Canada can "boo" all night long...

**Johns** · 03-22-2003, 09:19 PM

The school my son attended was having a fund raiser to take the 8th grade class to Ontario, Canada. They needed to raise about $200 per student, as they planned go to the theatre, eat out, and do some sightseeing. This was to be their spring trip.

At the fish fry Friday night, one of the parents stood up and read an article about the Canadians "booing" the American national anthem at a hockey game. An impromptu vote was taken, and it was decided to send the kids someplace closer, and to spend the school's money on a more appreciative lot. Most parents agreed, and more than one family mentioned plans to cancel trips to our "former" friendly neighbors to the north.

Oh well...Canada's loss ($$).

**mullo** · 03-22-2003, 11:09 PM

http://www.canoe.ca/Slam020428/nhl_boos-cp.html

Read this first before judging........and not all Canadians (like other nationalities/countries, including yours) are like this................

I had heard about this when it started long ago.........and your team started it........:p

**Johns** · 03-23-2003, 12:29 AM

Mullo:

Of course there was no mention of the NY event in the article that was read aloud. There was only slight mention that it was at a hockey game. It was emphasized that it took place in Canada, and they related it to anti-American sentiments regarding the war.

What a great example of how stories get slanted and blown out of proportion.

As far as the booing...

I guess it's more of statement of how boorish (some) hockey fans are, regardless of their nationality.

**mullo** · 03-23-2003, 12:42 AM

It actually began in Detroit at a basketball game........quite sad that fans/people stoop to that level..........

Maybe let your fellow parents know that this started from your side of the border.........and that we Canadians are not all that bad......and we have good beer too.........;)

**John R** · 03-23-2003, 03:22 AM

Johns said:
read an article about the Canadians "booing" the American national anthem at a hockey game. An impromptu vote was taken, and it was decided to send the kids someplace closer, and to spend the school's money on a more appreciative lot.

Standard practise over here at sports events to wind the opposition up a bit....Take it as meant. Harmless fun..
Biggest lossers are the kids who are now going to miss a good trip...
Let the kids decide where they want to go. Not a buch of over stuffed wind bags.
For god sake its only a tune.......

**Rick-Strong** · 03-23-2003, 05:41 AM

Its a sad day when a nation is judged by what happens at a sporting event.

**Shwing** · 03-23-2003, 05:53 PM

Let me start by stating simply, there are much more eloquent speakers than I. I submit two recent articles supporting my point of view (or vice versa?) and ask that you not condemn a nation based upon their actions (and in the government's case, inactions). Please remember that in the most recent Federal election, the Liberal government under Chretien won only 38% of the vote, under a turn-out of only 40% (so our country is run by a majority government supported by only 18.5% of the populous... Welcome to Canada.)

I offer:

