It turns out there’s a limit to the Canadian politeness our country is famous for.
Frustrated sports fans in arenas across the country have begun to boo loudly while the U.S. national anthem is played at NHL and NBA games, showing just how well President Donald Trump‘s imposed tariffs on Canada are going over with people north of the border.
Over the weekend, in Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver and Ottawa, fans of the Canadian teams showed their displeasure during the singing of The Star-Spangled Banner.
What’s now become a trend was first witnessed in Ottawa before the Senators took to the ice against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday, just hours after Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place taxes of 25 per cent on imports from Canada. Energy imported from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity, would be taxed at a 10 per cent rate.
In video posted to social media, fans inside the Canadian Tire Centre could be heard booing, with the jeers growing louder toward the end of the anthem.
Later that night, as the Calgary Flames took on the Detroit Red Wings on home ice at the Scotiabank Saddledome, a similar chorus of boos could be heard during the American anthem.
The trend continued Sunday as the Red Wings headed to Rogers Arena in Vancouver to face the Canucks.
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“I mean, it’s too bad, right? It is what it is,” Red Wings forward Patrick Kane, who was born in New York, told reporters after Detroit’s win. “I guess you can maybe understand it from this side but seems like it’s a thing that’s going around the league right now.”
Ahead of Sunday’s face-off between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers, fans at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, too, could be heard booing as the U.S. anthem played.
Raptors forward Chris Boucher, a Canadian citizen, was asked after his team’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers whether he’d ever experienced something like that.
“No, no, no,” he said. “But have you ever seen us getting taxed like that?”
U.S. national anthem boos in Canada are rare, but not unheard of, especially when tied to world events. In the early 2000s, fans at games in Canada booed to show their disapproval of the U.S.-led war against Iraq.
— With a file from The Associated Press