Ladies and Gentlemen,

 

I’m honoured to be here at this opening.  I hope many more people in Canada and around the world will have the opportunity to see these works of art, which have been influenced by the respective artists’ deep relationship with the principles of Falun Gong.

 

You and I see here today a collection of paintings that eloquently speak of humankind’s desire to reach for a higher destination by virtue adhering to the universal laws of truth, compassion and tolerance. These laws are not alien to any of us. They lie at the heart of so much of the values that humanity cherishes, including freedom and peace.

 

The paintings are a call for justice and an agonising cry of the persecuted. They take us back to a world of brutal incarceration, torture and killing that resembles the horrors of medieval dungeons. They open our eyes to a world that exists today, right under our eyes, where terrible pain is being inflicted upon a group of human beings purely due to their desire to lead a life based on sound principles.

 

The message is ultimately one of hope and triumph. Justice prevails. Those who sought to destroy the spirit of these peace loving people will one day be called to account.

 

How can the principles of truth, compassion and tolerance be a threat to anyone? Yet, to China’s Communist regime they spell danger.  Why this repression of religion? There is a felt need by the leadership in Beijing for loyalty to the party and state alone; religious activity is perceived as a threat to the power and authority of the CCP, which has no legitimacy in democratic terms to govern China.

 

Any group with the ability to mobilize large numbers of people, based on a decentralized network, especially if they are seen to have moral authority over the Chinese government, poses a threat to the CCP’s power and authority and legitimacy. The most visible of these communities is the Falun Gong.

 

It is central to all monotheistic faiths that life is sacred and that people must never be persecuted for their religious convictions. Our own Charter of Rights and Freedoms, among other such constitutions across the democratic world, makes this point explicitly.

 

Today, a growing number of Falung Gong practitioners and several of the artists whose works are depicted at this exhibition, call Canada their home. They not only practise their meditation freely, but also promote the merits of Falun Gong teachings among Canadians of other backgrounds. It is testament to the Canadian ideal that one civil society organization enriches another, just as other cultures and languages enrich our existing stock of cultures and languages.

 

Thanks to Canadian members of Falun Gong, we’re constantly reminded of the plight of thousands of others who are jailed and are being tortured in China as we meet this moment. In keeping with their fundamental beliefs, Canadian members of Falun Gong continue a peaceful and graceful battle to free them from the shackles of state-sponsored persecution.  I wish Falun Gong much strength and wisdom in their struggle.  

 

Thank you and God Bless.

 

-30-