They’ll say because they are Canadian athletes. I guess the Canadian Olympic Committee ought to have made it clear to the athletes that they were political toys, and subject to both the whims of China and Canada. When you boil things down, amateur athletes either make their money through government grant, corporate sponsorship (advertising to sell more crud), or have real jobs that produce something for sale.

I don’t want to tell the next Catriona LeMay Doan to stay at home and protest, but I also don’t want to tell all of the people the Chinese government is hurting that they matter less than a two week World party designed these days to sell more Coke and Big Macs.

“My question to those, including the Prime Minister of Canada, who are claiming that an Olympic boycott would “only hurt the athletes” is, “why are these athletes so much more important than oppressed and poor people in countries led by tin pot dictators who we do support imposing boycotts on”?”

The answer to your question SL, at least in the political sense that Harper wouldn’t dare speak aloud, is Vancouver 2010.

Different times Candace, very different times, it may seem only a few years ago but things have changed a lot in those few years. There have been a more of years of government inaction and people are getting tired (and not in the “this ain’t working, let’s give up and go home”, sort of way either) of the empty rhetoric, and the unfulfilled promises, and the stalling. The 2010 games presents an opportunity to put issues on the world stage and that opportunity will be taken advantage of.

Just a note of caution, I don’t think I’d use a phrase like “crappy water” to describe Kashechewan, you’re only gonna end up pi$$ing people off. Whether you mean to minimize it that way or not the situation was serious enough that over 800 men, women, and children, had to be evacuated for their health and safety - and they had to be evacuated by the province because the federal government was busy sitting on its hands and doing nothing. Some how I think you’d be using stronger language had your family and your children been involved.

You will also see protests regarding treatment of the homeless and the poor who are being shoved so Canada can look nice for the big show.

As I said, different times.

I just listened to a fantastic panel on CBC Radio’s Sounds Like Canada show. Waneek Horne Miller was on it, with two men from slightly opposition ends of the political quandrant. One guy said no to the demonstrations or boycott. The other, predicatably, said yes to both. Neither one is going to Beijing, will be involved in the Olympics, is an ahtlete, has never been to that part of the world, will refuse to watch the Games. Horne Miller is none of the above. She is an Olympic ahtlete, will go to Beijing, etc.

She’s also Mohawk. She’s already being lobbied to boycott the 2010 Games in support of Aboriginal and human rights violations in Canada.

I won’t tell you what she said except that it was the product of some ethical and moral agony, thoughtful, passionate, powerful, and eloquent. She put those other two guys to shame with their rather facile and shallow positions.

I may wind up on the other side of a demonstration line to her, but I have to respect her stated position.

And — no — I won’t tell you.

I’ll just have to find out the whereabouts of the torch in 2010…who’s coming with me?