The motion that was cancelled at the Students’ Administrative Council (SAC) board meeting two months ago was finally passed last Monday. SAC unanimously affirmed its support for U of T’s Falun Gong student club for the fourth consecutive year since 2001 at last week’s board meeting.
Two months ago, the motion to support Falun Gong failed to make it onto the January meeting’s agenda. The motion was then cancelled because some members of the board expressed concern for the lack of notice. According to VP Student Life Dylan Rae, it was really a “small technicality” because the meeting’s agenda was not even available until only half an hour before the scheduled meeting.
Last week’s outcome was good news to Lucy Zhao, a PhD student here at U of T, who had pushed for the motion since it was cancelled in January. Other Falun Gong practitioners like David Meek expressed similar sentiments. “I feel quite positive that more SAC reps can really understand the persecution of Falun Gong for what it is…that SAC can stand on the side of justice and morality, and reflect the values…it really makes me very happy to hear this,” said Meek.
In total, SAC passed five resolutions condemning the persecution of Falun Gong members in China and calling for more government voice against “hate propaganda.” In last week’s board meeting, SAC also resolved to send a letter to Prime Minister Paul Martin, the foreign minister, and the Toronto City Council to “urge them to stop the hate propaganda and speak up for an immediate end to…inhuman treatment of practitioners of Falun Gong.” Moreover, a copy of last week’s resolution will be forwarded to the General Secretary of United Nations, Kofi Annan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Chinese Embassy and the Chinese consulates in Canada.
In 1999, the Chinese government outlawed Falun Gong, saying that the group sought to undermine the government. Since then, hate literature has reportedly been delivered to government agencies worldwide that show support for Falun Gong. In Canada, MP Rob Anders, who wore a Falun Gong T-shirt while attending a Chinese New Year’s celebration hosted by the Chinese Embassy, said he was “physically assaulted” in February 2000 in Ottawa. In Toronto, The Chinese consulate located at 240 St. George Street displayed propaganda posters on the “wall of defamation” in the summer of 2003. Here at SAC, rumours claimed that a letter and defaming materials were sent to SAC from the Chinese consulate in Toronto in 2001. While the news was never confirmed, Dylan Rae commented that SAC’s support for the group was “no doubt certainly upsetting” to the Chinese government.
With SAC’s renewed support, Falun Gong is in the process of organizing a postcard petition and a mock trial come September’s frosh week. The goal of the symbolic tribunal is to raise awareness of the injustice and persecution in China. According to Meek, Canadian Gemini award-winning actor Michael Mahonen will star in the tribunal.
