TORONTO —
Canada won’t have a team at the Tokyo Olympics unless the Games are postponed by a year — a bold move that would at least give Canadian athletes some sense of direction in the coming months.
The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee issued joint statements on Sunday saying that they refuse to send their teams to Tokyo unless their respective Games are pushed back a year.
“While we recognize the inherent complexities around a postponement, nothing is more important than the health and safety of our athletes and the world community,” the COC said in its statement.
“This is not solely about athlete health — it is about public health. With COVID-19 and the associated risks, it is not safe for our athletes, and the health and safety of their families and the broader Canadian community for athletes to continue training towards these Games.”
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to start July 24 with the Paralympics slated to follow on Aug. 25.
Six-time Olympian Hayley Wickenheiser, who serves on the International Olympic Committee’s athletes commission, believes the majority of Canadian athletes support the decision of the COC and the CPC.
The retired hockey player and winner of four Olympic gold medals, who is currently in medical school, hopes other countries follows Canada’s lead.
“I think in this country athletes today made a very unselfish decision,” Wickenheiser told The Canadian Press on Sunday evening.
“Not only for themselves, but for the rest of the sporting world, so that others that aren’t as brave can have a chance to step up and say ‘we really want to do the same thing’ and that’s what we’ll see.
“A decision had to be made. Training in limbo was not a smart thing to keep doing. Athletes will push through anything and find a way. It’s no longer safe or ethical to ask athletes to do that.”
Canada’s statement joins a growing chorus of critics around the International Olympic Committee’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
IOC president Thomas Bach said earlier Sunday that they’d set a deadline of four weeks to determine the fate of the Games, and that the global organization is considering options including postponement.
Cancelling the Games entirely, Bach said, is not being considered.
It was the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began that the IOC had admitted that it would consider other options.
Canadian athletes had mixed feelings about Bach’s four-week deadline — relief that cancellation wasn’t being considered, but anxiety still around the uncertainty of the Olympics amid a global health emergency that has brought the sports world to its knees.
“It’s nerve-wracking, you want to know when it’s going to happen,” said Brittany Crew, the Canadian record-holder in women’s shot put.
“So I’m happy that they finally made a decision to call it in the next four weeks, because it is unfair for (the IOC) to say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna go on in July,’ when we don’t know what’s going to happen with this virus.”
The IOC’s change in strategy comes after Bach’s conference call with the executive board.
The IOC said that they’re examining scenarios to modify plans for the Games to go ahead as scheduled on July 24, plus changes to the start date of the Games, adding that “cancellation is not on the agenda.”
“I think there was good news today saying that cancellation wasn’t on the table,” Crew said.
The IOC and Japan’s organizing committee had consistently said the Games would go ahead as planned.
But Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe changed his tune Sunday, saying a postponement of the Tokyo Olympics would be unavoidable if the games cannot be held in a complete way because of the coronavirus.
The Australian Olympic Committee told its athletes in a statement on its website they should prepare for the Tokyo Games in 2021.
The IOC’s lack of flexibility in these unprecedented times had sounded tone deaf to athletes around the world who’ve lost access to training facilities at a time they would normally be nearing top physical shape.
Stuart McMillan, a Canadian speed coach based in Phoenix, Ariz., called the IOC’s deadline “The very definition of kicking the rock down the road.”
Evan Dunfee, a world bronze medallist in race walking, read Bach’s letter to mean the Games will be delayed.
“It just takes time to figure out and co-ordinate how to move the mountain that is staging the Games and we only get one shot at announcing it so let’s make sure we get it right,” Dunfee said. “I just don’t personally see any way in which the Games can start in July.”
Canada is among numerous countries under virtual lockdown, meaning weight rooms, pools and gyms are closed, leaving athletes to find creative ways to stay in shape.
Travel bans have eliminated the ability to train abroad. Numerous competitions, including countless Olympic qualifying events, have been postponed.
“It’s pretty clear to me as an athlete at this point that it’s not going to be happening as planned,” said boxer Mandy Bujold, a two-time Pan American Games champion.
“It is going to take time to decide on the best alternative. I personally do hope it’s a new date and not a complete cancellation.”
The International Paralympic Committee president Andrew Parsons supported Bach’s deadline.
“As you can imagine, potentially changing the dates of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a huge logistical challenge, and the IPC will support the IOC every step of the way,” Parsons said in a statement.
“The next four weeks will provide time to see if the global health situation improves, while giving a window of opportunity to look into different scenarios should the dates of the Games need to be changed.
Canadian paratriathlete Stefan Daniel, winner of a Paralympic silver medal in 2016 and a world title in 2019, agrees with the CPC’s position even if the Tokyo Games go ahead without him.
“I know how tough these calls are to make,” the 23-year-old Calgarian said. “I stand by this decision.
“Health and safety are first and foremost. If I’m home and the Games are going on, I’ll be safe. It will be tough, but we’ll be ready for the next games.”
Brent Lakatos, an 11-time world champion in wheelchair racing, was happy the IOC set a deadline for its decision.
“I understand they need more time to make a decision on what to do,” he said. “But with the trajectory of things these days, I can’t imagine they will do anything other than postpone it.”
Criticism of the IOC’s stance has grown in recent days.
Both governing bodies for track and field and swimming in the United States have called on their Olympic officials to push for a postponement, and Swimming Canada later backed its American counterpart.
National Olympic committees in Brazil, Slovenia and Norway are among those pushing for a postponement until the global health crisis subsides.
“The last week or so there’s been a little bit of a groundswell . . . calling for postponement, and then you see the IOC had held fairly firm and that kind of left everything sort of up in the air you didn’t really know what to believe,” said Scott Tupper, captain of Canada’s men’s field hockey team.
“To have kind of a timeline now is a little bit comforting.”
Women’s basketball star Kia Nurse said she trusts the “(Canadian Olympic Committee) and Canadian health officials who have to make tough decisions are going to do so with the best interest of staff, fans and Canadian athletes in mind.”
With countless cancellations, only 57 per cent of Olympic qualification spots have been determined.
Since the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896, the Games have only been cancelled during the world wars including 1916, 1940 and 1944.
There have been three major boycotts, in 1976 in Montreal, 1980, and 1984.
There have been more than 330,000 cases of coronavirus around the world, with more than 14,000 deaths.
“There is a dramatic increase in cases and new outbreaks of COVID-19 in different countries on different continents,” the IOC said.
“This led the (board) to the conclusion that the IOC needs to take the next step in its scenario-planning.”
— Donna Spencer in Calgary contributed to this story.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 22, 2020.
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.
