Trudeau government passes decision on participation in Beijing Games to Canada's Olympic Committee - National Post

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“It’s worth doing, alone, but it’s much better and smarter to do it with others and to find others, and that used to be the kind of thing that Canada was good at building a consensus on a practical way forward.”

Canada’s last Olympic boycott came in 1980, when the games were held in Moscow. Canada along with the United States and many other nations boycotted the games in response to the then Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

At the time, Canada’s external affairs minister Liberal Mark MacGuigan stood in the House of Commons and announced the Pierre Trudeau government’s intention to boycott the games.

“We have decided that the circumstances leave us no choice, but to urge the Canadian Olympic Association to inform the organizing committee for the 1980 olympics that Canadian athletes will not be participating in the games.”

MacGuigan’s decision came not long after the Liberals took power and the Conservatives under Joe Clark had similar plans to boycott the games.

Mulroney said the Chinese communist party will use the games to distract from their human rights record and crackdowns on democracy.

“We get dazzled by these things, and they’re going to attempt to do that in 2022 in Beijing. But the reality is we’ve just had too much evidence of what’s happening,” he said.

He said if Western countries see no change in China’s action and still attend the games it sends the wrong message to the ruling communist party.

“There’s also a sense, particularly for the party that they’re securing the compliance of the world. And that’s really really dangerous,” he said. “We submitted to it in 2008, look where we are now. Why allow that to happen again?”

• Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com | Twitter: ryantumilty

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2021-02-04 00:12:48Z
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