(Clearwisdom.net) Canadian newspaper Calgary Herald published a letter from reader Sanat K. Das on August 13, 2008. He said that he found it hard to appreciate the Olympic Games this year because in his mind there were always scenes of Falun Gong practitioners having their organs harvested and innocent people being tortured and killed.

He said in his letter, "I am not a supporter of the Liberal party, but I agree with former Justice minister Irwin Cotler's comment: "How a country like that [ruled by Chinese Communist regime] could be awarded the Olympic Games is beyond my comprehension."

He said, "For the last 52 years or so, I watched the Olympics on TV and read about them in the paper, but for the first time this year, I find it hard to bring any enthusiasm to watch the Games. They bring to mind the pictures of Tibetan nuns crying, the beating of Buddhist monks in Tibet, the alleged body parts collection of the Falun Gong and the tortures and killings of innocent people. So I cannot bring myself to watch the Games anymore."

The Ottawa Citizen published reader Gerald Hall's letter on the same day. The letter said, "As millions around the world viewed the minutely choreographed spectacle and dazzling display of light at the Beijing Olympic Games opening ceremonies, it was very easy to lose focus of the assault on human rights that continue to escalate in China since the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989."

He believed that "Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a statement for Canadian values by not attending the opening ceremonies. Liberal MP Irwin Cotler called the awarding of the games to Beijing a betrayal of the Olympic Charter. The treatment of Tibetans, limits on free speech, suppression of religious freedom, torture and ill-treatment of prisoners and violence against women are glaring facts in China. ... These Olympics should not be viewed through rose-colored glasses."