Evidence of meeting #8 for Citizenship and Immigration in the 39th Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was china.

On the agenda

MPs speaking

Also speaking

Maxwell Vo  President, SOS Viet Phi
Hoi Trinh  Attorney, VCA (Vietnamese Community in Australia), SOS Viet Phi
Patrick Nguyen  As an Individual
Mai Nguyen  Volunteer, VCA Office in Manila, Philippines, SOS Viet Phi
Richard Mahoney  Legal Counsel and Advisor, SOS Viet Phi
Joel Chipkar  Spokesperson, Toronto, Falun Dafa Association of Canada
David Matas  Lawyer, Immigration and Human Rights, David Matas Barrister & Solicitor, Falun Dafa Association of Canada
Lizhi He  Falun Gong practitioner, Falun Dafa Association of Canada
Xun  Shawn) Li (President, Falun Dafa Association of Canada

5:35 p.m.

Xun (Shawn) Li

I want to add a recent case.

My mom was a member of the Ottawa Chinese Senior Association, and because the persecution extended to Ottawa, through discrimination her membership was terminated late in the year 2001. She filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. The commission eventually referred it to the tribunal to decide whether Falun Gong could be regarded as a creed. This was a determining factor in that case. The expert witness, Professor David Ownby from the University of Montreal, who is the director of Asian research there and is cited in the ruling, testified that Falun Gong, from the western point of view, is regarded as a creed or religion. Although we ourselves call this a cultivation practice, because we don't have formalities and we don't have churches, from the western perspective we do. So the tribunal ruled that it was discrimination based on creed. They had to pay damages for that, but the case is under appeal and is still ongoing.

5:40 p.m.

Conservative

The Chair Conservative Norman Doyle

Thank you.

We have to wrap it up there.

I want to thank you for your presentation today.

And I want to thank the committee members for a great discussion.

We're all very familiar with Falun Gong. You've been very active on the Hill over the last few years, so the information you gave us is not entirely new, but very much appreciated.

Thank you. The meeting is adjourned.