As Canada‘s boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics continues to grow, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) are paying close attention to human rights issues in China, while the three largest federal opposition parties have unanimously called on the IOC to choose another host country for the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Erin O’Toole, leader of the Conservative Party, Canada’s largest federal opposition party, called on the Trudeau government to push the IOC to withdraw China’s bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics and find another host country to demonstrate its opposition to the Communist Party’s “genocide” of the Uighur minority. Canada should not send athletes to China, and I think the nation would agree that it is a violation of basic moral principles to participate in an Olympics hosted by a country that is committing genocide against part of its own people,” O’Toole said. Not to mention the Chinese Communist Party‘s suppression of democracy and freedom in Hong Kong and the unwarranted arrest and detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor.”
NDP leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party leader Annamie Paul also support moving the Winter Olympics to another country, with Paul advocating that a Canadian city be considered to host the games instead of Beijing.
The Conservative Party of Canada has advocated in Parliament and on social media for another country to host the 2022 Winter Olympics. (Twitter screenshot)
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he shares the concerns of other leaders about human rights issues in China. “There is no doubt that human rights abuses are rampant in the Xinjiang region, and the IOC and the Canadian Olympic Committee are closely monitoring this issue and taking a close look at the proposal to move the Winter Olympics host site.”
The United States has agreed that the Chinese Communist Party is committing genocide against the Uighurs and other Muslim minorities, the European Union has launched a similar initiative, and earlier the International Human Rights Commission of the Canadian Parliament unanimously passed a ruling that genocide is taking place in Xinjiang, regardless of political party. Trudeau said Canada takes the allegations seriously and is working with allies and the international community to determine whether this does indeed apply to the Uighurs. He said “genocide” is an extremely loaded term and should be used with strict adherence to internationally recognized standards so as not to dilute the seriousness of the term in its historical sense.
Canada’s opposition to China hosting the Winter Olympics has been growing, with 13 MPs from Canada’s five major political parties and a former Olympic Gold medalist signing an open letter earlier this month urging the International Olympic Committee to change the host venue. Last year, Canada’s ambassador to the United Nations, Bob Rae, called for an investigation into whether China’s persecution of the Uighurs in Xinjiang constitutes genocide.
The IOC has said that granting the right to host the Olympics does not mean that the IOC agrees with the political structure, social environment or human rights standards of the host country.
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