Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Lena Metlege Diab, and Secretary of State (Sport) Adam van Koeverden said Tuesday that Canada will keep opposing athletes who represent Russia and Belarus under national flags, symbols, colours or anthems.
The statement, released by Global Affairs Canada, sets out how that opposition will apply in Canada. Diab will individually assess and prevent Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from entering the country to compete under their national symbols, using her authorities under subsection 22.1(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Events that receive Government of Canada funding must continue to prohibit those athletes from participating under national symbols.
“Individual athletes competing in a neutral capacity will continue to be able to participate in international sport events hosted by Canada,” the statement said. The ministers said the measure is not directed at the Russian and Belarusian people. It is intended to prevent the governments of Russia and Belarus from using international sporting events hosted in Canada as platforms for state representation, political legitimacy and propaganda.
The three said Canada’s position has not changed because Russia’s actions have not changed. As long as Russia continues what they called a war of aggression against Ukraine, with Belarus’s complicity, neither Russia nor Belarus should be formally represented in international sport. “This opposition will continue,” the statement said.
They said opposition to participation under national symbols is part of Canada’s broader response to what they called Russia’s full-scale and illegal invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Canada has stood with the people of Ukraine, committing more than $26 billion in assistance and imposing sanctions on more than 4,200 individuals, entities and vessels, according to the statement.
As a leading host of international sporting events, Canada remains committed to ensuring that sport is not used to confer legitimacy, prestige or international standing on such states, the statement said. The ministers cited the risk that Russian and Belarusian participation in international sporting events becomes more normalized.
The statement said Canada’s position is unequivocal. As long as Russia continues its war of aggression against Ukraine, there can be no return to business as usual, the ministers said. Canada will continue to stand with Ukraine, according to the statement.