Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - July 19, 2013, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A8 A 8 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS, FRIDAY, JULY 19, 2013 WINNIPEG winnipegfreepress. com KEEPSAKE OF YOUR ANNOUNCEMENT $ 5 00 Call Classified 2 0 4 - 6 9 7 - 7 1 0 0 204- 697- 1400 1400 McPHILLIPS WINNIPEG MB SAVE TIME . SHOP ON- LINE www. jimgauthierchevy. com www. jimgauthierchev. com * All prices are plus freight, taxes, fee's, boxliner and boxrails. Factory orders or locates may be required. See dealer for details. THE GAUTHIER AUTO GROUP IS PROUD TO BE THE # 1 VOLUME DEALER IN WPG!! General Motors wants to Liquidate 500 New cars, trucks & SUV's by July 31 st , so they chose Winnipeg's largest GM dealership to do it at. 0 % Financing on almost everything New Car payments as low as $ 24 / wk Discounts over $ 16,500 Jim Gauthier Chevrolet's Air Conditioned 55 Car Showroom wa s the only choice when it came to where to have this sale with prices so low it wouldn't be fair to print them! MANITOBA'S LARGEST SALE EVER! Loyalty & Conquest Credits up to $ 1500 Leases as low as $ 99 / mth Sale Dates: July 18th through July 31st RAIN or SHINE! Everyone can see every ve hicle we have to offer inside 0 % Lease Rates Absolutely no reasonable offers will be refused A LOT has changed in China in the 14 years since it outlawed Falun Gong, the mix of meditation, movement and philosophy that's drawn people from around the world. Economic freedom has seen living standards rise while the ban on Falun Gong has kept many people down and left some dead, say organizers of a candlelight vigil at The Forks this weekend. " We don't see there is any sign of a stop to the persecution," said Maria Cheung, a Falun Gong practitioner and one of the organizers of Saturday night's ceremony. She said it's being held to remember those sent to forcedlabour camps, who've had their organs forcibly harvested and died in China during the last 14 years because of their beliefs. In 1999, as Falun Gong was gaining in popularity in China, the central government outlawed and vilified it. Saturday's vigil is to remember those who've suffered and to raise public awareness, said the Winnipeg university professor. Media attention is helping to draw awareness to the cause, she said. The vigil begins at 7 p. m. It will be accompanied by Chinese flute player Xiaonan Wang. The Chinese immigrant, who had his own struggle with Chinese authority, has performed with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and in Guy Maddin's film The Saddest Music in the World . He was branded a counter- revolutionary while studying at the Chinese Conservatory of Music during the Cultural Revolution and sent to work in a forced labour camp. He immigrated to Canada in 1995. Human rights lawyer David Matas has spoken out against the persecution of Falun Gong supporters, the forced harvesting of their organs and has coauthored a book on the subject, Bloody Harvest . Two years ago, the subject made headlines when Cheung demonstrated downtown outside Bodies ... The Exhibition over concerns the cadavers on display had been Chinese political prisoners, including Falun Gong members. At that time, only about 20 per cent of the people Cheung approached on the street were aware of the situation in China, she said. This past Canada Day, Falun Gong supporters converged on crowded corners of Winnipeg with petitions calling for an end to forced organ harvesting in China. Close to half the people they approached knew about the persecution of Falun Gong supporters and forced organ donation in China, said Cheung. An international group of doctors started the petition asking the United Nations to fully investigate the issue and " stop the evil practice." A few hundred people signed the petition on Canada Day - nearly 50 per cent of whom didn't need an explanation of what they were being asked to sign, said Cheung. " I would see it as a positive sign," she said. The number of organ transplants reported in China has dropped after international concerns about forced organ harvesting were raised, she said. " Some people are saying ' What can we do? Why bother?' But I would say it's not totally hopeless. There is something you can do." carol. sanders@ freepress. mb. ca Vigil to remember Falun Gong followers Will raise awareness of China's persecution By Carol Sanders MIKE APORIUS / WINNIPEG FREEPRESS ARCHIVES Flute player Xiaonan Wang will perform during Saturday's vigil. Weekend of free park entry MANITOBANS out and about this weekend have free access to the province's parks. Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh said Thursday the free entry is to mark Canada's Parks Day. Mackintosh said planned activities Saturday include: a campfire talk on the history of Birds Hill Park at 8: 30 p. m.; an interpretive amphitheatre presentation at Grand Beach at 9: 30 p. m.; a guided walk of Hecla Village at 3 p. m.; a guided tour of historic homes in the St. Norbert area at 1 p. m.; playing Parks Jeopardy and an amphitheatre presentation at Spruce Woods at 9 p. m.; and a campfire talk on the history of the Whiteshell at the Alfred Hole Goose Sanctuary in Rennie at 8 p. m. For more information on Canada's Parks Day events, go to www. gov. mb. ca/ conservation/ parks/ camping/ info/ parksday. html. Rock bands get stamps THE Guess Who stamp goes on sale today. This spring during the 2013 Juno Awards, Canada Post announced it would honour rock icons across the country, including the Guess Who, with stamps of their own. The Canadian Recording Artists series includes stamps in honour of many of the country's headliners, including Rush, the Tragically Hip and Beau Dommage, a francophone group from Quebec that's been compared to the Beatles. " This year's series features Canadian bands that have shaped the music industry in Canada," said Jim Philips, the stamp services director for Canada Post. The series was announced in April when the Junos, the country's top music awards, were presented, but they were not ready to go on sale until this summer. They are available at Canada Post outlets coast to coast today. - staff In Brief A_ 10_ Jul- 19- 13_ FP_ 01. indd A8 7/ 18/ 13 9: 36: 36 PM ;