Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday that the Canadian government has no plans to boycott the entire Beijing Olympic Games, nor does he expect other countries to do so.

"I don't anticipate any kind of a boycott of the Games themselves. … I don't see either in this country or internationally a push for that," he told a news conference.

"I would note that even the Dalai Lama has not called for such a boycott," Harper said.

Human rights groups have urged leaders to boycott the Summer Games to protest China's human rights record and its crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in Tibet last month. 

No heads of state have expressed plans to boycott the entire event but several suggested they may stay away from the opening ceremonies.

The prime minister said such boycotts are often ineffective and would only harm the athletes who have trained for years to compete in the Olympics.

Harper also reiterated that he does not plan to attend the Aug. 8 opening ceremony himself and never planned to, but Ottawa will be sending a high-level representative.

On Monday, Defence Minister Peter MacKay had said he couldn't rule out a boycott of the sporting event since there had yet to be a discussion.

"The prime minister's statement that he won't be attending is a signal of a personal decision that he's taken … But as far as a policy or something reflective of government policy, we have not taken that decision just yet," MacKay said.

His director of communications later said, however, there was no plan to discuss the issue in cabinet and that MacKay only addressed it in response to reporters' queries. Harper confirmed on Tuesday that there won't be any talks about a boycott.

A number of countries have suggested they are considering a boycott of the ceremonies as a symbol of displeasure over China's violent handling of the Tibet protests, which have left at least 22 people dead.

No countries have said they plan to boycott the entire Games, running Aug. 8-24 in Beijing, although some — including France, Belgium and Norway, as well as the president of the European Union's parliament — have suggested they're in favour of a boycott of the opening ceremonies.

Leaders in Britain and the United States have said they will attend.

With files from the Canadian Press