Jason Kenney, Canada's Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, praised Falun Gong practitioners at a Calgary Stampede event for their efforts to raise the issue of religious persecution. (The Epoch Times)
As immigration minister, Kenney has worked to bring human rights defenders, democracy activists, and others at risk from repressive regimes from their home countries to Canada. Among them was Lu Decheng who, thanks to Kenney’s help, was able to come to Canada three years ago.
Lu spent ten years in prison in China for throwing paint-filled eggs at the portrait of Chairman Mao that overlooks Tiananmen Square during the 1989 student protest there.
Kenney praised Lu's sacrifice and that of the many Falun Dafa practitioners who are imprisoned in China today for holding true to their spiritual beliefs.
“Lu is a real hero for freedom and paid the price for freedom, spending several years in prison as do so many practitioners of Falun Dafa. We give thanks for the fact that here in Canada we have freedom of religion, freedom of expression, freedom of association, and that you are able to celebrate your participation in the Falun Dafa and Falun Gong practice without any fear here in Canada,” he said.
Kenney went on to thank the Tian Guo Marching Band and additional performers who came from across North America to participate in the Calgary Stampede.
“The stampede is all about celebrating the Western culture, the cowboy and ranch culture which is based on a deep belief in personal freedom, and that is what we ask for Falun Dafa practitioners in China and around the world—that is what we celebrate here in Canada. Thank you for coming here, thank you for participating in our stampede, thank you for making it so much more colourful, and thank you for always reminding us about the victims of religious and political persecution around the world.”
Kenney made his remarks on Saturday, July 4. Also in attendance were Provincial Members of the Legislative Assembly Kent Herh, Neil Brown, and Art Johnston, as well as Teri McKinnon, a director on the board of the Calgary Stampede.
In an interview after his speech, Kenney said it was important to recognize the tens of millions of people who died under communist regimes.
"We must learn from the lessons of history and we must not repeat them, we must remember that there continue to be victims today. Millions of Canadians came here fleeing oppression from communist regimes. They’ve made a tremendous contribution to building our society and our government believes we should find a way to recognize their common history, their common story, having been victims of this kind of persecution. We all acknowledge other massive crimes against humanity like the holocaust. While the holocaust is unique and singular in history, we should also recognize other massive crimes against humanity such as the crimes of communism."
Kenney has been a vocal supporter of efforts by Polish-Canadians and others to raise a monument to victims of communism in downtown Ottawa.
When asked if recent high-level visits between Canada and China indicated his government was changing its strong position on pushing for human rights improvements in China, Kenney said their position had not changed.
"Our government has always said that Canada should advance both our values and our interests. We obviously have strong interests in promoting trade and commerce with China but we also want to promote our values, our belief in democracy, and human freedom, and we believe that we can do both of those things.... It is impossible for us to convey our concerns about human rights issues if we don’t meet with officials from other countries.”
