Canada's Parliament bids farewell to a champion of human rights

Dear Jason,

It is with a heavy heart in this moment, but one filled with optimism and joy for what your future holds, that I write to thank you for your tremendous public service to Canadians and commend you for an illustrious tenure as a Member of Parliament for Calgary Southeast and Calgary Midnapore spanning two decades.

Whether as Minister of Defence, Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, on the government benches, as Chair of the House of Commons Subcommittee for Human Rights, or using your privileged position as an opposition MP, thank you for being an exemplary champion for human rights. Your steadfast commitment to your principles and the concrete actions you have taken saved thousands of lives around the world.

Your commitment to memorializing past atrocities and calling out evil wherever it is present has strengthened Canada’s social fabric. You continue to educate and inspire new Canadians and the next generation to better understand the traditions and strengths of Canada’s values and our nation is better for it.

I have no doubt you will continue to make a tremendous contribution to the people of Canada, but your departure from Parliament is a tremendous loss to the House of Commons. As you leave Ottawa to return to your home in Alberta, we wish you nothing but continued success.

I have never met an Honourable member so worthy of such distinction. On behalf of everyone at One Free World International, thank you and God bless.

Sincerely, Rev. Majed El Shafie President & Founder One Free World International

Prime Minister Trudeau must defend Canadian Sovereignty from Chinese Attacks

OFWI & the China Rights Network outline a human rights agenda for Prime Minister Trudeau's upcoming official visit to China and G20 summit.

Toronto – One Free World International and the China Rights Network have called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stand up for Canadian values on his upcoming official visit to China. He can do this by rebuking Chinese government attacks on Canadian sovereignty, resolving the consular cases of Kevin Garratt and Hussein Celil, and balancing trade negotiations with respect for human rights.

You can watch the video of the press conference by clicking here.

You can read Canoe.com's coverage of the conference by clicking here.

Recent attacks against Chinese human rights activists on Canadian soil have yielded little response from the government. If they do not take a stand against these flagrant violations of Canadian sovereignty, the door is open to more Chinese state-led attacks against the rights of Canadian citizens.

“China does not stand for human rights, and they do not stand for freedom of speech. Now they are silencing Chinese human rights activists on Canadian soil, and the government isn’t doing anything about it. This is fundamentally anti-Canadian,” says Majed El Shafie, President and Founder of OFWI.

In June, the Chinese Foreign Minister lambasted a Canadian journalist for asking questions on human rights in China; Minister Dion sat idly by as the Chinese minister scolded the Canadian journalist. Chinese-Canadian human rights activist, Xue Sheng, was hacked with her private files manipulated and distributed widely across the Internet in an attempt to discredit her; Minister Goodale has remained silent on this issue. Canadians Huseyin Celil, Kevin Garratt, and countless others remain wrongfully imprisoned in China; The Prime Minister has done little to secure their release. Canadians demand that their government stands up for the Canadian values of free speech and equality for all, rather than the Chinese values of silencing free speech and the repression of minority groups.

The media availability featured six members of the China Rights Network:

• Rev. Majed El Shafie, President and Founder, One Free World International
• Sheng Xue, President, Federation for a Democratic China; Writer & Journalist
• Rev. Michael Stainton, President, Taiwanese Human Rights Association of Canada
• Mehmet Tohti, human rights activist, Uyghur community representative
• Guru Dorjee, human rights activist, Tibetan community representative
• Paul Zhou, human rights activist, Falun Gong community representative

The Canadian government must act now to save Yazidis

Federal Government must live up to obligations to help victims of Yazidi genocide in Iraq One Free World International (OFWI) has returned from Iraq trip with a policy blueprint for resettlement of 400 rescued former ISIS sex slaves to Canada

 Toronto – Safely home from a trip to Iraq, OFWI gave voice to the victims of genocide by sharing the horrifying accounts of rape, murder, and unimaginable brutality committed by ISIS in its genocide of the Yazidi in Iraq and Syria. Majed El Shafie, Dr. Martin Mark, and the Hon. Tony Clement, MP, all a part of the OFWI Iraq delegation, called on the Government of Canada to take urgent action.

You can watch the full press conference by clicking here.

You can also read the National Post's coverage by clicking here, or the Toronto Sun's coverage here.

Each of the speakers recanted harrowing stories of rape, torture and murder, shared by survivors of the genocide. Tony Clement brought his iPhone with him, displaying an image of himself with three young Yazidi children. The picture illustrates the terrible present, but the potential for a better future. Dr. Martin Mark said that the mission clarified that there is a possibility to help, the logistics are available, the local support is there, and their need is greater than ever. These people need our help now, and Canada is in a unique position to be able to provide that help. We need to act immediately.

The delegation included Rev. Majed El Shafie – President and Founder of OFWI, Rachael Harder, MP, Hon. MP Tony Clement, MP, Dr. Martin Mark – Director of ORAT, and former MP Brad Butt. While in Iraq, the delegation met with local government officials, visited UN and non-UN refugee camps, and advanced the work required to resettle the most vulnerable victims of genocide from Iraq to Canada.

