We'll be making the drive to Trenton in a couple of hours to congregate with others for worship, the first time, in-person, in two months. This will be our third resumption since the pandemic began, demonstrating the resilience of this gang. Let's pray that the stop-and-start is over.
Today is also the conclusion the Beijing Olympics where Canadian athletes did well, demonstrating remarkable resilience and focus given these were "COVID games." They were also aware of the restrictions on their speech given the controversy over these being the "Human Rights Olympics."
You may have seen that a Swedish gold medallist in speed-skating, Nils ven der Poel, did speak out after his return home:
“The Olympic Village was very nice, the Chinese people I met were absolutely amazing,” he said. “The Olympics is a lot, it’s a fantastic sporting event where you unite the world and nations meet. But so did Hitler before invading Poland, and so did Russia before invading Ukraine.
“I think it is extremely irresponsible to give it to a country that violates human rights as blatantly as the Chinese regime is doing.”
I have written about the hypocrisy of the Canadian government in decrying human rights abuses in China, particularly the mass incarceration of the Uyghur people, yet participating in these Olympics. Men, women and children have been enslaved in "education camps" working to produce goods for export. The Uyghurs are a Muslim ethnic minority, so this is also a religious freedom issue which should be of concern to people of all faiths.
Irwin Cotler, a great Canadian in my estimation, is the co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, a former federal justice minister and a long-time parliamentarian. Yonah Diamond, the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights’ legal counsel, made contributions. In a recent Globe and Mail opinion piece he has condemned what he terms the "Games of Shame" noting that he raised concerns about the last Olympics which also took place in China 14 years ago:
In early 2001, as the member of Parliament for Mount Royal, I announced in the House of Commons a list of categories of human-rights violations that could serve to measure China’s international standing. On the eve of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, I released a report indicting China’s failure to meet those bars. I also warned that those Beijing Games risked turning into the “Genocide Olympics” following reports of China’s complicity in the Darfur genocide, as Sudan’s principal small-arms supplier.
I find this disheartening. Why does it take an athlete to remind us of our moral responsibilties? Yes, we should celebrate the athletic excellence of Canadian athletes in competition, but at any cost?
With the fierce competition to host the Olympic Games, I can't fathom why China would be awarded such an honour. Or perhaps the competition isn't as fierce as I think, given the financial cost that can follow for years. But what are we telling China when we select them? The optics would indicate that we are turning a blind eye to their dismal human rights record.
ReplyDeleteYes, the Chinese people are wonderful; I've been to China and have experienced their friendliness. But their government is another story. Let's stop rewarding them.
Agreed Roger. I've read that only the Chinese were willing to incur the massive expense in such an uncertain time. Still, we are legitimizing a totalitarian regime. Has the Olympic ideal run its course?
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