O’Toole’s comments came after the Higher People's Court of Liaoning rejected the appeal of Canadian citizen Robert Schellenberg against a death sentence imposed for drug-smuggling charges.

"I know how hard our athletes are training for Beijing," the Conservative Party of Canada leader said at a news conference, as reported by the CBC.

"But we are approaching a point where it won't be safe for Canadians, including Olympic athletes, to travel to China."

Schellenberg was arrested in 2014, and sentenced to 15 years jail time in late 2018 after being convicted of smuggling 222 kilograms of methamphetamine.

A court in Dalian increased this to a death sentence in January 2019.

It was one of many reasons tensions are high between Canada and China.

In December 2018, Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou was arrested in Vancouver at the request of the United States charges of misleading HSBC in Hong Kong about potential dealings with Iran, putting it at risk of violating trade sanctions.

A Canadian court is expected to decide later this year whether to extradite Meng to the US.

China then arrested businessman Michael Spavor and former diplomat Michael Kovrig on spying charges.

Spavor was this week sentenced to 11 years in prison, while the verdict in Kovrig's case is yet to be announced.

O'Toole on Tuesday (August 10) said Schellenberg had been sentenced to death for "political reasons", and said the cases against him and Spavor should mean Canada seriously considers boycotting February’s Olympics outright.

"We're proud of our athletes we're celebrating," he commented.

"But we also have to recognize the actions of a country that wants to host the Games to bring people together.

"And we will have to think long and hard on whether we reward a country like that with the Games."

The Canadian Government criticised the rejection of Schellenberg’s appeal, with Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau saying in a statement it would "engage with Chinese officials at the highest levels to grant clemency to Mr. Schellenberg."

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also condemned the ruling against Spavor on Wednesday (August 11), describing it as "absolutely unacceptable and unjust".

Observers have suggested that Canada’s court case against Meng and China’s against Schellenberg, Spavor and Kovrig are linked, with Canada’s Ambassador to China Dominic Barton telling reporters: "I don't think it's a coincidence these are happening right now while events are going on in Vancouver."

Beijing denies that the cases are connected.

O'Toole’s comments on Beijing 2022 reiterate his remarks from February 2021, when he suggested that the Games should be moved from China because of the "genocide" being committed against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang.

O'Toole called on "the IOC and partner countries" to explore which nations could step up as a replacement host.

In Xinjiang, China has been accused of using forced Uyghur labour, operating a mass surveillance programme, detaining thousands in internment camps, carrying out forced sterilisations and intentionally destroying Uyghur heritage.

Beijing claims the camps are training centres designed to stamp out Islamist extremism and separatism, and denies the charges laid against it.

The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee said in February that they were opposed to a boycott of the Games.

The Beijing Winter Olympics are due to take place from February 4 to 20, with the Winter Paralympics running from March 4 to 13.