"Fifty years of pride in Canada disappears
Michael Walker
National Post

Saturday, March 22, 2003
VANCOUVER - I wasn't born a Canadian. I was born in Newfoundland and became a Canadian at age four when as a result of a referendum Newfoundland left British colonial status behind to join the Canadian federation. For more than 50 years I have been a Canadian.
For more than 50 years I have been proud to be a Canadian. I was proud to be a Canadian when Canadian diplomats helped settle the Suez Crisis. I was proud to be a Canadian when collective action had to be taken the last time an expansionist megalomaniac decided to march down the Korean Peninsula. I was proud to be a Canadian when Canadian peacekeepers moderated Cyprus. I was proud on the infrequent occasions Canadian leaders took a tough stance during the Cold War. I was proud when Canadian troops played their role in the liberation of Kuwait, and more recently Afghanistan.
Today, I am embarrassed to be a Canadian. I am embarrassed to be represented by a Prime Minister who is so detached from reality and a sense of Canada's true interests. I am embarrassed by a political system which is impotent in the face of a Prime Minister descending into perfidy. I am embarrassed that the Prime Minister was accorded a standing ovation in Parliament by his party for having decided to let others take up Canada's cudgel in the war against terror.
I am embarrassed by the ignorance of history and the evil possibilities of human nature that are revealed in the fact that six out of 10 Canadians are against the United States taking action against Iraq without the United Nations' support in spite of the fact that a clear majority believed that the United Nations should have authorized the war. I am embarrassed that my countrymen evidently believe more in the preservation of the UN than they do in the values the UN was created to preserve.
I am embarrassed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which wears its antipathy for the war effort as a badge of honour.
I am embarrassed by Member of Parliament Carolyn Parrish who noted, "Damn Americans: Hate those *******s," and by the fact that while she was roundly criticized by even the left-wing Toronto Star, under our electoral system there isn't a "damn" thing we can do about her.
I am embarrassed that MP Parrish is a moderate by comparison with left-wing MP Bill Blaikie who accused President Bush of "planning every minute of his life to kill as many Iraqi children as he can in the name of oil or whatever it is that's really on the agenda." I am embarrassed that I live in a country where such a tiny, spite-encrusted intellect could be elected to the nation's Parliament.
I am embarrassed by the naiveté of the Canadian Liberal Parliamentarian, Colleen Beaumier, who visited Iraq and returned to tell Canadians, "President Hussein has spoken to his ministers and said some of these 'anti-freedom and anti-human rights' laws are harsh and they have to be revisited." What with such a nice man running Iraq, aren't those Americans beastly for what they are doing.
I am not embarrassed by the student demonstrators who use excessive language to press their case, for we expect them to be ignorant -- that is why we call them students. But what can explain their teachers encouraging them to do this?
Like a very large and growing number of Canadian families, some of our children now reside in the United States. They are there because of the mutual interest reflected in the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement and its provision for easy migration. I am embarrassed for them that their new neighbours might associate them with the Canada of Jean Chrétien.
I am embarrassed that my U.S.-born grandson, and hundreds of thousands of grandchildren of other Canadians, will one day say: "Why did Canada take Saddam Hussein's side in the war against terror," because as a child, not having the benefit of diplomatically crafted subordinate clauses, he will see clearly that in war, if you are not with them you are effectively against.
I am embarrassed that my many American friends and collaborators might, if even for an instant, associate me with the views expressed by my government and the Members of Parliament who have supported it in its present stance.
I am most of all embarrassed because we Canadians, who have so much to be grateful for from our longstanding collaboration with the United States, are turning our backs on our continental friends and partners in preference for the company of posers, scoundrels and genocidal lunatics."

Further, by the party that represents that largest expanse of Canada by geography, including most of Canada outside Quebec:

"More of the leadership we wish we had
National Post

Saturday, March 22, 2003
This is an abridged transcript of an address delivered in Parliament on Thursday by Stephen Harper, leader of the Canadian Alliance.
- - -
Mr. Speaker, I stand today to speak to the matter of war against the regime of Saddam Hussein.
We in the Canadian Alliance support the American position because we share their worries about Iraq. Alliances are a two-way process. We should not leave it to the United States to do all the heavy lifting just because it is the world's only superpower. To do so, I believe, will inevitably undermine one of the most important relationships we have. The relationship between Canada and the United States is essential to our prosperity, to our democracy and to our future.
Since Saddam Hussein came to power in 1979, more than one million have died as a consequence. Make no mistake -- this party will not be with Saddam Hussein. We will not be neutral. We will be with our allies and our friends. We will not be with our government. For this government, in taking the position it has taken, has betrayed Canada's history and its values. Reading only the polls and indulging in juvenile anti-Americanism, the government has, for the first time in our history, left us outside our British and American allies in their time of need.
In the great wars of the last century, Canada did not merely stand with the Americans. We often led the way. We did so for freedom; we did so for democracy; we did so for the values of civilization itself.
Mr. Speaker, may God guide the actions of the President of the United States and the American people; may God save the Queen, her Prime Minister and all her subjects; and may God continue to bless Canada."

**Johns** · 03-23-2003, 07:56 PM

Actually, the kids aren't going to miss a great trip (mine is because he's only in kindergarten, and it's the 8th grade that is going).

They decided to take the kids to Gettysburg, Pa, w/ a stop in Hershey Pa, at the chocolate factory. Really, I think that some of the parents were just looking for any excuse not to have their children out of the country during such a grave time in the world.

**EyeManFla** · 03-24-2003, 01:59 PM

Actually, I likes John Saunders' parting shot on the Sports Reporters last Sunday. While stating his saddness as a Canadian at what happened at the Habs-Isles game, he also reminded Amreicans not to take it too personally. After all, most Quebecois don't even like being Canadians!

