(Minghui.org) Canadian Member of Parliament Jack MacLaren spoke at the Falun Gong rally held in front of the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa on Wednesday, July 20. The rally was held to commemorate the 18^th anniversary of Falun Gong’s peaceful resistance to the persecution this ancient self-improvement practice faces in China.

MP MacLaren speaks at the Falun Gong rally in Ottawa on Wednesday.

“I am very proud to be here today with Falun Gong practitioners!”

MP MacLaren said in an interview that since he became a politician six years ago, he has been a supporter of Falun Gong.

“I am very aware of the terrible human rights abuses and persecution in China, imprisonment, intimidation, even with taking life through organ harvesting,” he said.

At the 18th anniversary of the peaceful resistance, he said we want to say to China, in front of the Chinese embassy, “We don’t accept that. It’s wrong, it’s unjust, and it’s an extreme and terrible human right abuse.”

“As Canadians we just do not accept and we do not tolerate it. We demand that we stop that. Having said that may not be enough to make them stop it. But certainly I think there are more and more voices across Canada, and around the world, and more and more people stand up and speak out to say, 'It’s wrong. We are not going to stand for it any longer.'

“I am very proud to be here today with about 40 Falun Gong practitioners. They are quite brave to come here and stand in front of the Chinese Embassy and be seen, and very publicly speak out and make it clear they are so against China’s communist party.

“The Chinese government is so corrupt, so immoral, so wrong, and this abuse of the Chinese people has to stop. Certainly I will support Falun Gong people anytime and anywhere.”

Three wonderful pillars to live by

When asked what he thinks about the guiding principles of Falun Gong, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, MacLaren said, “The three principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance are three wonderful pillars to live by. I would think any organization, any religion, any country, any government, any people, would do well to live by those three principles.

“Be truthful, be compassionate, always care for your neighbors, and be tolerant of our neighbors, because we are all human beings, therefore we are imperfect things. We make mistakes, sometimes we might hurt somebody’s feelings, hopefully unintentionally, and we have to be tolerant. To be tolerant of people is such a wonderful thing. It’s forgiving. It’s one of the examples of a good way to live, of how to be good.

“I just think those three words are just wonderful principles that, if we could all live by, then we could be all better people.”

“Hold them to account for their actions.”

During the interview, the lawsuits against Jiang Zemin were brought up. In the last two years, more than 250 thousand Falun Gong practitioners all over the world have filed criminal complaints against the former communist head for launching and personally directing the persecution.

The Canadian lawmaker said, “We need any efforts and all efforts to bring the Chinese government to account, and for all the politicians and bureaucrats who are responsible to be held accountable for their actions. They should be punished. Justice should be done to them. For their human rights crimes, they should be found guilty; they should be punished.

“There’s nothing so fearful to a dictatorial tyrant as a free man or a free woman, because you cannot beat that person, because in their mind, in their heart they are free, and you cannot beat those people. That is what I would say about Falun Gong. They are extremely powerful, even though they are pacifists, they have great power in their convictions, Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance absolutely will not cave into the government, will not change their ways. I admire the Falun Gong people so much for being very strong.”

“The Canadian government should put as much pressure as they can (to rescue Sun Qian).”

Many Canadian MPs have taken action to help rescue Sun Qian, a Canadian businesswoman, who was arrested in Beijing last February for practicing Falun Gong.

MacLaren said, “In February she was incarcerated by the Chinese government and is now suffering abuse in prison. Yet there has been no trial and there is no crime, there is no reason for her to be in prison.

The Canadian government should put as much pressure as it can on the Chinese government for abusing and imprisoning a Canadian citizen for no reason. She has done no crime, there is no wrong. She should be released.

“Of course since this has happened to all the Falun Gong people who have been imprisoned and even killed, there is no justice, there is no fairness.”