The spectre of Canadian hockey and basketball fans booing the US national anthem was unsettling to many Canadians, despite the extreme provocation of the current inhabitant of the Oval Office and his assaults on our sovereignty, it just isn’t who we see ourselves. Small wonder that our US compatriots have been returning the favour. The bizarre aspect of this is that, given the integration of our joint “semi-national” sport (baseball is traditionally recognized as the Yank’s national sport, while lacrosse is our own Canadian official national sport), there are plenty of Canadian hockey players on US teams and the same for Canadian teams. In short, “we is integrated.”
When it comes to our economy, we are so intricately linked that it is nearly impossible to imagine The Donald’s tariff tiffs actually coming to fruition—well, impossible to anyone who actually knows how closely linked our businesses are.
Sadly, the current “Buy Canadian” push that is taking place, while good for our economy perhaps, simply increases those very trade deficits cited by the current American ruler as reasons for his assaults on our sovereignty.
Reality is that, taking oil and energy out of the equation, the US already enjoys a significant trade surplus with our country. If they simply stopped buying our crude oil to process and send on, the deficit would switch in America’s favour. Of course that isn’t possible, as the US, despite recent discoveries and the bluster of the POTUS, does actually need our oil.
Booing each others’ national anthems might seem like a handy opportunity to express our dismay, it does nothing to allay mistrust and division being foisted upon us both by The Donald—in fact, it feeds into it, providing deluded MAGA followers with a “justification” for their newfound animosity towards our nation.
Now is not the time to be needlessly poking the elephant with whom we share a bed.
Better to put to bed the playing of national anthems before international games. The whole process is a relatively new phenomena, anyway, starting out as a way to show solidarity among our troops during the Second World War. Now, it is becoming a way to sow division between steadfast friends.
Each year, Manitoulin Island welcomes hundreds of US summer residents, folks who meld into our Island life and, potentially, stand as our best ambassadors to their neighbours back home. They are, quite literally, our friends and neighbours.
Let us not treat each other in such a tawdry and shabby way—no matter how unsettling the last few weeks have been for our relationship. It’s embarrassing and very un-Canadian.
Neither of our nations can effectively prevent the tit-for-tat expressions made by a few reactionary souls—so let us remove the opportunity and get rid of national anthems before the games.
In the meantime, we need to understand that the threat evinced by The Donald is very real and a wakeup call for us to get our own house in order on interprovincial barriers, and to seek out new markets for our products. If Mr. Trump doesn’t want or need them, then perhaps others will. That would be a much better reaction to the threats being presented to our nation than any kneejerk catcalls.
We are coming up on two very important elections, one provincial and currently in play, the other federal this spring with a new Liberal leader in the prime minister’s office. The question that should be on everyone’s mind is—who will best protect our way of life and national interests. Past performance may provide a clue.
