Madam Speaker, the Liberal member across the way would like me to keep it short. I will never be silenced when speaking on behalf of my constituents.
The first petition I would like to table is regarding the ongoing horrific persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. In particular, I want to join colleagues in drawing attention to particular cases of individual practitioners who either are Canadian or who have close connections to Canada, in particular to note the tragic, immoral imprisonment of He Lizhong, one of a number of Falun Gong practitioners who have close connections to Canada who are unjustly imprisoned as part of this persecution campaign.
I want to call for the release of He Lizhong, as well as others that colleagues have mentioned. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners has now been going on for decades, despite the fact that Falun Gong practitioners simply wish to practise a spiritual discipline and various meditation exercises emphasizing the virtues of truthfulness, compassion and tolerance. Prominent Canadians have been involved in research that has revealed forced organ harvesting as part of the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Petitioners would like to see the House and the government do more to combat forced organ harvesting and the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in general.