One day before the opening ceremonies for the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, protesters across the country are rallying in hopes of drawing attention to China's human-rights record.
About 100 demonstrators and politicians gathered at the Chinese Embassy in Ottawa on Thursday, waving flags and hoisting signs. One day earlier, a group of protesters chained themselves to the embassy building.
"The Chinese communist regime cannot use (the) Olympics to persecute its own people," Grace Wollensak, spokeswoman for the Ottawa chapter of Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual movement, told The Canadian Press.
"In the context of preparing the so-called successful Games, they have rounded up over 8,000 Falun Gong practitioners nation-wide in just six months," she said.
As part of a global day of action, demonstrators in Toronto marched to the Chinese Consulate. Protesters told CTV Toronto that Tibetans are living in a "climate of fear."
"There was a major crackdown...And the crackdown is still," said Choesang Dhenub, a protestor. "They should put an end to the illegal occupation of Tibet."
Other groups of activists, such as the Falun Dafa Association and the Canada Tibet Committee, planned a rally in British Columbia at the Vancouver Art Gallery, which was followed by a march to the Chinese Consulate.
On Wednesday protesters blocked the driveway to the Chinese Consulate with a replica tank. One protester, an American-born Tibetan, who was dressed as a monk, stuck his arm into a bucket of fresh concrete.
Vancouver Police arrested the man and removed the tank.
Meanwhile, opposition members of Parliament are also speaking out.
"What we are witnessing today . . . is a persistent and pervasive assault on human rights in China," Liberal MP Irwin Cotler told a news conference. "A betrayal of the Olympic Charter, the Olympic Games and China's pledge to respect both."
Liberal David Kilgour also accused China of killing members of Falun Gong.
"How a country like that could be awarded the Olympic Games is beyond my comprehension," he told a news conference.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon and files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
