Conservative MP Marc Dalton says he hopes Shen Yun’s remaining Toronto performances can proceed, since police have confirmed that the bomb threats against the show are unfounded.
“These threats have been a tactic worldwide to derail this production in the past couple of years. I have tickets to attend next week in Vancouver and look forward to it,” Dalton said on social media on April 2.
Shen Yun, a classical Chinese dance company based in New York, has a mission to revive traditional Chinese culture. Its performances, carrying the tagline “China Before Communism,” feature story-based dances showcasing China’s history and legendary figures, as well as scenes showing the present-day persecution of the spiritual practice Falun Dafa by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The company, which travels the globe each year with its presentation of classical Chinese dance and music, began the Toronto leg of its tour at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts on March 28, and was set to perform a total of eight shows until April 5. However, as Shen Yun’s third show was about to begin on March 29, the theatre received an emailed threat warning of a bomb if the show went ahead.
Police came to the venue shortly after the threat and, following security sweeps, confirmed that it was unfounded. However, the theatre decided not to allow the show to proceed that day. The venue later said it decided to cancel the remaining five shows as well due to concerns about the threats.
The local presenter of Shen Yun, the Falun Dafa Association of Toronto (FDAT), says there have been more than 150 such incidents of fake threats globally against Shen Yun over the last two years, and each time the show was allowed to go ahead after authorities confirmed there was no real threat. The association says the threats originate from the CCP in an effort to stop Shen Yun.
Taiwan police said last year that they have traced such threats received by venues in Taiwan hosting Shen Yun to Xi’an, China.
“Over the past two years, more than a dozen threats targeting Shen Yun across Canada, including Mississauga, Kitchener, and Vancouver, have been investigated and deemed not credible, with performances proceeding safely,” Joel Chipkar, a spokesperson for the FDAT, said at a press conference in Toronto on April 2.
He said because of the cancellations, around 2,000 people had to leave the theatre on March 29 without seeing the show, and another more than 10,000 people will be robbed of the chance to see Shen Yun over this weekend.
“This is unprecedented. We’ve never experienced this before,” Chipkar said.
MP Dalton said he hopes the Four Seasons Centre reverses its decision.
“Given that the Toronto police have stated that bomb threats against the Shen Yun Chinese cultural extravaganza are unfounded and appear to be mischief, I hope that the Four Seasons Center will allow the remaining productions to proceed,” Dalton said.
In a media statement, the Canadian Opera Company, which owns and operates the Four Seasons Centre, said the decision to cancel the shows was “taken out of an abundance of caution.”
“The well-being of staff, crews, artists, and audiences remain our highest priority, and the difficult decision was made entirely in the interest of public safety,” the organization said.
The Toronto Police Service told The Epoch Times that the threats have been confirmed to be unfounded, adding that the incident is under investigation.
Liberal MP Judy Sgro on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in a file photo. Matthew Little/The Epoch Times
Other MPs Speak Out
A number of other MPs also condemned the disruption of Shen Yun in Toronto.
Conservative MP Shuvaloy Majumdar, who has seen the show in previous years, praised the beauty of Shen Yun, and said he’s highly concerned that the show has been cancelled in Toronto.
“Shen Yun is something I’ve really enjoyed attending over the years. It’s a beautiful production put together by people who put a lot of hard work into it and tell a story of an ancient people really remarkably well,” Majumdar, who is vice-chair of the House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights, said in an interview.
“I have really big concerns about punishing the victim rather than going after the criminal,” he said, referring to the cancellation of Shen Yun at the Four Seasons Centre over the fake bomb threat.
Majumdar added that this act of “intimidation and violence” against Shen Yun should be confronted, and that Ottawa should take the right stance on the CCP rather than seek closer relations with the regime given its conduct.
Liberal MP Judy Sgro said in a statement that she condemns the “troubling and escalating pattern of foreign-directed intimidation occurring here on Canadian soil.”
“This organization has been targeted by a coordinated campaign of threats, including false bomb threats–some of which have been traced to actors linked to the Chinese Communist Party,” Sgro said on April 3.
Conservative MP Garnett Genuis called the cancellation of Shen Yun shows in Toronto “shocking and tragic.”
“What has happened to our country?!”Genuis said on social media on April 2.
“A classical Chinese dance and music show that a foreign government doesn’t like is shut down on our soil because of anonymous threats. We must strengthen our country in the face of these threats.”
Conservative MP Ned Kuruc, who saw Shen Yun in his hometown of Hamilton on March 12, said the show’s cancellation over a fake threat doesn’t send a good message.
“If the CCP arm can reach into a simple entertainment show, that’s very, very concerning. It’s not a good message, ” he said in an interview.
Fellow Tory MP James Bezan also condemned the fake bomb threat that caused the disruption of Shen Yun.
“This is an attack on fundamental freedoms, freedom of expression and freedom of conscience, which must be protected,” Bezan said on social media on April 1.
