No boycott of Sochi Games planned

OTTAWA — Canada is not contemplating a boycott of the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi next year despite concerns about Russia’s new anti-gay law, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said Friday.

Baird has publicly criticized the new law, which bans discussing or passing information about gay rights and relationships to children under the age of 18, with Canadian diplomats in Moscow also raising concerns.

Canada isn’t the only country to have taken issue with the law, and there have been calls for a boycott, particularly after Russia’s sports minister said the law would be enforced during the games in Sochi, which is in the south of the country.

U.S. President Barack Obama later in the day also rejected calls for a boycott despite expressing outrage over Russia’s anti-gay law.

“One of the things I’m really looking forward to is maybe some gay and lesbian athletes bringing home the gold or silver or bronze, which I think would go a long way in rejecting the kind of attitudes we’re seeing there,” he said.

Speaking to reporters as he wrapped up a two-week trip through Latin America, Baird said there was no intention of keeping Canadian athletes home. “We want to see the athletes succeed,” he said, adding that the federal government has been in contact with the Canadian Olympic Committee and is happy the International Olympic Committee is raising the issue with Russian officials. “So let’s hope decency will prevail.

“We’ve got an important opportunity for the free world to put the focus on what’s happened in Russia in the recent weeks and months, and hopefully that can be able to change.”

Baird was not asked about nor did he offer up his views on a petition calling for the 2014 Winter Games to be moved from Sochi to Vancouver.

Olympic boycotts are not unknown. Sixty-five countries, including Canada, boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980 after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. Several Soviet bloc countries then boycotted the 1984 Los Angeles Games in retaliation.