‘Escalating Transnational Repression’: 65 Canadian Lawmakers Condemn Beijing’s Targeting of Falun Gong Practitioners in Canada

The call comes as 12 parliamentarians recently joined more than 50 fellow lawmakers in condemning the CCP’s persecution of Falun Gong practitioners.

Sixty-five Canadian parliamentarians have signed a joint statement condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s 26-year persecution of Falun Gong and its escalating transnational repression campaign against the group. The Epoch Times

Canadian parliamentarians say Beijing’s transnational repression of Falun Gong practitioners in Canada must stop, and that the communist regime must also end its rights abuses in China.

The call comes as 12 parliamentarians recently joined more than 50 fellow lawmakers in signing a joint statement condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China and its escalating repression against the meditation group overseas, including on Canadian soil.

Their signatures bring the total number of parliamentarians condemning the CCP’s transnational repression to 65, in an initiative that began earlier this summer as the persecution campaign against the spiritual group reached its 27th year on July 20.

“We, the undersigned Parliamentarians, stand in solidarity with the Falun Gong community and strongly condemn the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) escalating transnational repression (TNR) and ongoing, 26-year persecution of Falun Gong practitioners,” reads the statement.

“Over the past 26 years, Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have endured surveillance, harassment, intimidation, assault, disinformation, cyberattacks, and other forms of CCP repression.”

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a traditional Chinese discipline combining meditative exercises and moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance. After it was introduced in China in 1992 it spread rapidly, and by 1999 an estimated 70 million to 100 million people had taken up the practice.

Falun Gong practitioners demonstrate the practice's meditative exercises at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 13, 2025, during an event to commemorate the 26th anniversary of the CCP's persecution campaign against Falun Gong. Jerry Zhang/The Epoch Times

While Falun Gong is currently practiced in more than 100 countries worldwide, its practitioners have been heavily persecuted by the CCP for nearly three decades, with reports of arbitrary imprisonment, torture, forced labour, physical and sexual abuse, and forced organ harvesting.

Transnational Repression

Beyond the forms of transnational repression noted in the joint statement, Falun Gong practitioners in Canada have faced exclusion from local events, impersonation attempts, intimidation of relatives, and pressure on elected officials to withdraw support, according to a 2024 report submitted to Canada’s Foreign Interference Commission by the Falun Dafa Association of Canada.

Liberal MP Judy Sgro, one of the signatories of the joint statement and co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, said it’s important to help Canadians understand the repression faced by many Chinese dissidents abroad.

“I think these statements are extremely important for people to see that we are standing up against the kind of persecution that many of the Falun Gong are having to endure,” she said in an interview.

“It’s unfair, and it’s up to many of us to stand up and be a voice for those who are voiceless.”

Liberal MP Judy Sgro, co-chair of Parliamentary Friends of Falun Gong, speaks at a celebration on Parliament Hill in Ottawa marking the anniversary of the public introduction of Falun Gong, on May 9, 2017. Evan Ning/Epoch Times

The joint statement notes that Beijing’s transnational repression has most recently expanded to include the targeting of New York-based Shen Yun Performing Arts, a classical Chinese dance company founded in 2006 by Falun Gong practitioners.

Venues hosting Shen Yun in four Canadian cities this year received bomb or shooting threats, adding to more than 140 false threats made against the dance company, its supporters, or its hosting venues worldwide over the past year. Some of these threats have been traced to sources in China.

“These acts are part of a broader, global CCP-led campaign of sabotage aimed at suppressing Falun Gong and Shen Yun,” reads the statement. “These actions not only harm the Falun Gong community and disrupt Shen Yun, but also threaten the integrity of Canada’s institutions, sovereignty, and core democratic values.”

Addressing Beijing’s Repression

Conservative MP James Bezan, who has previously called for an end to the persecution and expressed support for practitioners’ efforts to raise awareness, also signed the joint statement condemning Beijing’s transnational repression. In September, he introduced Bill C-219 in the House of Commons to extend Canada’s sanctions to the immediate relatives of international human rights violators.

He said that, if passed, the legislation would ensure Canada is “not used as a safe haven for those corrupt foreign officials committing human rights [abuses] and enriching themselves at the same time in China as well as in other countries around the world.” Bill C-219 is currently at the second-reading stage in the House of Commons.

“We need to make sure that their foreign interference, their transnational repression of Chinese nationals, Hong Kongers, Taiwanese, and Falun Gong practitioners right here in Canada comes to an end,” Bezan said in an interview.

Conservative MP James Bezan speaks during the Falun Dafa Day event on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on May 8, 2024. Jonathan Ren/The Epoch Times

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis, who also signed the joint statement, said he hopes to see Bezan’s bill passed soon to address transnational repression. He added that he is “very concerned” about the recent threats to Shen Yun.

“It shows the insecurity of that regime that is constantly trying to threaten arts displays, but we press on, we need to press on and defend our freedom in this country,” he told The Epoch Times. “We have to defend our sovereignty, defend our country, and stand for human rights.”

Tory MP Melissa Lantsman has also raised concerns about the threats to Shen Yun in Canada and Beijing’s transnational repression operations more broadly, saying that this form of foreign interference has been a “long-standing issue in Canada,” and that she supports “anybody who is willing to stand up against the brutal dictatorship in Beijing.”

“It’s bomb threats, it’s lawfare, it’s silencing,” she said in an interview. “It is all of the tools of a brutal communist dictatorship that stretches its arms across the world to silence the voices who are standing up for freedom, for democracy, for the rule of law— for everything that is right.”

Shen Yun Performing Arts dancers. Venues hosting Shen Yun in four Canadian cities in 2025 received false bomb or shooting threats. Courtesy of Shen Yun Performing Arts

Protecting Religious Freedom

At this year’s G7 summit in Canada, world leaders issued a joint statement condemning the rise of transnational repression, saying they are “deeply concerned” about foreign governments targeting dissidents abroad. They vowed to counter this threat, saying it “often impacts dissidents, journalists, human rights defenders, religious minorities, and those identified as part of diaspora communities.”

The recent joint statement from the parliamentarians says the persecution of Falun Gong and its expansion abroad is an example of the need to counter this form of repression.

“The CCP’s campaign against Falun Gong clearly exemplifies the very dangers the G7 has called on the world to resist together,” it says.

Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar said there are multiple ways Canada can address transnational repression. He has previously suggested appointing a foreign interference czar focused on countering such operations on Canadian soil.

“We should protect religious freedom in this country at every turn, including for our Falun Gong practitioners,” he said.

“We should protect freedom of expression at every turn from foreign governments trying to suppress the freedom of Canadians to express themselves however they wish.”