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The Tian Guo Marching Band on Parliament Hill at the Falun Dafa Day celebration, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
OTTAWA—Falun Gong practitioners and friends celebrated Falun Dafa Day on Wednesday in Ottawa. Festivities included a parade through downtown followed by speeches, dance and music performances, and Falun Dafa exercise demonstrations on Parliament Hill in the nation’s capital.
The events marked the 18th anniversary of the self-improvement discipline’s introduction to the public on May 13, 1992. The traditional Chinese practice includes a set of meditation exercises and is centred on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
Among the speakers were Senator Consiglio Di Nino; MPs Stephen Woodworth, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Bill Siksay, and Rob Anders; former Secretary of State David Kilgour; Lyle Notice, pastor of the Ottawa Seventh-day Adventist Church; and former diplomat Brian McAdam.
Falun Gong practitioners hold banners and signs in downtown Ottawa with their Tian Guo Marching Band playing in the background as part of a celebration of Falun Dafa Day on Wednesday. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
A dancer performing Chinese dance at the Ottawa Falun Dafa Day celebration, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Pastor Lyle Notice of the Ottawa Seventh-day Adventist Church speaks at the Falun Dafa Day celebration on Parliament Hill, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Member of Parliament Stephen Woodworth at the Falun Dafa Day celebration in Ottawa, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Member of Parliament Borys Wzesnewskyj at the Ottawa Falun Dafa Day celebration, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Member of Parliament Rob Anders at the Falun Dafa Day celebration in Ottawa, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Senator Consiglio Di Nino speaks at the Falun Dafa Day celebration in Ottawa, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Member of Parliament Bill Siksay at the Falun Dafa Day celebration in Ottawa, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Former Secretary of State David Kilgour speaks at a Falun Dafa Day celebration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, May 2010. (Donna He/The Epoch Times)
Falun Dafa Association of Canada received greetings letters from Prime Minister Stephen Harper as well as a host of other government officials.
