"Shut up, Canadian!!!" explained the Chinese sponsors.

I would say, offhand, that these boys are buying themselves an ass kicking. You do not come to Canada and tell the people who live here to shut up. It is really not a smart idea.

A Falun Gong practitioner (who is a Canadian and a white guy) says the CEO of Ottawa's dragon-boat festival ordered him to take off a T-shirt advertising the Chinese spiritual group, citing in part China's sponsorship of the popular event.

John Brooman also threatened to have other Falun Gong practitioners removed from the public park in which the festival took place last month if they didn't leave voluntarily, says Gerry Smith, a retired Nortel Networks employee.

Emphasis mine. Why would John Brooman, CEO of the Ottawa dragon boat race festival, another Canadian white guy, give two shits about Falun Gong as a group, or people doing the exercise in the park?

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa is listed as a "gold sponsor" of the Tim Hortons Ottawa Dragon Boat Festival, which also receives funding from companies and federal, provincial and city governments.

Because money. That's why.

Also Mr. Brooman appears to be some sort of Liberal Party of Canada apparatchik, factotum or other sort of minion, so he probably got orders to see those dangerous troublemakers off. This is the exact equivalent of chasing a bunch of old ladies out of a public park for doing Tai Chi. Or playing checkers, for that matter.

But you know, Canadians are funny. We put up with an awful lot of shit from our governments, but one thing we don't put up with is officials throwing their weight around and breaking the rules. You don't get to throw Canadians out of a public park because they are inconvenient to a foreign power. That's a Rule. Nobody will put up with that.

Therefore, this little issue is going to go exactly the opposite to the way the Chinese Embassy wants it to. This has the potential to become an issue in the national election.