Well, remember who their ancestors were!

Not that they need me to come to their defense, but living here in SW Florida, I have a number of Canadian friends, you know-snowbirds! I haven't found one yet that is backing the Canadian government over this one!

**Jedi** · 03-24-2003, 02:31 PM

My government doesn't represent my views.
My Prime Minister is too busy working on his legacy, (screwing the Albertans) to notice the world going on around him.

I support the coalition troops and wave my American flag proudly.
I'm not religious but, god bless the USA.

**Pete Hanlin** · 03-26-2003, 10:30 AM

They decided to take the kids to Gettysburg, Pa, w/ a stop in Hershey Pa, at the chocolate factory. Really, I think that some of the parents were just looking for any excuse not to have their children out of the country during such a grave time in the world.
With no offense to the great country of Canada- your kids will have an absolute blast in Central Pennsylvania (the nation was founded in Philadelphia, the nation was saved in Gettysburg). If you happen to do the battlefield tour and end up on Fairfield Road (it is right near the monument where General Reynold's fell on the first day of the fighting), you will be able to see a small O.D. practice I worked at for two years. During lunch, I used to jog across the Railroad Cut to the Eternal Light monument and back to the shop.

As for Hershey, as someone who has been through "Chocolate World" at least 40x, I'm sure the kids will thoroughly enjoy! If you can tell me exactly when they'll be visiting, I might be able to arrange their involvement in a taste test- I know one of the R&D folks at Hershey, and they use visitors to Chocolate World to test formulas for chocolate from time to time. Then again, I don't know if they test chocolate on children that young (but it would seem logical that they would).

As for "O Canada," it is a very pretty national anthem. How quickly we forget that Canadian troops rescued some of our hostages in Iran after our forces met with disaster in the desert.

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

And, since I've already posted one anthem, I've been waiting for an excuse to post my favorite stanza (4th) of our own...
Star Spangled Banner
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust."
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Ironically, there are very likely few actual Canadians or Americans on either of the hockey teams involved (I don't believe the Tampa Bay Lightning have a single American player on their roster)!

**Darris Chambless** · 03-26-2003, 10:57 AM

I hear the reasons and read the reports about this kind of thing and then think to myself "What has happened to the IQ of so many?" People need to understand that hockey is a big sport in Canada not unlike football is in the states. It is called rivalry and it gets the crowds going and pumped up for the game.

This is such an old form of opposition inspiration. The biggest problem that I see is that over the last many years people have been taught that rivalry and competition are inappropriate and are not Politically Correct. This is the reason why people read more into it than is actually there. Granted we are in a time of war and so fuses are short and judgements are quick to be made but Canadians were doing the same thing that has been done to them and I seriously doubt that the American team was thinking "Canadians are anti-American." but rather more angry due to rivalry and this spurred it on even more for the competition. Think about the saying "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." :) Does anyone here honestly believe that Canadian fans were doing this because of the war or for anti-American reasons? Get real!

Shwing, Mullo, Jedi and any other Canadian I've missed. Don't sweat it and please don't judge Americans and or their sentiment by the actions of the few. IT'S HOCKEY! It's a rough game and aggitation is a big part of how it's played. I understand that and I'm an American. But keep in mind that we have the best hockey teams ;)

Take care,

Darris C.

**Johns** · 03-26-2003, 02:35 PM

Pete:

As I mentioned, I was merely an observer, and will not be involved in the Gettysburg trip, but I must agre w/ you tht it is a great place to visit.

Johns

**EyeManFla** · 03-26-2003, 02:41 PM

I don't know. I'v been a hockey fan since the 1960's, even before the Flyers came to Philly. (I was a Bruins fan...no Philadelphian would ever be a Rangers fan) In all the years I'v gone to the Spectrum, the Philadelphia Civic Center (Philly Blazers), the Baltimore Civic Center( Clippers and Skipjacks) the Capital Centre (Capitals) and the Thunderdome/Ice Palace/St.Pete Times Fourm (Lightning), I don't ever remember booing the Canadian National Anthem...no, not even in Philly. You might boo the players, the coaches, the officials..even Santa, but not the national anthem.

Pete: there are only two players on the current Lightning roster who are from the US.