(Minghui.org) The Standing Committee on Cultural Heritage of Canada (CHPC) from the House of Commons of Canada held a hearing in Ottawa on May 28 titled “State of Creative and Performance Spaces Across Canada.” Representatives from the Falun Dafa Association of Canada testified about the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) interfering with Shen Yun in Canadian theaters during Shen Yun’s recent touring season. Member of Parliament (MP) Garnett Genuis introduced a motion for the committee to report on this transnational interference to the House of Commons.

“What we’re talking about, as I see it, is the systematic targeting of a particular arts and culture presentation by a foreign state that doesn’t like it,” Genuis said during the meeting in the Wellington Building.

The Standing Committee on Cultural Heritage of Canada (CHPC) discussed the CCP’s interference with Shen Yun during a meeting on May 28, 2026. (Screenshot from Parliament video)

Escalating Interference by the CCP

Joel Chipkar, Spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, and attorney Joel Etienne discussed the impact of foreign interference on Canadian cultural performances. They said the CCP has been systematically targeting municipal, provincial, private, and federal theaters in Canada, attempting to prevent Shen Yun Performing Arts from performing in Canada. They urged the CHPC and the Canadian government to take action to protect Canada’s freedom of the arts.

Attorney Joel Etienne (left) and Joel Chipkar (right), Spokesperson for the Falun Dafa Association of Canada, testified during the hearing. (screenshot from Parliament video)

In his statement, Chipkar said that Shen Yun Performing Arts has toured across Canada for two decades and presents “true, traditional Chinese culture before communism.” But in recent years, the CCP’s interference has escalated significantly, including diplomatic pressure, bomb threats, legal action, and information manipulation. According to statistics, there have been over 150 bomb threats against Shen Yun globally.

“In the past two years, Canada has seen over 20 hoax bomb and death threats targeting Shen Yun theaters and Parliament Hill politicians,” he reported.

For example, Mississauga’s Living Arts Centre received a bomb threat from Chinese origins on March 15, threatening to bomb the theater and Parliament Hill if Shen Yun performed there. The theater was evacuated, and the show was delayed 90 minutes until the police determined the threat non-credible. Weeks later, Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre canceled six Shen Yun shows after similar threats, which the police quickly deemed unfounded.

After shows were canceled in Toronto, the sender of the threat later boasted that the unprecedented cancellation was his most successful victory, mocking Canada, saying, “Canada cannot be taken seriously,” and referring to the CCP as “my motherland’s Communist Party.”

In April, not only did Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre receive similar threats traced by police to China, Global News reported that the Chinese consulate directly urged civic theater officials to cancel Shen Yun, underscoring how this is a coordinated campaign by the Communist Party in Canada, and not spontaneous acts of harassment.

Chipkar explained that such actions not only affect Shen Yun performances but also Canada’s cultural sovereignty and freedom of artistic expression. He said that under the current circumstances, individual cultural institutions are forced to deal on their own with threats involving national security, without systematic support and response mechanisms.

To this end, the Falun Dafa Association of Canada made several policy recommendations to the committee including: CHPC should develop guidelines to address foreign interference; training on foreign interference should be provided to publicly funded cultural institutions; national security agencies should be required to conduct a comprehensive investigation into such threats; and Global Affairs Canada should review whether the CCP’s diplomatic pressure violates the Vienna Convention.

Motion Proposed to Condemn the CCP

After hearing witness testimonies, MP Garnett Genuis said it was hard to imagine that Canada would allow a foreign government to interfere with and censor a sovereign country’s arts and culture.

MP Garnett Genuis proposed a motion to protect Canadians’ freedom of artistic expression and speech. (Screenshot from Parliament video)

He proposed a motion suggesting that the CHPC submit a report to Parliament explicitly condemning the CCP’s foreign interference in Canada, including attempts to intimidate, censor, or suppress artistic expression and freedom of speech, and reiterating the importance of upholding fundamental freedoms and protecting Canadians from foreign intimidation.

He believes this represents a bipartisan consensus and suggests that the CHPC take a strong stance to counter foreign interference and defend artistic freedom. He said that artists create beauty and, through beauty, challenge ideas and stimulate thought. This is crucial for a free society. MP Genuis said it would be a great disgrace if Canada allowed foreign interference to suppress Canadian freedom.

Genuis emphasized that the motion is clear and unambiguous. He believes it represents the common position of all political parties and allows for sending a clear and powerful message: defend the arts, defend freedom of expression, and defend Canada’s sovereignty.

MP Kerry Diotte asks a question during the hearing. (Screenshot from Parliamentary video)

MP Kerry Diotte also stated that the CCP’s foreign interference with activities in Canada—including attempts to intimidate, censor, and suppress artistic expression and freedom of speech—should be clearly condemned.

Chipkar responded that this is a bipartisan issue that affects all Canadians. He said that today it’s Falun Gong and Shen Yun, tomorrow it could be other groups. When a country allows foreign authoritarian regimes to silence and suppress arts on their own soil, that country loses sovereignty and becomes the puppet of foreign authoritarian regimes.

The CCP Suppresses Shen Yun Out of Fear

In response to a question from MP Rachel Thomas, Chipkar emphasized that in 1999, the CCP began a nationwide persecution of Falun Gong, which is a peaceful spiritual practice.

Shen Yun Performing Arts was founded in 2006 by a group of persecuted Falun Gong practitioners to showcase true Chinese culture before communism and expose the ongoing human rights abuses by the CCP. “They [the CCP] want to hide the crimes against humanity that they’ve been responsible for for the past 27 years,” Chipkar explained.

He said that Shen Yun presents the cultural and spiritual values of China throughout history through beautiful classical dance, a live symphony, and stories full of hope and compassion—which the CCP does not want the world to see.

Attorney Etienne added this is not only foreign interference, but it also has a profound impact on the Canadian community. Shen Yun’s performers include Canadians, including young people born in Canada who are now 18 or 19. They underwent years of training, but now they face bomb threats, criminal harassment, and the fear of having their performances canceled. As a father, he could not imagine his children facing such threats.

Etienne believes that “The CCP’s interference constitutes a transnational crime that directly affects the cultural freedom of Canadians and the safety of Canadian artists. Just like drug crimes, although the drugs are produced abroad, the criminal consequences occur in Canada. Similarly, these threats, though originating abroad, cause real harm in Canada. The difference is that the CCP’s actions are more covert: the criminal acts originate abroad, while CCP diplomats use diplomatic immunity to exert pressure in Canada, forcing the theater to cancel Shen Yun.”

MP Rachel Thomas asks a question at a parliamentary hearing in Ottawa. (Screenshot from Parliamentary video)

When asked for advice to the Canadian government by MP Rachel Thomas, Etienne said the government should call on the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), and Global Affairs Canada to respond to the threats and intimidation campaigns by the Chinese regime.

“When diplomats are involved in engaging in criminal activity in Canada, as far as I’m concerned, they can be made persona non grata and asked for the behaviour to stop or to leave the country,” he explained.

Etienne listed several other recommendations by the FDAC, including for the Department of Canadian Heritage to establish federal guidance and response protocols for publicly funded cultural institutions facing foreign state intimidation. He said publicly funded venues and Crown corporations, such as the NAC, should also receive training on foreign interference, transnational repression, and diplomatic pressure tactics. He also said the NAC should be directed to offer Shen Yun dates to perform in Ottawa.

On the day of the hearing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Ottawa, and several Falun Gong practitioners in Eastern Canada held quiet protests at Parliament Hill, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Chinese Embassy, to expose the CCP’s transnational repression.