‘There is something more important than sports’
Re: Medals will be soaked in blood, Terry Glavin; and Gary Clement cartoon, Feb. 11
So the bureaucrats in the COC say, “Boycotts don’t work?” That’s irrelevant. What is relevant is what it says about us as a people that we would be willing to approve and participate in an event held in a brutal dictatorship that suppresses freedom and places anyone who does not have the state as their first loyalty in re-education (concentration) camps. That includes not only the Islamic Uyghurs but countless Christians, both Catholic and Protestant; those who practice Falun Gong; and anyone who has a loyalty beyond the Chinese Communist Party and its ghoulish dictator President Xi Jinping.
Everyone sympathizes with the young Olympic participants, but, frankly, they need to learn that there is something beyond, and more important, than sports, something that matters even more than themselves and their personal achievements.
Besides, there are places in Canada and in numerous other free nations to host these Olympics without giving Dictator Xi an opportunity to propagandize.
If all the democratic states, co-operating together, would boycott, it may even make a difference. Regardless, let’s not give a brutish dictator a chance to enhance his own power and use us to do it. Hermina Dykxhoorn, Calgary
Nothing angers China like a slap in its communist face. A Canadian boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics is a no-brainer. Why send more Canadians for China to incarcerate? Our government should try for a coalition of democratic states to relocate the games from Beijing, as Terry Glavin suggests.
The first choice of location would be Canada. We have done it before. But, the U.S.A. is the big prize to join the group. To help persuade it, let it host the games. If the U.S. refuses and we are unable to convince enough nations to challenge the Chinese venue, then the group should use the threat as leverage to extract concessions from Beijing. (All must be prepared to boycott if China refuses).
Canada wants the return of the two Michaels and the realignment of trade agreements. Australia wants the reinstatement of coal and wine purchases. The U.S. wants China to meet its purchase commitments, an admission of guilt by Huawei that it violated international sanctions on Iran, (which would result in the release of Meng Wanzhou), and all want a commitment to open China to scrutiny by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding the origins of the pandemic.