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Falun Gong practitioners hold a parade in downtown Toronto to mark 27 years of the Chinese Communist Party’s persecution of the peaceful meditation discipline, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
Hundreds of Falun Gong practitioners and supporters gathered in downtown Toronto on July 18 despite the rain to call for an end to the persecution of the peaceful meditation discipline in China as they marked the 27th anniversary of ongoing atrocities against practitioners.
The event also featured a parade through downtown Toronto.
“We are here to remind our government, Canadians, about the persecution of Falun Gong in China,” former Conservative MP Wladyslaw Lizon said during a rally at Queen’s Park ahead of the parade.
Former Conservative MP Wladyslaw Lizon speaks at a rally to mark 27 years of CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, at Queen's Park, Toronto, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners hold a parade in downtown Toronto to mark 27 years of CCP’s persecution of the peaceful meditation discipline, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
Lizon said the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has also extended its persecution campaign against Falun Gong overseas, adding to the importance of speaking out against it.
“The Chinese government, through its agencies, through its agents, are working on the campaign of disinformation, misinformation, lies, and it reaches Canada,” he said.
“I grew up in Poland under the communist system, and they were the same way—they used to jail people, kill people, but the change has come,” he said, adding that the same “change” will also come to China to bring an end to the persecution.
Dean Baxendale, CEO of Optimum Publishing International and the China Democracy Fund, spoke about the case of Zhang Xinyan, a Falun Gong practitioner who fled China to Thailand in 2014 and was supposed to come to Canada as a U.N. refugee this year, but was prevented from leaving by Thai authorities.
Sheng Xue, a democracy activist based in the Toronto area, says the Chinese Embassy has interfered in Zhang’s case and she’s at the risk of being forcefully repatriated to China.
Dean Baxendale, CEO of Optimum Publishing International and the China Democracy Fund, speaks at a rally to mark 27 years of CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, at Queen's Park, Toronto, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
Chinese democracy activist Sheng Xue speaks at a rally to mark 27 years of CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
“We’ve sent letters, we’ve sent communications, we’ve talked to parliamentarians. We’re doing our best from Canada to try to get her released,” Baxendale said.
“I am with you. Everybody is with you,” he said, addressing the Falun Gong practitioners at the rally.
Houqiang Yu, president of the China Democratic Party of Canada, said via a translator that the CCP persecutes those who speak the truth, and noted that it’s important to stand up for human rights and freedom of speech.
Houqiang Yu (L), president of the China Democratic Party of Canada, speaks at a rally to mark 27 years of CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, at Queen's Park, Toronto, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners hold a parade in downtown Toronto to mark 27 years of CCP’s persecution of the peaceful meditation discipline, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
27 Years of Persecution
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline rooted in the Buddhist tradition handed down from ancient China, and was introduced to the public in China in 1992. It combines meditative exercises with moral teachings based on the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
The practice quickly gained popularity due to its physical and mental health benefits, with government estimates indicating between 70 million and 100 million people in China alone had taken up Falun Gong by the late 1990s, exceeding the CCP’s total membership.
Falun Gong practitioners hold a parade in downtown Toronto to mark 27 years of the CCP’s persecution of the peaceful meditation discipline, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
Falun Gong practitioners hold a rally to mark 27 years of the CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, at Queen's Park in Toronto on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
The CCP launched a violent persecution campaign on July 20, 1999, aiming to eradicate Falun Gong after then-CCP leader Jiang Zemin deemed its popularity and spiritual teachings a threat to the Party’s power and atheistic ideology.
Reports by human rights groups indicate practitioners of the discipline still face brutal persecution today, including arbitrary detention and imprisonment, torture, forced labour, brainwashing, surveillance, killings, and forced live organ harvesting.
Meanwhile, Falun Gong practitioners have responded to the persecution through peaceful protests and awareness-raising efforts both in China and abroad, according to the Washington-based Falun Dafa Information Center, which reports on the persecution campaign.
Falun Gong practitioners hold a rally to mark 27 years of CCP's persecution of Falun Gong, at Queen's Park, Toronto, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
The center says practitioners in China distribute informational materials, document and relay accounts of abuses to contacts overseas, and pursue petitions and legal complaints at an “unprecedented scale” despite the risks involved.
At the commemorative events across Canada this week, Falun Gong practitioners and supporters held signs that read “Stop CCP’s Transnational Repression of Falun Gong,” “Stop Organ Harvesting in China,” “Falun Dafa is Good,” and “Quit the CCP.”
In 2004, The Epoch Times published “Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party” to spread awareness about the history of the CCP and its human rights abuses. The publication led to a global “Quit the CCP” movement, which includes an online portal where Chinese people renounce their membership in the Party and its affiliated organizations. To date, more than 445 million have quit the CCP.
Falun Gong practitioners hold a parade in downtown Toronto to mark 27 years of CCP’s persecution of the peaceful meditation discipline, on July 18, 2026. Evan Ning/The Epoch Times
Leaked documents have revealed that in 2022, Chinese leader Xi Jinping directed officials to escalate the campaign in efforts to suppress Falun Gong practitioners abroad, as was previously reported by The Epoch Times. Xi’s directives ordered officials to renew attacks on Falun Gong overseas using disinformation and lawfare with no traceability to the CCP.
Earlier this year, two Canadian human rights organizations submitted a formal request to the Sanctions Bureau of Global Affairs Canada, urging the government to impose targeted sanctions on senior CCP officials responsible for the decades-long persecution against Falun Gong practitioners in China, as well as transnational repression targeting practitioners around the world, including in Canada.
Canada previously sanctioned 12 CCP officials and one entity involved in human rights violations against ethnic and religious minorities in China, such as Uyghurs and Tibetans, as well as against Falun Gong practitioners.
