CCP pressure campaign? Shen Yun cancelled in Toronto despite global hoax threats

A hoax bomb threat prompted evacuation—but only the Canadian Opera Company cancelled all six performances.

Scarlett Grace
  |   April 20, 2026   |   News Analysis   |   2 Comments

Independent filmmaker Doris Liu, a Chinese immigrant who's spent years exposing the Chinese Communist Party's influences, was there on March 29 when a hoax bomb threat forced the evacuation of the Four Seasons Centre. Police quickly deemed it unfounded—no explosives, just an email threat. Yet the venue, operated by the Canadian Opera Company (COC), didn't just cancel that show. They axed all six performances, disrupting plans for thousands of ticket holders.

Organizers report over 150 similar hoax threats worldwide in recent years targeting Shen Yun—a stunning production reviving authentic pre-communist Chinese dance, music, and spirituality. Liu, director of the award-winning documentary In the Name of Confucius, which exposed Beijing's propaganda arms on Canadian campuses, calls it classic "CCP transnational repression." Shen Yun dares to showcase traditional Chinese culture the regime tried to erase, and highlights the spiritual void left by decades of communist rule.

The COC's decision raises serious red flags about foreign influence. General Director David Ferguson spent years at BMO, the bank that became the first Canadian institution to set up a wholly-owned subsidiary in mainland China under his watch. BMO is a top sponsor of the COC season. Board vice-chair Glenn Sakaki leads marketing at Hatch Ltd., an engineering giant with over 40 years of deep ties to Chinese state-owned enterprises. Even the law firm advising the venue has represented major Chinese SOEs eyeing Canadian energy assets.

The timing is also suspicious. As the shows were being torpedoed, Canada's Finance Minister was in Beijing signing deals to deepen financial ties— with a BMO executive along for the ride. Liu puts it plainly: the real threat isn't phantom bombs. It's the CCP's United Front Work Department and its network of influence peddling that pressures Canadian institutions to prioritize Beijing's interests over free expression and public access to art. Venues worldwide faced the same hoaxes and carried on. Only in Toronto did the show die.

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Scarlett Grace

Anti-Discrimination Reporter

Scarlett Grace is a Canadian journalist and musician from Peterborough, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Trent University and has spent over a decade performing live and releasing original music.

In 2022, her involvement in Canada’s freedom movement marked a turning point in her career and public voice. She later joined Rebel News, where she works as an anti-discrimination journalist, reporting extensively on the rise of antisemitism in Canada and the Iranian uprising.

https://twitter.com/ScarlettGrace92

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COMMENTS

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  • Bruce Atchison
    commented 2026-04-21 21:07:54 -0400
    The worst thing about the CCP is that they’re cunning. They know how turn Carney and the rest of the lunatic left into their useful idiots.
  • Fran G
    commented 2026-04-21 17:31:55 -0400
    Love these reports. Canada thanks to libs has many threats but I have always believed that CCP is by far the worst.;