(Ottawa) The Canadian government will announce on Wednesday whether, like its British and American allies, it will do a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February.
In such a situation, Canadian athletes would participate in the Games, but no representative of the Canadian government would go to China.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, at the door of his caucus meeting Wednesday morning, acknowledged the decision of two of Canada’s traditional allies.
On Monday, the United States announced that the American athletes will be in Beijing, but no government official will make the trip. London followed suit on Wednesday.
“There are two of our allies who have announced their decisions. We have been talking about it with them and with everyone for months and months. […] We will have an announcement to make a little later today, ”promised Mr. Trudeau.
His Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly testified to this effort, again on Wednesday morning.
“Again this morning, I was on the phone with several different foreign ministers. […] I will continue, in any case, the contacts because it is generally important that we can have a greater number of countries participating, ”said the minister, making, we suppose, allusion to participation in the diplomatic boycott. .
The day before, she had clearly stated her preference for a presence of Canadian athletes in Beijing. “Of course we want to make sure that our athletes can compete in the next Olympic Winter Games. They worked so hard; it is important for them to be able to go there, ”she offered, when she left the Commons.
Minister Joly like Prime Minister Trudeau and all the leaders of political parties in Ottawa say they are “concerned” by the treatment of Uyghurs in China.
“It is clear that it is important to be with allies in partnership in the world when we have an approach against China,” insisted Mr. Trudeau to justify the time he took before deciding on a gesture to be made.
The leader of the Bloc Québécois, on Wednesday morning, felt that the Canadian government had already delayed too long.
“What we accepted, reluctantly, is unfortunately content with the diplomatic boycott,” regretted Yves-François Blanchet, at a press conference on Wednesday morning. His party had unsuccessfully proposed a motion calling for the postponement of the games.
“Even the floor is too soft for the Liberals. They’ll have to go to the basement to be comfortable, ”he denounced in front of the time it took for the Canadian government to announce its colors.
The Conservatives and the New Democrats have also been preaching for several days for Canada’s diplomatic absence from the Beijing Olympics.