Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that Canada will not be sending any diplomatic representatives to the Beijing Olympic games this winter.
"We've been in conversation with partners and allies around the world on the issue of the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic games," said Trudeau, who said that Canada's government was concerned by "repeated human rights abuses" taking place in China.
"We are announcing today that we will not be sending any diplomatic representation to the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic games."
"Our athletes have been training for years, and are looking forward to compete at the highest level from athletes around the world," said Trudeau.
Both the NDP and the Conservative Party urged the Liberal government to boycott the games.
Canada remains deeply disturbed by reports of human rights violations in China. As a result, we won’t be sending diplomatic representatives to Beijing for the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. We’ll continue to support our athletes who work hard to compete on the world stage.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) December 8, 2021
The United Kingdom and Australia both joined the US in diplomatically boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games earlier on Wednesday.
Athletes from these three countries will still participate in the games, but there will be no official delegation from any of the governments, according to the CBC.
The Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said he was doing it as "it's in Australia's national interest." He also said that it was "the right thing to do."
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on the other hand, said that "there will be effectively a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing. No ministers are expected to attend."
"The government has no hesitation in raising these issues with China, as I did with President Xi the last time I talked to him," he added.
Pressure from all sides
In a press conference on Tuesday, NDP leader Jagmeet Singh said that he "encourages the government, the Liberal government, to look to the United States now that it's announced their support of such a measure and make a similar announcement soon."
Conservative leader Erin O'Toole also stated that he "hopes" that the prime minister would follow the lead of Canada's allies, and announce a diplomatic boycott.
Last week, Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden said that "you can compete in a country and still care about these issues."
"I don’t think that being an athlete, caring about our athletes or cheering for our athletes is mutually exclusive from believing and caring about the Uyghur genocide," he added.
In February, the House of Commons voted to censure China for the Uyghur genocide. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet abstained on the vote.
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