Ottawa - Tulip Festival organizer Doug Little continues to make false accusations against Tian Guo Marching Band of Canada in his comments to the media. His comments are defamatory and irresponsible; and the decision to bar our band from performing at the festival because we are Falun Gong practitioners is discriminatory and degrading.
These excuses seem more like an attempt from Mr. Little to protect himself from his blatant act of discrimination.
The band would like to respond as follows:
1. Discrimination
A Metro report quoted Mr. Little saying that "If they had told us who they were, they would never have been asked to perform." We believe this is overt discrimination.
2. The false accusation that the performance was "a staged stunt"
A CanWest article reported that Mr. Little stated, "I think this was a staged stunt on their part, and they are good at that." The fact is that our band applied to the festival to perform at Dow's Lake. We never applied to play at the opening ceremony at Major's Hill Park. After reviewing our submission, it was the program coordinator who invited us to play O Canada and The Maple Leaf Forever at the opening ceremony.
3. The issue of misrepresentation
The organizer said our band was named "Tian Guo" but band members wore clothing displaying the words "Falun Dafa." This statement itself proves there is a bias. It implies a stigma against Falun Gong—that being a Falun Gong practitioner is something undesirable that must be declared in advance or that people must be warned about. It is like saying someone tricked the organizers by not saying they were Jewish or Tibetan. Why should someone be obligated to say that?
Moreover, our application to the festival included our website address, www.tianguoband.org, which clearly states that band members practise Falun Dafa. It also prominently shows photos of past performances with band members wearing their uniform displaying the words "Falun Dafa." The festival contact person indicated she had read all the materials provided and that everything looked fine. Our band was forthright about itself and had every reason to believe festival organizers invited us based on our info as presented.
4. The issue of politics and protest
Our band displayed no political messages, no inflammatory messages, and nothing targeting or criticizing any group or nation. Our band carried one banner which was to identify our group, as we've always done in all past parades. We had no intention of "protesting." The idea of a "protest" appears to be paranoia from a few festival organizers. We believe the only "politics" at this event is pandering to a foreign regime that aims to marginalize an identified group in our own country.
Our band represents a cultural group that wishes to participate in Canadian activities as contributing members of our multicultural society. We have performed in over 70 community events and won many awards.
Our uniform worn to the Tulip Festival was no different from the uniform in the photos in the web link we sent to the program coordinator. For example, we dressed in exactly the same way as in the Ottawa St. Patrick's Day Parade where we won the 'Best Band' award (www.tianguoband.org/News/2008/2008-03-15-St.Patrick-Ottawa.html). We carried our band banner as we always do at events in which we participate.
The fact that Falun Dafa practitioners are persecuted and protest their persecution speaks to the abusive practices of a totalitarian regime; it should not mean that the name Falun Dafa must be hidden from public view. If that were the case, then no one should be allowed to use words such as "Tibetan," or "Jewish" when they participate in a community event.
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Canada is well respected around the world as a beacon of tolerance. Yet in this incident a group of people were not allowed to play O Canada in Canada's capital city due to the identity of their group, for fear of offending the Chinese communist regime. This constitutes a grave damage to Canada's esteem before the world.
Our Band re-iterates our request that Tulip Festival organizers must reverse their decision, make a public apology to our band members and Falun Gong, and allow Tian Guo Marching Band of Canada to perform during the rest of the 2008 Festival and in the future.
For more information, please contact 613-852-7494