‘Crossing the line:’ Doug Ford urges Canadians not to boo the U.S. anthem amid trade war

Fans are shown booing the American anthem during a Toronto Raptors game on Feb. 3. On the right, Premier Doug Ford is shown speaking with reporters on March 4.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is urging Canadians and Americans to refrain from booing national anthems amid a trade war that he says is solely the fault of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Ford made the comment during a news conference on Tuesday as he discussed the actions Ontario was prepared to take to respond to a 25 per cent tariff on most Canadian goods that took effect today.

“The American people are going to pay the price on this unfortunately. They are good people, please don’t take it out on the American people and one more thing, please do not boo the national anthem either in Canada or the U.S. There are soldiers that have fought for our freedoms, our democracy and our sovereignty. They have laid their lives on the lines,” Ford said. “Boo the referee and boo the players if you want. Do not boo the American national anthem and to my American friends do not boo the Canadian national anthem. That is crossing the line.”

• READ MORE: Doug Ford says Ontario plans to slap export tax on electricity it supplies to U.S.
• READ MORE: Doug Ford urges Canadians not to boo the U.S. anthem amid trade war
• FULL LIST: These are all the retaliatory actions Ontario has promised to take
• LIVE UPDATES: The latest developments as a trade war erupts

There have been numerous instances of the U.S. anthem being booed at sporting events in Canada since Trump began threatening the country with tariffs, including at a Toronto Raptors Game last month.

The most recent instance took place at a WWE event in Toronto on Saturday night where wrestling fans in attendance drowned out the U.S. anthem.

The Canadian anthem, meanwhile, was booed at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Boston and a handful of other sporting events.

Speaking with reporters earlier on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that Canadians are not upset with Americans but are likely to continue booing the U.S. anthem in a show of displeasure with Trump’s trade policies.

“Canadians are hurt, Canadians are angry. We are going to choose to not go on vacation in Florida or wherever, we are going to choose to try to buy Canadian products and forgo bourbon and other classic American products and yeah we are probably going to keep booing the U.S. anthem,” Trudeau said. “But let me tell Americans: we are not booing you, we are not booing your teams, we are not booing your players. We are booing a policy that is designed to hurt us.”

Ford defends Gretzky

In addition to urging Canadians to avoid booing the U.S. anthem on Tuesday, Ford also came to the defence of hockey great Wayne Gretzky who has faced social media criticism for his public support of Trump.

At the tail end of his news conference, Ford said unprompted that Gretzky is the “most patriotic Canadian there is anywhere on the planet” and urged Canadians to give him a break.

Ford also said that he spoke with Gretzky recently and the hockey great was “choked up” speaking with him.

“Just give him a break. He loves Canada. He loves it like no tomorrow,” Ford said.

Trump said in December that he had asked Gretzky if he wanted to be the ‘governor’ of Canada, prompting some to call on the hockey hall of famer to publicly denounce Trump’s statements calling Canada’s sovereignty into question.

Last week Trump posted to social media that Gretzky “supports Canada the way it is, as he should, even though it’s not nearly as good as it could be as part of the Greatest and Most Powerful Country in the World, the Good Ole’ U.S.A.!”