Fans cheer as Canada warms up prior to first period 4 Nations Face-Off hockey action against the United States in Montreal on Feb. 15.Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press
Have you ever heard O Canada sound like that? Have you ever heard a crowd – in Quebec, no less – belt out our national anthem with such passion and fervour, as they did Saturday night before the 4 Nations showdown? It was an unforgettable Canadian moment – strength in our voices, patriotism that didn’t feel yucky or halfway. (Bonus points if you were standing and singing along at home.)
I’m starting to come around on the anthem-booing (which I have previously considered well-meaning but wrong-headed) in large part because of Cathal Kelly’s eloquent plea that “Booing the American anthem is our patriotic duty right now.” But also because, honestly, my gut reaction to the boos is “Go Canada!” It’s a way to have our say in this terrible situation where we are powerless. I would not join in, but I felt proud of my fellow Canadians who did. As Mr. Kelly points out, what the heck else are we supposed to do to air our displeasure? (I mean, other than not buy grown-in-the-U.S. romaine lettuce, a feat I accomplished this weekend. Salad shmalad.)
Canada’s domination of the cultural conversation on the Family Day/U.S. Presidents’ Day weekend seemed just right – we used to feel like family; now we’re barely speaking because of the President. Canada’s zeitgeist dominance kicked off Friday night at an epicentre of American culture, Radio City Music Hall. The SNL 50 Concert, celebrating 50 years of Saturday Night Live, began with an homage to the Blues Brothers, one-half of whom were Canadian (Dan Aykroyd), and the existence of which was made possible by the Canadian whose television savvy the stars had gathered to celebrate, Lorne Michaels. SNL’s creator is being feted all over the place – by A-list stars and Big Important Publications. “Lorne Michaels is the real star of ‘Saturday Night Live’,” read a recent New Yorker headline.
Then on Saturday, a beautiful sight. Hanging from homes and businesses, the Canadian flag – finally reclaimed, I think we can all agree, from its association with the truckers’ convoy. It was Flag Day, which, let’s be honest, many Canadians had probably not realized existed before. Well, now we do!
That night brought that epic hockey game, with those crazy first nine seconds. Fighting in the sport is a giant turn-off. But on Saturday, it didn’t feel like this was about a game anymore.
And on Sunday evening, the SNL50 live special recounted again and again how the Canadian who dreamed up the concept – and still runs the show – had changed so many now-famous lives. It was a rare appointment-TV moment that wasn’t sports or an awards show.
While the show was less political than one might have expected at this critical moment, one of its stabs at the Trump administration occurred during the opening monologue by Steve Martin (collector of paintings by Canadian Group of Seven co-founder Lawren Harris), when Martin Short (the only Canadian who didn’t appear on Schitt’s Creek, Mr. Martin joked) was dragged off by actors dressed as ICE agents while screaming he would talk and name names – Jim Carrey! Mike Myers!
Meanwhile, news feeds served up stories about Canada’s resistance to Mr. Trump’s onslaught, including an L.A. Times piece headlined: “The ‘51st state’? Canadians say no, thanks. They don’t want U.S. products either.”
And social media feeds are still full of young people analyzing Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show – and of white suburban moms dancing to Not Like Us while holding laundry baskets and the like. And who was the target of that song? Drake, a Canadian.
On the hellscape that was formerly Twitter, cross-border battles were being fought with words. Among those leading the charge for Canada was the U.S. group Republicans Against Trump, which posted a lot of CanCon over the weekend. “Only Donald Trump could make Canadians hate us,” the account declared. Canadian actor William Shatner was also busy defending his home and native land this weekend. When U.S. trolls started going off on how lousy our hockey team was, Mr. Shatner schooled them in the dominance of Canadian players on U.S. NHL teams.
Speaking of (once) great Canadian hockey players, The Washington Post published a satirical future-set piece by longtime New Yorker writer Calvin Trillin on Sunday: “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you President Wayne Gretzky.” The piece begins with speculation that Mr. Gretzky, “the first Canadian-born president of the United States since the 2026 annexation and statehood of Canada,” will reverse Mr. Trump’s executive order mandating that the descriptor “The Great One” be applied only to Mr. Trump.
None of what’s happening is funny, of course. But sometimes – in the face of authoritarianism, economy-threatening bullying and plain old nastiness – you just have to laugh. Or boo.