Like the 2008 Olympic Games, most of the Canadian Olympic team's uniforms are made in China — and that has some MPs crying foul.

"This is a no-brainer," New Democrat MP Paul Dewar said Friday.

"This is our Olympic team. We should be ensuring that all of our Olympic athletes are proudly wearing Canadian-made textiles and all of their uniforms should be made in Canada."

Liberal MP Denis Coderre said Canada is missing a golden opportunity to promote its textile industry on the world stage. He said it's particularly unfortunate that the "unacceptable" snub to Canada's homegrown clothing-makers should occur at a time when the industry is struggling.

Bloc Quebecois MP Pierre Paquette said the snub reflects the "laissez-faire" attitude of the Conservative government, which he asserted is not interested in boosting the prospects of the primarily Quebec-based textile industry.

However, a spokesman for Helena Guergis, secretary of state for amateur sport, said late Friday that the government is equally annoyed with the decision to use foreign-made clothing, but is powerless to change it.

"The Canadian Olympic Committee is an independent body that operates at arm's length from the government," said Blair MacLean, Guergis's communications director.

"We do not agree with the decision to produce Olympic clothing offshore and would have preferred that the clothing was made in Canada."

Difficult to find Canadian manufacturers

Earlier Friday, Chris Rudge, CEO of the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the government had not raised the issue with the committee. He said the government likely appreciates that it would be impractical to insist on strictly Canadian-made uniforms.

Where possible, Rudge said, the COC tries to use Canadian suppliers. But he said it's becoming increasingly difficult to find Canadian manufacturers who can supply the volume of clothing required to dress the athletes and provide the replicas sold to the public.

"Times have changed considerably," Rudge said.

"The reality is that there's no longer manufacturing capacity in Canada that can meet the volume needs that are necessary to manufacture particularly the replica clothing that is sold to the public."

Canada's manufacturing industry has been decimated by cheap foreign imports — especially from China — and the rising Canadian dollar.

The Hudson's Bay Company, official outfitter for Canadian Olympic athletes, has developed a new line of eco-friendly clothing intended to help athletes cope with the excessive heat and humidity in Beijing. It is made from bamboo, cocona and organic cotton.

HBC spokeswoman Hillary Marshall said such specialty fabrics are only readily available in Asia, primarily China.

Podium clothing made in Canada

While 80 per cent of the clothing provided to the athletes is made in China, Marshall said the uniforms they'll wear during the opening ceremonies and on the medal podiums have all been made in Canada.

HBC does not supply the uniforms that athletes wear during competition, most of which are highly technical and are often produced in only one or two places in the world, Rudge said.

While it's too late to change the uniforms for the Beijing Games, Dewar said the government should ensure that only Canadian-made duds are on display during the Vancouver Winter Games in 2010.

"Wouldn't that be an embarrassment to have, you know, our uniforms made in China or anywhere else for the upcoming Vancouver Olympics? So hopefully someone is doing their homework on that."

HBC has already started work designing the clothing for Vancouver. Marshall said the company "would be very happy" to sit down with Canadian textile and garment manufacturers to explore their ability to provide the volume of clothing needed at competitive prices.

"As a Canadian company, we prefer to buy Canadian," she said, but added, "The reality is that most of the industry has gone overseas."

Rudge said it's premature to talk about the uniforms for the Vancouver Games. But he said the COC "would certainly hope that we would source Canadian where it made sense, where it was economically appropriate and where it was appropriate for the environment in which we find ourselves."