Sport has become a focal point for tensions between the US and Canada in the weeks since Trump announced, then “paused”, 25 per cent tariffs on his northern neighbour (and Mexico). Canadian crowds have taken to booing the US national anthem at nearly every hockey and basketball match – and with gusto.
It was no different at the US-Canada game on Saturday night, despite announcers asking the crowd to respect the songs of both nations. The partisan fans booed The Star-Spangled Banner, before joining in a rousing rendition of O Canada. Trudeau was among the 21,000-strong crowd singing heartily in the stands.
Up in the nosebleed seats, two young Americans from Maine had different reactions to hearing their anthem booed. For Jason Greenleaf, it was no big deal, though he said politics and sport shouldn’t mix – a familiar refrain on both sides. His buddy, Archibald Erickson, however, was upset.
“That shit pisses me off. It’s f—ing stupid,” he said. “I didn’t boo the Canadian anthem. If anything, I should have. Let’s just have a good hockey game. Even though the USA is definitely gonna win. Cos it’s the USA, you know – it’s way better.”
Jason Greenleaf (right) and Archibald Erickson, from Maine, at the USA-Canada ice hockey match in Montreal.Credit: Michael Koziol
The US did indeed triumph in a contest that was most notable for its chaotic start, with three fights between players in the first nine seconds. Brawls are a regulated and often planned part of ice hockey, and were always a decent chance to feature at the rebirth of this intense continental rivalry.
But, according to The Washington Post, there had not been a fight at an international ice hockey match since 2004. As with almost everything these days, there was an inescapable undercurrent of Trumpian politics at play.
It’s not just on the sporting field that nationalism is running hot. Canadians are seeking out home-grown products on their supermarket shelves, part of a movement to boycott American goods for local alternatives, which has been encouraged by politicians of all stripes.
Around the country, supermarkets are affixing “Buy Local” or “Buy Canadian” stickers to shelves; in British Columbia, “Buy BC” is a common sight, while at the IGA in downtown Montreal, blue pop-up labels inform shoppers if an item is made or manufactured in Quebec.
At a nearby diner, retired teachers Vern and Joanna, who were visiting from the Saskatchewan province town of Regina, said they were buying local. Heinz Ketchup had to bite the dust in favour of a Canadian alternative, French’s. Is it just as good? “No,” Vern admitted. “It’s close.”
“Buy Local” signs at a grocery store in Victoria, British Columbia, last week.Credit: Bloomberg
Vern and Joanna said many “snowbirds” – Canadians who flee south during winter, typically to Florida, Arizona or California – were selling their holiday homes.
Greig Mordue, an associate professor of public policy at McMaster University in Ontario, was reluctant to go down to his Florida property.
“I have a place about 10 minutes down the road from Mar-a-Lago, and I’m not there at the moment,” he said. “Maybe I’ll take a pass this year.”
The patriotic surge is a potent elixir for Canadian politicians, who are barrelling towards an election that could be called at any moment. Trudeau, the Liberal prime minister for nearly 10 years, has pledged to resign, and polls point to a decisive Conservative victory.
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre delivered a defiant campaign speech in Ottawa at the weekend, standing in front of a podium that said: “Canada First/Canada D’Abord.”
Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre at a Canada First rally in Ottawa on February 15.Credit: Bloomberg
Borrowing a quote from the country’s first prime minister, John A. Macdonald, he said Canada must not be “a tributary to American laws, American railways, American bondage and American tolls”.
“Sometimes it does take a threat to remind us what we have, what we could lose, and what we could become,” he said. “The unjustified threats of tariffs and 51st statehood, of Donald Trump, have united our people to defend the country we love.”
If the US wanted to declare an economic war – to “turn a loyal friend into a resentful neighbour” – that’s what it would get, Poilievre said. He voted to retaliate with full force and leverage Canada’s bounty of natural gas, oil, water, uranium and other critical minerals.
And he riffed on Canada’s renowned politeness to deliver a stern warning: “We are slow to anger and quick to forgive, but never confuse our kindness with weakness … Let me be clear: we will never be the 51st state.
“We will bear any burden and pay any price to protect the sovereignty and independence of our country,” he added, in a nod to a line from former US President John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inaugural address.
Booing the US national anthem at sports matches is a sure sign Canadians have been provoked out of their customary civility. The Americans are upset (“We obviously don’t like it,” defender Zach Werenski said at the Montreal game), and many Canadians have reservations too. But plenty think the anthem is now fair game.
“Booing is your patriotic duty right now,” wrote sports columnist Cathal Kelly in The Globe and Mail. “It’s not very Canadian, and that’s the point. We’ve let this whole polite northerner shtick exist for too long.”
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Publish date : 2025-02-17 04:30:00
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