An illustration shared on social media shows International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach wearing a face mask and cheerfully waving, while the accompanying text conveys the message that people in Japan don’t necessarily want to reciprocate.
“We can’t wave back — meaning we’re pretty depressed, it’s a bit of an emergency,” said Hyung-Gu Lynn, a professor in the Asian studies department at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He describes an ambivalent mood in Japan, addressed in a recent meme, ahead of the pending Olympics.
The pandemic-adjusted Tokyo Games get underway on July 23 under a state of emergency in the capital and amid opposition from those who fear the potential public health consequences of what’s to come.
Experts say the momentum to move forward is powered by the billions of dollars already spent to stage the summer spectacle — a tangled knot of politics and obligations — as well as the confidence that Japan can successfully manage any coronavirus risks while putting on an Olympic show.
There are also those who continue to actively protest against the Games, like the 40 or so people who gathered Saturday outside the five-star hotel where the IOC president is self-isolating.
“He seems not to have thought anything about our critical situation and suffering, which makes me more angry,” protester Ayako Yoshida said.
The money has been spent and a new national stadium has been built, even though there will be a lack of sports fans filling the seats of Tokyo-area Olympic facilities — as well as those as in the prefectures of Hokkaido and Fukushima — due to COVID-19 concerns.
“The big thing is the money,” said Hannah Holmes, an assistant economics professor at McMaster University in Hamilton.
“Will they ever get that money back out of it? Arguably, they’re not going to now because of the lack of fans being able to attend.”
But it’s not just the size of the investment; it’s what Japan is getting for it — or not getting for it, according to some Olympics watchers.
WATCH | Lack of fans not a problem, Team Canada’s chef de mission says:
Team Canada’s chef de mission, Marnie McBean, says that while spectators will be missed at the Tokyo Olympics, athletes won’t let COVID-19 restrictions hold them back. 5:33
Robert Dekle, an economics professor at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, said there are many in Japan who simply “don’t see the benefit of it.”
These critics question why Japan is having the Olympics at all. Dekle said that was true for some even before COVID-19 arrived.
With less than two weeks to go before the Games, Japan is seeing a climb in COVID-19 cases, with health officials reporting 950 new infections on Saturday — the highest count in about two months and the 21st day in a row that infections were higher than the week previous.
Less than one-fifth, or 16.8 per cent, of the population is fully vaccinated. About 15,000 deaths in Japan have been attributed to COVID-19.
“The Olympics are supposed to be former prime minister Abe’s departing grand gift to the country,” he said. “So Suga is simply implementing the plan … set by his predecessor.”
Beyond that, Lynn said that Suga has an opportunity to build support within his party for his continued leadership, if the Games are a success.
Of course, the International Olympic Committee has a clear interest in seeing the Games through.
Broadcast rights and sponsorships are key to the IOC’s operations, with some estimates suggesting a cancelled Olympics could cost billions in lost revenues.
“You can’t neglect the push from the IOC to persevere,” Holmes of McMaster University said, noting that broadcast rights are “pretty much their only revenue” given the lack of spectators in the stands this year.
The potential payoff
Dekle of USC believes Japan is well equipped to deliver the Olympics despite the challenges.
“My sense is that it’ll turn out more positive than the people of Japan think,” said Dekle, who expects Japan will reap a PR boost by pulling off a successful Games.
Vijay Setlur, a marketing instructor at York University’s Schulich School of Business in Toronto, said it will be a win for Japan if there are no major problems at the Games.
“If they’re able to maintain a healthy Olympics where no athletes contract the virus and … no volunteers or workers do the same, then I think that would be considered a success,” he said.
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the NDP is caving to political pressure from Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre when it comes to their stance on the consumer carbon price.
Trudeau says he believes Jagmeet Singh and the NDP care about the environment, but it’s “increasingly obvious” that they have “no idea” what to do about climate change.
On Thursday, Singh said the NDP is working on a plan that wouldn’t put the burden of fighting climate change on the backs of workers, but wouldn’t say if that plan would include a consumer carbon price.
Singh’s noncommittal position comes as the NDP tries to frame itself as a credible alternative to the Conservatives in the next federal election.
Poilievre responded to that by releasing a video, pointing out that the NDP has voted time and again in favour of the Liberals’ carbon price.
British Columbia Premier David Eby also changed his tune on Thursday, promising that a re-elected NDP government would scrap the long-standing carbon tax and shift the burden to “big polluters,” if the federal government dropped its requirements.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Simon Jolin-Barrette, minister responsible for consumer protection, has tabled a bill to force merchants to calculate tips based on the price before tax.
That means on a restaurant bill of $100, suggested tips would be calculated based on $100, not on $114.98 after provincial and federal sales taxes are added.
The bill would also increase the rebate offered to consumers when the price of an item at the cash register is higher than the shelf price, to $15 from $10.
And it would force grocery stores offering a discounted price for several items to clearly list the unit price as well.
Businesses would also have to indicate whether taxes will be added to the price of food products.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
Quebec legislature member Youri Chassin has announced he’s leaving the Coalition Avenir Québec government to sit as an Independent.
He announced the decision shortly after writing an open letter criticizing Premier François Legault’s government for abandoning its principles of smaller government.
In the letter published in Le Journal de Montréal and Le Journal de Québec, Chassin accused the party of falling back on what he called the old formula of throwing money at problems instead of looking to do things differently.
Chassin says public services are more fragile than ever, despite rising spending that pushed the province to a record $11-billion deficit projected in the last budget.
He is the second CAQ member to leave the party in a little more than one week, after economy and energy minister Pierre Fitzgibbon announced Sept. 4 he would leave because he lost motivation to do his job.
Chassin says he has no intention of joining another party and will instead sit as an Independent until the end of his term.
He has represented the Saint-Jérôme riding since the CAQ rose to power in 2018, but has not served in cabinet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.