Former top general warns against booing U.S. national anthem at sport events

OTTAWA — Canada’s former top general Wayne Eyre advised Canadians against burning bridges with their American neighbours, warning that actions like booing national anthems at hockey games can turn U.S. friends into foes.

While acknowledging that Canada’s relationship with the U.S. has changed and will likely never go back to “where it was or where we thought it was”, Eyre told attendees of a University of Ottawa event last week that the relationship with the Americans remains crucial.

“We need to be careful about burning bridges with those who are still friendly,” Eyre said at an event organized by the university’s Centre for International Policy Studies.

“Evoking wide-scale nationalism by not considering the population separate from the administration, by booing national anthems at hockey games and turning those who are friendly to us against us. We’ve got to remember there are more Americans friendly to Canada than there are Canadians,” he added.

In the first year of Trump’s second presidency, attendees of some sporting events in Canada opposing a local team to an American team would boo the U.S. national anthem. The most notable example came during a 4 Nations hockey match between Canada and the U.S. in Montreal in February 2025.

During his keynote speech, the former chief of defence staff who retired in 2024 also warned against running into China’s arms as a way to move away from dependence on the United States.

He also threw subtle barbs at two of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s recent foreign policy directions. First, he cautioned against “sacrificing” Canada’s relationship with Taiwan in order to placate the Chinese government.

Secondly, he said he “bristled” when Carney said Canada was launching a new “strategic partnership” with the Chinese government in a bid to increase trade between both countries.

The move has raised hackles within U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, who is both in intense economic competition with China all the while seeking to increase trade with the Asian behemoth.

“We need to be wary about siding with China over the U.S., as I believe that is the path to ruin,” Eyre said.

“Having some trade is good, but doing it from a position where we’re not sacrificing our national interests and national values has got to be the way forward. Because if we go all in, we’ll have our lunch eaten for us very, very fast,” he added.

Eyre has previously said that he believes Canada should consider acquiring a nuclear weapon as a deterrent in the increasingly unstable war. He did not repeat that during the June 2 event, but argued that the government needs to be more comfortable taking risks when it comes to military procurement.

For example, Canadians should be comfortable with a solution that has 80 per cent chance of success. “Yeah, it’s going to fail two out of 10 times, but that’s the price of doing business.”

While noting that Canadian and U.S. defence interests are still extremely aligned and interconnected, he lamented that his U.S. military counterparts are going through “their worst crisis in political-military relations since perhaps the Civil War.”

Since taking power last year, Trump’s administration has significantly upended American military leadership, reportedly firing or demoting dozens of senior leaders often without citing a reason.

That included chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Army chief of staff Gen. Randy George.

National Post

cnardi@postmedia.com

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