Canada will proceed with a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games, meaning government officials won’t attend but athletes can continue to compete.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made the announcement on Wednesday during a press conference alongside Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly and Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge.
“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, Paralympic Games this winter,” Trudeau said.
“Our athletes have been training for years and are looking forward to compete at the highest level against athletes from around the world. They will continue to have all of our fullest support.”
The U.S. announced a diplomatic boycott on Monday as a means of protesting against human rights abuses in China towards the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang province.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the U.S. has a “fundamental commitment to promoting human rights” and that it “will not be contributing to the fanfare of the Games.”
Since then, Australia and the U.K. have followed suit.
China has denied those allegations and says the boycott violates “the principle of political neutrality of sports established by the Olympic Charter and runs counter to the Olympic motto `more united,”‘ Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters.
Trudeau said China shouldn’t be surprised by the move.
“We have been very clear over the past many years of our deep concerns around human rights violations and this is a continuation of us expressing our deep concerns,” he said.
In a statement late Wednesday, the Chinese Embassy denied Trudeau’s claims of human rights abuses and expressed “strong dissatisfaction” with Canada’s decision.
“Based on ideological biases as well as lies and rumours, Canada and a handful of western countries have been flagrantly engaged in political manoeuvring, with the attemgpt to disrupt the smooth progress of Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” the embassy said in the release.
“Their clumsy performance can hardly find any support and is doomed to fail.”
The embassy added that Canada isn’t in a position to judge others on their human rights record.
“China’s human rights situation is at its historical best, a fact that is recognized by all those without bias,” the statement continued. “Canada, by contrast, has committed heinous crimes against Indigenous people. Until today, systematic racial discrimination is still severe in Canada. Canada is simply not qualified to be ‘a human rights preacher’ and is certainly in no position to judge China on this front.”
Many former diplomats and international security analysts have suggested Canada should go further and enforce a full boycott, withdrawing all Canadian presence, including athletes.
Asked about this, Joly reiterated that athletes should be kept out of political dispute.
“Our athletes have worked extremely hard to get there. They have trained hours, they’ve travelled the world, they’ve competed…this is a situation that needs to be dealt with diplomatically and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” she said.
In terms of athlete safety on the ground, St-Onge said the government is working closely with the RCMP to ensure robust security measures are in place.
“There are already agents that have been hired to ensure the security of the athletes and we’re still in discussion with the RCMP, with [Public Safety Minister] Marco Mendicino and everything will be in place to make sure that the athletes are safe. That’s our priority,” she said.
The RCMP have in the past worked with the Canadian Olympic Committee on safety precautions ahead of Olympic Games.
“In this particular situation, it is obvious that we want to make sure that our athletes have access to protection services and that’s why we’ll be working with the RCMP but also we will be liaising with our embassies and missions across China because we want to make sure our diplomatic services on site are there,” Joly added.
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole said Wednesday he approves of a diplomatic boycott.
“We shouldn’t send a message that we accept treatment of the Uyghurs, and we accept the situation in Hong Kong so at this stage a diplomatic boycott is appropriate,” he said.
The NDP have also sought to push the government in this direction.
“I think this was a good decision today,” NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said Wednesday.
COMMITTEES ‘RESPECT’ MOVE
The CEO and Secretary General of the Canadian Olympic Committee David Shoemaker and the CEO of the Canadian Paralympic Committee Karen O’Neill say they “understand and respect” the government’s decision not to have political representation at the 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,” the statement reads.
It goes on to acknowledge China’s concerning conduct but notes that the Olympics create an “important platform” to draw attention to them.
Dick Pound, member of the International Olympic Committee, echoed a similar sentiment Wednesday.
“Canada seems to have moved on from its position in 1980 in the Moscow boycott where the athletes should pay the only price for political issues. So I think there’s been a good division made there,” he told CTV News Channel.
Pound said the diplomatic boycott is unlikely to impact the Games at all.
“The world is waiting for these very wonderful and special Games coming up in February. Those will go on, they’ll be well organized as we knew they would be, and the athletes have every opportunity to do their best in the best possible conditions and that’s what it should be,” he said.
With files from CTVNews.ca Writer Ben Cousins, The Canadian Press, The Associated Press
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
