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A Canadian Anschluss?
We’ve had our American Reichstag Fire moment. Is a continental anschluss next?
The Canadian and American hockey teams took to the ice and removed their helmets. The atmosphere was as tense as an atmosphere can get in a place as non-confrontational as Canada. Then the floor of the arena was electronically draped with the fluttering projection of an American flag stretching from goal to frozen goal. “Ladies and gentleman, mesdames et messieurs,” the announcer began with bilingual equanimity, “in spite of the recent tensions between our two nations, we ask that you please rise and behave respectfully as we sing our national anthems.”
The previous week, when Canadian hockey teams faced off against American adversaries on home ice, fans in arenas across Canada booed the Star Spangled Banner, smarting from the slap in the face they’d received from what they’d always assumed was their closest friend. A 25% percent tariff on Canadian imports? A suggestion that Canada surrender its sovereignty and become the 51st American state? Where was this coming from? Were the roles reversed one could imagine much worse than boos coming from an American crowd.
But Canadians are not Americans. They have a core national value that, while cliché, happens to be mostly true: civility comes first. Cross against a red light in…
