Epoch Times Wins National Award in Canada

The Epoch Times was honoured on Thursday as a “strong defender of human rights and democratic values” in a ceremony in Toronto hosted by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario.

As part of Ethnomedia Week 2005 in Canada, the National Ethnic Press and Media Council of Canada (NEPMCC) honoured 14 newspapers across the country for their editorial content or visual presentation.

The Epoch Times, which also publishes English and French editions in Canada, serves a large Chinese population in Canada.

“The Epoch Times has grown from a free weekly to a daily newspaper serving Chinese communities in 20 cities and seven Canadian provinces, a spokeswoman for NEPMCC said as Lieutenant Governor Jame Bartleman presented Epoch Times publisher Cindy Gu with the award.

“It was the first newspaper to have extensive investigative reporting on the SARS outbreak in China, weeks before the authorities admitted its existence.”

The event, with over 200 guests filling the Lieutenant Governor’s Suite at the Ontario parliament, was also attended by federal members of parliament, Toronto mayor David Miller, Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, cabinet ministers and opposition legislators.

“Thank you for doing tremendously important work and doing it so well,” Premier McGuinty said in his address to the winners.

McGuinty said Canada and Ontario have the responsibility to be a “demonstration project for the world” in terms of how people from every corner of the world can come together and build a strong, cohesive society.

Canada has a large population of immigrants from many countries, including close to one million of Chinese origin, among the total population of roughly 32 million.

But, McGuinty added, “while we cherish our diversity there is nothing more important than our common humanity.”

The award is the second national prize The Epoch Times has won in the last month.

In August, The Epoch Times won a top award in the U.S. from the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA) for its editorial series Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party. The Nine Commentaries provide the first in-depth look at the true nature and history of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This shocking book-length editorial series has prompted nearly 4.5 million Chinese to renounce their membership in the CCP and its affiliate organizations. It is also the most censored item on the Chinese Internet. The AAJA gave the Nine Commentaries top honours for “Asian-American Issues, Online.”

The ceremony in Toronto on Thursday also honoured 30 individuals from different ethnic communities who have made outstanding contributions or successes in Canada.