Politic » Olympic Memorabilia Reviews

Broken promises

Another broken promises... The economic boost that the 2010 Olympic we're supposed to bring to BC and Canada is partly benefiting China. All collectibles and memorabilia not manufactured in Canada should be boycotted by us all!

Encore une autres promesse pas tenue... Une partie de la croissance et de l'impact économiques en provenance des Olympiques promis aux Britanno-columbiens et canadiens est en partie envoyée en Chine. Nous devrions s'abstenir de se procurer des souvenirs olympiques qui ne sont pas fabriqués au Canada!

Olympic Memorabilia

Our Canadian manufacturers decision of having Olympic merchandise made in China is indeed a slap in the face to our Canadian producers. It's bad enough that we have businesses closing and unemployment is on the rise in Canada due to the anemic global economy-these jobs ought to have gone to Canadians as a priority. Not that I don't believe in free enterprise-I do. Not that I don't want the countries of this planet to share the 'wealth' of trade-again I do.My biggest problem with importing things from China at this moment in time is the fact that their merchandise both consumable and non, has a terrible track record:melamine in toothpaste, the dog food scandal, lead in baby toys...this is all quite recent and I doubt very much China has 'cleaned up its act' and brought its merchandise to our safety standards within simply the last year, as we are being told.The greatest devastation, in my opinion, is what China still exports to third world countries, and the safety tests for those countries are well beyond our radar for criticism.I was living in Ecuador last year and during the Christmas season I was appalled to see store shelves stacked with children's toys and clothing that had all slipped under that safety radar that we, in Canada, observe.Cheap plastic drinking cups and picnic plates painted in easily chipped paint (no doubt containing lead and other toxic materials), stuffed toys with 'eyes', 'buttons', 'noses' that were flimsily tacked on with pieces of wire, baby pajamas that ignited when close to a flame...the list goes on.The other maddening items I noticed on the shelves were cooking utensils made of cheap aluminum and teflon that peeled off in chunks at the slightest exposure to minimal heat. China is not allowed to export those items to North America because they don't pass our safety standards! So why are they being sent to other countries, especially the economically poorer countries which don't have these defense mechanisms in place in their government.We could blame the countries themselves for accepting them, but does China not have a conscience? If they are told by even one country, their merchandise is not safe, does one not think they should go back to the drawing board and visit the idea of making something that will not harm ANY human being or animal on this planet?Boycotting Olympic products made in China may be a start. But I believe Canada has a strong voice on other global issues: why not this one? It would simply be a matter of protecting/helping the ones who don't have the voice, nor the means to fight these kinds of lethal giants.