Canadian diplomats to boycott Beijing Winter Olympics: Trudeau
The Government of Canada will join allies in a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in Beijing, China, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Wednesday.
The decision means Canada will not send political leaders, diplomatic missions or representatives to attend the Games, but athletes will still be able to participate in their respective sports.
"As a country indeed, as many partners around the world, we are extremely concerned by the repeated human rights violations by the Chinese government. That is why we are announcing today that we will not be sending any diplomatic representation to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games,” said Trudeau.
“Our athletes have been training for years. They're looking forward to competing at the highest level against athletes from around the world. And they will continue to have all of our fullest support.”
Trudeau’s remarks come on the heels of announcements that the United States, the U.K., and Australia will be diplomatically boycotting the Olympics over human rights abuses, particularly against the Uyghur ethnic minority.
Trudeau also spoke briefly about the use of arbitrary detention in light of the recent release of Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.
The ‘two Michaels’ were detained in December 2018 just after Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Canada on behalf of U.S. authorities. Both were in detention for 1,019 days.
“We will continue to stand very clearly as a world leader against the use of coercive diplomacy and tools like arbitrary detention and at the same time we will be there,” Trudeau said.
"We know that our athletes need to have one thing in mind that is representing their countries to the best of their ability and winning that gold medal for Canada. We will be focused on everything necessary to ensure their safety."
In regards to the safety of Canadian athletes in China, Canada Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge says the Canadian government will work with the RCMP to ensure they all have protective services.
David Shoemaker, the CEO and secretary general of the Canadian Olympic Committee, issued a statement following the announcement.
“We understand and respect the government’s decision to not send diplomatic missions to the Beijing 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We also recognize how this announcement draws the important distinction between the participation of athletes and the participation of government officials at the Games," it read.
“The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee remain concerned about the issues in China but understand the Games will create an important platform to draw attention to them. History has shown that athlete boycotts only hurt athletes without creating meaningful change.
"We also know the importance of Team Canada to Canadians, and we are committed to ensuring they can participate safely at the Games. Our athletes have a unique ability to inspire millions of Canadians of all ages, and billions around the world, while the Games foster increasingly important people-to-people connections."
ATHLETE BOYCOTT WOULD NEVER WORK — OLYMPIC EXPERT
Robert Livingstone, the producer of GamesBids.com, says a full boycott of the Games would not be fair to athletes who have trained over the course of the past four years, but he notes that a diplomatic boycott still sends a message.
“I think it shows that everybody's in the same opinion and that China needs to change,” Livingstone said.
“Canada's specific impact on China may not be so much, but it was interesting that the Olympic Truce was just introduced in the United Nations this week, and I think it was 173 of 193 countries that signed it. Notably absent were Canada and the United States.”
Livingstone notes however that athletes could still make the choice to boycott the Games, taking issue with human rights violations along with their personal safety in light of recent issues with Chinese tennis player, Peng Shuai.
“This has added a lot of concerns in the tennis community of course because a lot of athletes are personal friends of hers,” Livingstone said.
In November, Shuai had accused former Chinese Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli on social media of sexually assaulting her, where she also detailed a three-year affair with him afterward.
The allegations were quickly censored by the Chinese government, resulting in Shuai vanishing from public view in what was suspected to be a forced disappearance before reappearing at a tennis tournament two weeks later.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Tuesday that it cannot give any certainty about her case following two video calls with the Grand Slam doubles champion.
'GAMES WITHOUT POLITICS' — IOC PRESIDENT
IOC president Thomas Bach says the mission of his group is to ensure a successful operation of the winter sport with complete political neutrality.
Bach recognizes that tensions are high and says the Olympics should not contribute to further conflicts between nations.
“On the other hand, our mission and our responsibility is to ensure that everything related to the Olympic Games, including the Olympic Charter and the host contract is fully respected. This includes the respect of human rights for all participants,” he said.
“We have been concerned with the athletes, we welcome that they can participate, that they are supported by their national governments and the rest is politics and our political neutrality.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.