Our friendly neighbor to the North, aka Canada, has announced its intention to ban the sale of new internal-combustion-powered passenger cars and light trucks by 2035, with the goal of reaching net-zero emissions by 2050, according to a Reuters report Tuesday.

"We acknowledge that there are no perfect answers, and that this is a very complex and difficult decision, but this position (to postpone the Games) at least provides our athletes with the comfort of knowing that they will have adequate time to properly prepare themselves physically, mentally and emotionally to be able to participate in a safe and successful Olympic Games," he wrote.

"We are committed to aligning Canada's zero-emission vehicles sales targets with those of the most ambitious North American jurisdictions," Canadian Environment Minister Jonathan Wilkinson said as part of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement.

The plan, which the Trudeau administration proposed, would see Canada joining the state of California and countries like the United Kingdom (though the UK's plan is even more ambitious, giving itself five fewer years to meet its goal) in shifting toward electric vehicles.

World Players Association (WPA) executive director Brendan Schwab said that, while he was happy with the decision to postpone the Games, the delay in making it in the face of the growing coronavirus pandemic made the IOC look almost naive.

LONDON, March 21 (Reuters) - Calls from sporting organisations for this year's Tokyo Olympics to be postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic gathered pace on Saturday with USA Track and Field (USATF) and Brazil's Olympic Committee the latest to join the throng.

Norway's Sports Federation and Olympic and Paralympic Committee (NIF) said it had written to IOC chief Thomas Bach calling for the Games to be postponed, even if the pandemic is under control in Japan by the summer.

And at the end of 2019, no major economist forecasting this year envisioned that a pandemic would throw the world into turmoil. There was stagflation in the 1970s. Untamed financial markets fueled a housing bubble during the 2000s.

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But the nation would be far from impervious. The United States would be stronger with improved internet connectivity, more housing, government programs that can cushion a downturn and a health care system that can handle crises and emergencies.

Life would be better.

"The World Players Association has affiliates throughout the world and when sports of the level of the NBA, the National Hockey League, Major League Baseball, international rugby... the football leagues in Europe are closing down because of the pandemic, the IOC was looking almost incredibly hopeful to the extent of being naive." (Writing by Brian Homewood Editing by Toby Davis)

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BERN, March 24 (Reuters) - A change of culture is needed at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to make decision-making more inclusive, an association representing 85,000 athletes around the world said on Tuesday, following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics to 2021.

Schwab also revealed that the numerous organisations that operate under the WPA's umbrella, including global footballers' union FIFPro and cricketers' equivalent FICA, had been contacted often by athletes worried about their prospects if they catch the virus.

"Given the highly unresolved situation in Norway and in large parts of the world, it is neither justifiable or desirable to send Norwegian athletes to the Olympics or Paralympics in Tokyo until the world community has put this pandemic behind them," sports president Berit Kjøll said.

struggling to control the spread of the flu-like virus. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo 2020 organisers still insist the July 24-Aug.

9 showpiece will go ahead as planned despite Europe and the U.S.

The Sport and Rights Alliance (SRA) and the World Players Association (WPA) said a "deep review and broader consultation" with athletes was required regarding the decision over whether the Games could run as planned.

Suggesting a year's delay, he said the IOC was experienced in dealing with obstacles, citing the cancellations in 1916, 1940 and 1944 because of World Wars and the political boycotts of the Games in Moscow in 1980 and Los Angeles in 1984.

Chief executive Max Siegel said the USTAF "understood" the ramification of postponing the Games for the first time ever in peace time, but that moving forward would not be in the best interest of athletes.