Mr. Speaker, Canadians were pleased to learn that Toronto, along with Paris and Beijing, is one of three cities in the running to host the 2008 Olympic games. However it is regrettable that the decision to award the Olympic games appears unrelated to issues of human rights.
For this decision to come at a time when China is engaged in the most persistent and pervasive assault on human rights since Tiananmen Square sends the wrong message to those anywhere concerned with the protection of peace and human dignity, an objective of the Olympic charter itself.
In a word, awarding the Olympic games to China turns the struggle for human rights on its head. It not only does not hold China accountable for the most egregious human rights violations but it even confers retrospective legitimacy upon it. It sends the disturbing signal that not only can human rights be violated with impunity but countries can even be rewarded for it. Such a decision can only breed cynicism in a world that has too much indifference and not enough moral courage.
Beijing might be a good place, but not now, not until it comports with the basic principles of the Olympic charter regarding the protection of human security. For 2008, Toronto would be the better choice.