Integrity
Commissioner Opens DISCRIMINATION INVESTIGATION aGAINST cOUNCILLOR rAYMOND
cHO
“Maybe
I’m Discriminating against your banner, but that’s fine then”
Toronto—On Thursday, October 12, the Tian Guo Marching Band of Canada received confirmation from Mr. David Mullan, Integrity Commissioner at City Hall, that Councillor Raymond Cho is under investigation for charges of discreditable conduct in the form of discriminating against an identifiable group in public (section X1, Code of Conduct for City Councillors).
On September 23, 2006, Councillor Raymond Cho discriminated against approximately 100 band members present at the Korean Seniors Walkathon in Christie Park. The marching band that is made up of over 200 Falun Gong practitioners of various ethnicities and ages were invited to be part of the opening ceremonies.
Raymond Cho, while on stage, singled out the Falun Gong Marching Band and demanded that they take down their banner that simply read “Falun Dafa, Practiced In Over 60 Countries” or withdraw from the event, saying “If you don’t listen to me there’ll be no walkathon and you will never be accepted in any Korean event”. When a Korean band member attempted to speak to the crowd on the adjacent microphone, Mr Cho put his hand over the microphone to silence her. When told that his actions were discriminatory Cho stated, “Maybe I’m discriminating against your banner, but that’s fine then.” A police officer then escorted Mr. Cho off stage.
Jeffrey Jiang, coordinator of the marching band said,” We were excited to have been invited to this event so we could give back to the community by sharing our music. Mr Cho’s defamatory, discriminatory remarks are not acceptable. They violate basic human rights and he should be ashamed especially because he is a city councillor.” So far, Mr. Cho has not apologized.
The
6- minute video file can be downloaded at: ftp://bbthree.no-ip.info. A
transcript of the video is available on request.
For more information, contact:
Donna Hope 416-300-9650
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Raymond Cho has a history of discriminating against Falun Gong. On March1st, 2004, a motion to proclaim “Falun Dafa Day” was tabled in City Hall. Raymond Cho, who is the zoo’s current chairman, said he did not want to vote on a Falun Gong Day because, “If I support Falun Gong, I don’t think the Chinese government would appreciate that”. The motion did not pass.
Since it was established in April of this year, the Tian Guo Marching Band of Canada has participated in 13 community events including Toronto's Caribbean Parade, the Canada Day Parade (in Montreal), the Grape and Wine festival (in St Catharine’s), Taiwan National Day Celebration (in Toronto) and Philippine Independence Day (in Toronto).
