Canadian hockey fans of the Ottawa Senators booed The Star-Spangled Banner at the NHL game against Minnesota Wild on Saturday night, hours after Donald Trump hit Canada with tariffs.
Boos and jeers were heard throughout the rendition that was performed by the Ottawa-based singer Mandia at a sold out arena with nearly 20,000 spectators.
It comes after President Trump ordered 25% tariffs on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on goods from China starting on Tuesday, sparking major trade war fears.
Trump declared that they would remain in place until a national emergency over the drug fentanyl and illegal immigration to the U.S. ends. Canada retaliated on Saturday night with 25% tariffs against $155 billion of U.S. goods.
The booing from Canadians at Saturday night’s hockey game got louder as the performance from Mandia went on and as she finished singing, she looked awkwardly to the ground.
She took a moment to compose herself and waited for the boos to end before beginning her version of the Canadian national anthem, ‘O Canada’. Fans passed the Canada flag around the arena during the performance. The Senators would go on to beat their American rivals 6-0.
Canadian hockey fans booed the US national anthem Saturday after Donald Trump’s tariffs
Ottawa-based singer Mandia’s performance was jeered throughout by nearly 20,000 fans
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would respond with 25% tariffs against $155billion of U.S. goods, including beer, wine, lumber and appliances, beginning with $30billion taking effect Tuesday and $125billion 21 days later.
Trudeau warned U.S. citizens that Trump’s tariffs would raise their grocery and gasoline costs, potentially shutting down auto assembly plants and limiting supplies of goods such as nickel, potash, uranium, steel and aluminum.
He urged his own citizens to forego travel to the U.S. and to boycott U.S. products.
Meanwhile, the Premier of Canadian province of British Columbia, David Eby, called on residents to stop buying liquor from U.S. ‘red’ states and remove American alcohol brands from government store shelves as a response to the tariffs.
The significance of the booing at the Senators-Wild game was immediately picked up by fans watching on television and in the arena itself.
One fan who shared the footage on X said: ‘I have NEVER seen Canadians boo any national anthem…. ever before in my entire life.’
Another posted the clip and said: ‘Only time I’ve ever seen Canadians boo the US national anthem was during the Iraq war.’
A different spectator shared the video and wrote: ‘So sad. This is the first time I’ve ever seen Canadians boo the U.S. national anthem.
For the Canadian national anthem, fans passed Canada’s flag around the arena
‘If Canada and the U.S. can’t maintain strong relations, how can we ever hope for a peaceful world? Respectful Canadians and Americans must stand together.’
There is potential for more unrest from Canadian sports fans as the weekend goes on. On Sunday, the Vancouver Canucks host Detroit Red Wings in the NHL, while the Toronto Raptors – the sole NBA team in Canada – host the Los Angeles Clippers.
Trump’s levies – on products such as computer chips, steel, oil, gas and cars – ‘will bring a tremendous amount of money in for our country and bring a rebirth in American manufacturing’, he said. Canada is America’s biggest foreign supplier of crude oil, followed by Mexico.
Trump put tariffs at the center of his election campaign, citing an era more than a century ago when tariffs were a cornerstone of US trade policy and revenue.
He said: ‘It was a beautiful time. I love big, bold beautiful tariffs. They protect American businesses and encourage Americans to buy homegrown goods.
‘I will use them as a way to punish those who continue to allow our country to be flooded with killer drugs like fentanyl and those who allow illegal aliens to pour over our borders.’
Trump ran his campaign on introducing tariffs, which are set to hit Canada starting Tuesday
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would respond with their own tariffs
National anthem performances have taken on a heightened level of significance in the sporting world recently.
ESPN’s January 2 broadcast of the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans was widely slammed by viewers when they skipped the national anthem, a day after multiple people were killed by a terrorist attack in the French Quarter of the city.
Last week, before the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills to reach the Super Bowl, retired Navy petty officer first class Generald Wilson stunned the Arrowhead Stadium crowd with a fantastic rendition.
Chiefs star Chris Jones had tears running down his face during Wilson’s performance and he received huge praise across social media, too.
‘Ol buddy just absolutely slaughtered the National Anthem.. thanks for your service and the golden pipes sir,’ Pat McAfee wrote.
But now, it appears the US anthem could take on an altogether greater political meaning in the coming days and weeks, especially in hockey with Canadian teams facing American rivals.
