It is time stop playing ‘O Canada’ at sports events
Just before the puck dropped to start the game on Monday between the Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames, the sounds of “O Canada” reverberated throughout Scotiabank Arena in downtown Toronto.
Nothing strange about that — it’s a long-held tradition to play the national anthem at the start of professional and junior hockey games across Canada.
What is strange, though, is that these days “O Canada” is played in nearempty hockey rinks.
In Toronto, they played the anthem to 18,800 empty seats. The only people to hear it in the arena were the players, coaches, broadcast crews and a handful of arena workers.
The same thing happened on Tuesday when the anthem was played to 18,650 empty seats at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa and to 18,910 empty seats at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
In these days of COVID-19 restrictions, it’s fair to ask why “O Canada” is being played when there’s no one to hear it. An even better question is why do we play it at all at sporting events?
The quick and easy response is that it’s a sign of respect for our country, our flag and our anthem. But that’s not quite true!
Why, even the TV network carrying the Toronto-Calgary game didn’t bother to show much respect, cutting away as it did to air some commercials instead of broadcasting the anthem.
And how many times have you seen fans “disrespect” the anthem by texting on their cellphone while “O Canada” is playing, or buying pizza and beers at the concession stands, running to the washroom or booing the anthem singer if they gave a lousy rendition or flubbed the words.
Isn’t it time we stopped playing “O Canada” before all sporting events, except for a few major international competitions?
We may never get a better chance to start doing that than right now, given that no one is allowed in arenas to even hear it.
The idea of playing Canada’s anthem at sports events was imported from the U.S., where playing the “Star Spangled Banner,” an American battle song from the War of 1812, became a tradition during the Second World War when many patriotic, flag-waving Americans were desperate to show support for their troops fighting in Europe.
Over the decades several American pro teams and colleges have tried to stop playing the anthem, but later relented after significant public backlash.
The latest attempt came last November when Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks basketball team, ordered his staff not to play it at home games. No one noticed for nearly a month. Once it was revealed, Cuban was denounced widely by conservative politicians and ordered by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to reinstate the anthem.
Still, Cuban earned a surprising amount of support from American commentators, who suggested including the war-themed anthem at sporting events was merely a way to “juice” the crowds before their favourite teams headed into battle.
In Canada, there’s never been any serious effort to end the practice. Hockey teams have been doing it for more than 60 years.
In 1987, the NHL went a step further and made it mandatory that both anthems be played if Canadian and U.S.
teams were playing.
So what’s the good reason to play it before a game?
If it’s so important to show our patriotism and respect for our country, why isn’t “O Canada” played at other events, such as performing arts venues, school plays or games, at the start of daily legislative sessions on Parliament Hill, even in workplaces?
If it’s so important, why did hardly anyone object in the 1970s when Canadian movie theatres stopped playing the anthem before the first showing of the day?
What we shouldn’t do is treat “O Canada” as a routine affair, diminishing it by playing it in empty arenas or having it ignored as a nuisance by so many fans who don’t even bother to listen to it.
Instead, it should be saved for occasions such as Canada Day, Remembrance Day, citizenship ceremonies — and at sports events involving national teams.
That’s when “O Canada” may actually feel special.
Bob Hepburn is a Star politics columnist based