One Free World International (OFWI) and the Archdiocese of Toronto, Office of Refugees (ORAT) have submitted a joint proposal to the Canadian government to resettle 400 Yazidi girls and women who were ISIS sex slaves to Canada. Canadians are ready to take action, and they want their government to do the same.

OFWI can and will continue to help, but we can only do this with your help.

Here is how you can TAKE ACTION:

• Write an email or call your local Member of Parliament to tell them that Yazidi victims of genocide need our help. Don’t know who to contact? Find out here.
• Email or call the Minister of Immigration, John McCallum at 613-954-1064
• Email Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or call his office at 613-995-0253
• Please donate to support our work. It is only through your help that we are able to continue our work.

Thank you for your support and spreading awareness of these important issues. We couldn't do our work with you.

Anniversary of the Sinjar Massacre

Last week, OFWI’s President Majed El Shafie attended a reception at the Ontario Legislature to commemorate the ISIS-led massacre against Yazidis on Mount Sinjar in Iraq. The event marked the second anniversary of the genocide in Northern Iraq, and featured participants from both the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario and the Conservative Party of Canada. OFWI was honoured to have our work recognized by the presenters as an example of how Canadians can help and how necessary that help is.

In a press conference prior to the reception, The Hon. Peter Kent, MP Dean Allison, MP Michelle Rempel, and MPP Gila Martow called on the Canadian government to do more to help save innocent Yazidi lives in the region. The government finally recognized the genocide against the Yazidis, but has still not taken action to save lives and prevent further losses. These elected officials all agreed: much more needs to be done.

Following the press conference members of the Yazidi community gathered in a solemn reception to reflect on the struggle at hand and to discuss next steps as a group. Majed El Shafie led the gathering in a moment of silence for those who lost their lives that day at Sinjar.

As we all reflect on the anniversary of this terrible tragedy, we must remember that we can all do more to help Yazidi refugees. OFWI has encouraged all of our supporters to write their MPs, Ministers, and Prime Minister Trudeau to let them know that you demand action from the Canadian government to save these vulnerable people.

If you can’t write your elected officials, then please consider donating generously to support OFWI’s ongoing efforts to rescue Yazidi refugees from war-torn Iraq and Syria.

We will continue to fight for the most vulnerable minorities in Iraq and Syria while pressuring the Government of Canada to implement our joint OFWI-ORAT proposal to resettle 400 women and girls who escaped ISIS’ slavery to Canada as refugees.

Majed El Shafie's Speech on the 17th Anniversary of the Persecution of Falun Gong

17 years ago, the persecution started for the Falun Gong. 17 years ago, your government showed that it can finish the Falun gong. It can end them, it can kill them, it can persecute them, it can collect their organs and get away with it. And once and for all, history will forget the Falun Gong, will forget the teaching and will forget their beliefs.

That happened 17 years ago. 17 years later, they are wrong. 17 years later, you can’t stop their beliefs, you can’t stop their community. 17 years later, they are not less, they are more. 17 years later they are not just inside of China, they are also outside of China. 17 years later, a government is hiding behind these walls. We are not the ones in prison, you are the ones in prison because we are the ones who are free.

Behind your blinded windows, you can take our pictures, behind your blinded walls you can take our pictures and you can send it to Beijing but I can tell you for a fact we’re not scared.
 
None of us are hiding our faces, none of us hiding behind a tree. We are here and we will be here until the end, because it doesn’t matter how many weapons you have. It doesn’t matter how much army you have. We have our free will, freedom is bulletproof.

You can kill as much of us, you can harvest organs from all of us but our heart will keep beating with the truth. You can kill our bodies but you cannot touch our souls. It’s not only about your government, it’s not only about your Communist regime, it’s about us as Canadians, it’s about Falun Gong.

I will fight for the Falun Gong community; I will fight for the Falun Gong beliefs until the last day of my life because if we stop fighting for each other, we lose our humanity. It’s not only about you, it’s also about our Canadian government. It’s also about the West, it’s also about the American government. We have to know that the almighty power is not more powerful than our values and our belief in human rights. Canada and Canadians have to stand strong and firm against the Chinese government and for human rights. 

It was a shameful moment, the day that I saw my Canadian foreign affair minister standing in a press conference beside the Chinese foreign affair minister, and the Chinese foreign affair minister attacked a Canadian journalist when they asked a question about human rights. And yet the minister is defending him, and doesn't respond back and doesn't protect his own Canadian journalist on Canadian soil. I can tell you, you can silence our government, you can silence our foreign affairs minister, you can take Trudeau to China, you can make a national deal, but you will never silence the people of Canada. 

So in the end, I want to tell you that 17 years from now, this meeting will not be here. 17 years from now, and maybe even earlier, this meeting will happen in Beijing, will happen in your capital, count on it. Thank you.