Canada should lobby against Beijing Games

Unless the federal government changes course, Canada is going to be on the wrong side of history when it comes to participating in the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China.

Conservative Leader Erin O’toole, on the other hand, has joined the growing list of Canadian and international leaders, who are calling for the Games to be taken away from China and held elsewhere.

At an Ottawa news conference this week, O’toole said: “I think Canadians would agree that it would violate universal fundamental ethical principles to participate in an Olympic Games hosted by a country that is committing a genocide against part of its population ... Canada must take a stand.”

O’toole was referring to China being accused of “genocide” against Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province. He also noted the ongoing unlawful detention of Canadian citizens Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. O’toole is also among many who argue China’s increasingly heavy hand in dealing with Hong Kong should be a factor in whether the games go ahead in Beijing next February.

O’toole’s call to action follows a similar one from Green party leader Annamie Paul, along with a multi-party group of 13 MPS, who released an open letter calling for the Olympics to be relocated. Several non-governmental organizations, some Quebec MNAS and former Winter Games gold medallist Jean-luc Brassard also signed the letter.

At this point, at least, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appears to be unmoved by the calls for Canada to lobby its allies and international Olympic officials to move the Games. His attitude is puzzling.

Last October the House of Commons subcommittee on international human rights released a report that concluded that China’s mistreatment of Uighurs, which includes mass detentions in concentration camps, forced population control measures, forced labour and state surveillance all amount to state-sponsored genocide. United Nations experts and human rights activists say more than a million Uighurs are being held in prisonlike settings for purposes of political indoctrination.

China has insisted the detention centres are to combat extremism and teach job skills, but human rights advocates point out the measures target Islamic and other minority languages and culture. Former U.S. secretary of state Mike Pompeo also alleged China is committing genocide and his replacement in the Biden administration, Antony Blinken, has agreed.

But not only is Trudeau unwilling to join the lobbying, he has so far refrained from using genocide to describe the Chinese government’s actions. There is room for fair-minded people to disagree or agree with the genocide label, but in terms of the Olympics, that should not be the deciding factor. The fact is China’s human rights and rule of law record overall has been abysmal. The idea that a country with such abhorrent behaviour should benefit from the international spotlight is beyond offensive. It is contrary to the so-called Olympic ideal.

This is far from the first time the Games have been hosted by human rights abusing countries. Nazi Germany hosted in 1936. There was Moscow in 1980, games which were boycotted by the United States and many western allies.

But this is 2021, and the world is a much different place. Countries like ours must be willing to do more than we have in past to call out injustice. O’toole and other leaders are on the right side of history by putting pressure on the Olympic movement to do more than look the other way when host countries abuse human rights. The Trudeau government should join them.