78% of Canadians favour some form of boycott of Winter Olympics in Beijing: Poll

While the Canadian government has yet to announce whether it will follow the United States in undertaking a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the majority of citizens in the country appears to support such a step.

Ottawa is expected to announce its decision with regard to the upcoming Olympics Games in the days ahead, but nearly four in five Canadians, or 78% are in favour of their country implementing some manner of boycott.

A new survey released by the non-profit, non-partisan public polling agency Angus Reid Institute (ARI) contained these figures. Over half of those polled, 53%, also supported the Justin Trudeau government emulating the Joe Biden administration in “taking the same measure as the US, denying any diplomatic presence in Beijing,” according to a release from ARI.

Of the respondents, 40% were for Canadian athletes to remain away from the Olympics, while a similar number, 37%, favoured a boycott by Canadian fans.

Meanwhile, ARI also found that “the vast majority continue to view the country unfavourably”. That translates to 84% of those surveyed.

The decision in these regard from Ottawa is still pending and could have an adverse impact on ties with China if it is along the lines of that announced by Washington. Ottawa is also expected to soon announce its decision on keeping the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei away from Canada’s 5G infrastructure.

China has also issued warnings to Canada over taking such action, which has already been taken by countries like the United States and Australia.

Speaking to the Waterloo, the Ontario-based Centre for International Governance Innovation on Tuesday, China’s Ambassador to Ottawa Cong Peiwu said in the context of a potential denial of access, “That will be sending out a very wrong signal to the Chinese companies.”