Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is urging Canadians who plan on attending the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-Off to cheer loudly for Team Canada rather than booing the American national anthem.
Since U.S. President Donald Trump announced that he would be imposing steep tariffs on Canadian goods, Canadian fans at major sporting events have booed the American national anthem at the beginning of games.
At the 4 Nations Face-Off game between Canada and the United States in Montreal, Canadians booed the singing of the American anthem with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Poilievre both in attendance.
Poilievre held a press conference in Toronto in which he was asked what he thought about Canadians’ hostile reaction to the American anthem, to which he encouraged Canadians to focus on cheering Canada on and building the nation.
“I would focus on cheering on Canadians,” said Poilievre.
“I would just encourage everyone to remember that our disagreement is not with the American people, it’s with the American president’s unjustified threats of tariffs. And let’s focus on building our country up.”
During the same press conference, Poilievre went on to slam Liberal leadership candidate Mark Carney for moving the headquarters of Brookfield Asset Management to the United States during his time as the firm’s chairman.
“Mark Carney took his headquarters out of Canada. The media has been covering this up. The first thing he did after Trump won re-election was to take his headquarters, his corporate headquarters, and send it to New York so he doesn’t have to pay all the taxes that he and Trudeau have been imposing on Canada.”
For weeks, Canadians have been booing the American anthem at Toronto Raptors games, Toronto Maple Leafs games, and during the 4 Nations Face-Off games.
It remains to be seen whether or not American hockey goers will return the favour by booing O Canada, as Canada faces the United States on Thursday in the NHL’s special all-star tournament, set to take place in Boston, MA.
In the previous game between Canada and the United States, the Americans managed to beat Canada 3-1 in an intense match-up that saw three fights break out.
On Truth Social, President Trump announced that he planned on calling the American hockey team to deliver some words of encouragement and once again called on Canada to become the 51st American state.
“I’ll be calling our GREAT American Hockey Team this morning to spur them on towards victory tonight against Canada, which with FAR LOWER TAXES AND MUCH STRONGER SECURITY, will someday, maybe soon, become our cherished, and very important, Fifty First State,” said Trump.