic societies.”

He also stressed, “We must remind ourselves that our values have to be rooted in the non-material level, in the sense that there are goods to be pursued that are more important than material things. That’s the basis on which we stand against the theoretical materialism of communism and other ways in which it seeks to infiltrate.

“But this is a problem—the efforts, the transnational oppression, and other means to co-opt Western institutions—and we have to stand against it.”

Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong: Fighting the CCP’s Transnational Repression

Judy Sgro, MP and Co-Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong (PFOFG), said Canada should take action against this transnational repression. “I think all of us as Canadian parliamentarians need to be pushing back and demanding fairness and respect, and to push back against China and their efforts to squash the Falun Dafa movement that they have been trying to do for many, many years.”

MP Sgro said that the truth presented by Shen Yun performances has made the CCP feel threatened. “And clearly, China is being very threatened. So I think just stay strong, keep doing what you’re doing and keep moving forward.”

Liberal MP Yvan Baker stated, “We have to make sure that we’re equipping government agencies, which are working with communities of various kinds to make sure Canadians are equipped and appropriately protected. And that our institutions are protected. There’s various kinds of foreign interference and we have to make sure that we’re addressing all of those various kinds of threats.”

Exposing Foreign Interference and Transnational Repression

Melissa Lantsman, Conservative MP, said one way to fight the transnational repression is to bring it to the public. She pointed out, “There is no question that the foreign interference is on our soil and intimidates and affects our friends and our neighbours and those who seek nothing but peace and tolerance. And that’s what we have to fight back against in the House of Commons.

“To shine light on it, to make sure that everybody in Canada knows that this is happening, not just in China, but here on our soil and to make sure that every Canadian citizen, everybody who wants to build a life in Canada, does so in freedom and free of intimidation. That’s our job as members of Parliament and that is the government’s job to start taking this threat seriously.”

James Bezan, MP, said the CCP’s interference in Canada manifests on multiple levels, such as “Wolf Warrior Diplomacy” and “Overseas Chinese Police Stations.” He said, “We have to continue to be brave and call them out and stand up for our citizens so that they’re not unfairly targeted by the Chinese Communist Party. And we have to make sure that we stop things like Chinese police stations that are right here in Canada. We’ve got to stop their diplomatic corps from what they’re doing in intimidation and interference, and the threats that they’ve been leveling against former Chinese citizens that now call Canada home. So we’ll continue to fight for democracy, for human rights, for freedom, and of course, that includes Falun Dafa.”

MP: Government Should Speed Up Enforcement

Dan Muys, MP, said that street attacks by the CCP’s agents was unacceptable. He said, “In Canada where people come for hope and opportunity and freedom, and they’re being targeted on the streets of Canada by foreign operatives. That’s unacceptable. We’ve called that out as conservatives in the House of Commons, and we’ll continue to call that out, and we can’t have that happen.”

He said the Canadian government and police agencies should also take faster practical action to curb transnational repression, such as identifying those responsible as terrorist organizations. “The government needs to take that seriously and actually act on it. But also our Canadian agencies, our police agencies need to be cognizant of this,” he said. “We’ve had Chinese police stations operating on the streets of Toronto, and the government was slow to act on that and kick out the people responsible. And so there needs to be much quicker action taken to clamp down on that.”

Anita Vandenbeld, MP and Parliamentary secretary to the Minister of International Development, also spoke about transnational repression. “I think we’re seeing this not just [in Canada],” she said, “but we’re seeing this across the world, in different communities. And I think this is something that is very worrisome.”

MP Vandenbeld emphasized, “I think it’s something that Parliament needs to spend more time studying, to make sure that we put an end to it.”