Beyond The Commons

Aaron Wherry covers all the goings-on in and around Parliament Hill. Follow Aaron on Twitter: @aaronwherry

Categories: Beyond The Commons, Capital Read

More Canadian than thou

by Aaron Wherry on Tuesday, January 6, 2009 5:43pm - 96 Comments

More Canadian than thou

As noted, last night’s battle of teenage hockey players was very important and deeply meaningful. Indeed, it was nothing less than a profound window into our national soul, and the very hearts of our political leaders.

Stephen Taylor explains.

Hockey games usually provide photo-ops for Canadian politicians to awkwardly rub shoulders with “every day” Canadians and pretend to show interest in the game that the rest of us plebs know and love. However, Stephen Harper, a man with an interest that could be described as a genuine but fanatical love of the game (maintained by his trademark calm) was there not only for the gold medal game, but most – if not all – of team Canada’s games during the entire tournament. As for photo-ops, our country’s leader looked at ease with a shirt-less gold-painted-with-Canada-logo-on-chest superfan as he gave thumbs up for a fan photo. The Prime Minister also took the opportunity of hanging out with the team before games in the dressing room. One reporter explained to me that usually such a moment would have racked the nerves of a team. However, for a man at ease in this element, wearing a leather jacket and jeans, having laced skates, taped sticks and socks many times before, the PM was just another hockey dad.

Michael Ignatieff was also in attendence but only for the gold medal game. The Liberal leader and grandson of a Russian tsar took a break from writing a book on his family history long enough to recognize the tournament and descend to mingle with the masses. Ignatieff had a rare chance of witnessing a Canadian hockey victory while living in Canada – the distinguished academic has been largely abroad since the late 60s. A friend joked that Ignatieff told TSN, “I am a fan of the game of hockey, but not necessarily a hockey fan.” For the two men, Harper and Ignatieff, hockey underscores a vital political strength and a vital political weakness. For the Prime Minister, voters select someone they see in themselves and they pick someone who understands and shares their concerns. For Ignatieff, voters will sever him if he cannot genuinely tie himself with the threads that line our hearts.

We’re a nation bound by our love of hockey.

In fairness, Mr. Ignatieff’s been Liberal leader for nearly a month. It’s really about time his Canadianness was questioned. His predecessor had the job for mere days before doubt was cast on his.

Tags: Ezra Levant, France, Hockey, Michael Ignatieff, Stéphane Dion, Stephen Harper, World junior championships

More by Aaron Wherry

http://deleted Sandi

What am I missing here – I thought the game was about the “team”/”players” and their hard work and making Canada proud.

I didn’t realize that it was for Harper’s sake, his game, his hard work. Golly, gee – Harper won the Gold Medal for Canada?

I’ll be damned.

Actually, lacrosse was invented by the aboriginal natives and basket ball was invented by a Canadian professor.
John W

Good thing Obama’s a better basketball player than McCain. But then again, he lost on the throwing back shots contest with Hillary. Maybe this stuff’s not that relevant. Outside of Maclean’s anyway.
Sean S.

Geez, I always wondered how the lead Blogging Tory would paint the attendance of Iggy and Steve at the Final game. I am shocked, shocked, that he thinks Steve is more in tune with Canadiana than Iggy.
Jim

“In fairness, Mr. Ignatieff’s been Liberal leader for nearly a month. It’s really about time his Canadianness was questioned.”

Mr. Taylor, if your notion of being Canadian boils down to going to hockey games, or ignoring one’s own heritage, I think instead that you should be questioning your own values, and what being Canadian is all about.

I note from your own political career (http://www.stephentaylor.ca/2004/03/my-speech/) you were eager to peddle your family’s roots in your Kingston riding. Is being proud of one’s heritage only applicable if it is a strictly Canadian heritage?

Do you really think that success in politics should be about whose family has been here the longest, or who likes hockey the most? I really hope that there is more to choosing a leader than that!
http://mark-peters.blogspot.com mark peters

I find it encouraging that our Prime Minister can still sit in regular seating in one of our major arenas, not just once but on multiple occasions, and rub shoulders with other hockey fanatics. Previous Prime Ministers have done likewise; Paul Martin attended some NHL games in Montreal, as did Jean Chretien. Stephen Harper attends NHL games from time to time as well.

That says something is still fundamentally right about our country. Knowing that Prime Minister Harper could sit where he did with his son made me as proud to be a Canadian as the victory over the Swedes.

Our leaders don’t need to seat behind bullet proof glass in the rafters. To me that’s a very good thing, and I hope it is never ruined by an assassination on a leader of any political stripe, which seems to be the main reason why US Presidents sit aloft, out of reach.

hfang

Great. So Steve can sit with the rest of us…unless he smells.

http://mark-peters.blogspot.com mark peters

He and his son did sit with everyone else. You agree this is good, yes?

catherine

I agree it is a positive that heavy security is not needed for Canadian leaders. I had begun to wonder, given reports of Harper’s unprecedented high costs for personal security. Throughout the election he also seemed to be under heavy security.

Sisyphus

And there’s the flinty-eyed guy looking over his shoulder.

PeteTong, It’s all gone

Speaking of Stephen Taylor’s Kingston roots, I saw him dancing at a bar there once. It was amusing.

Stephen Taylor: not a dancer.
Gaunilon

I seem to remember the Paul Martin Liberals screaming about how Harper was going to americanize Canada. I also seem to remember the Chretien Liberals dismissing the Alliance as a party that was un-Canadian because it got most of its votes in the West.

I guess it all depends whose ox is gored, but Ignatieff has not lived much of his life in Canada; there is more of a case here than Liberals would like to admit.

Ti-Guy

Not this Liberal. I’ve had grave doubts about Ignatieff’s understanding of Canada ever since he moved back. I questioned his grasp of reality ever since he wrote in support of the Iraq invasion. But while Igatieff’s vision of Canada is rather abstract, Harper’s vision of Canada is alien and his attachment to reality is even more tenuous, so I’ve stopped caring. It basically boils down to who’s less crazy and Harper is positively certifiable.

Cdn in Europe

Pop quiz: If at some point (e.g. after a Quebec secession) Canada broke apart, doomed by our federal politicians’ incapacity to rein in rampant regionalism, assisted by the bulk of the public’s penchant for inane parochial rivalries, and the upshot, a few years later, was that some, or most, or maybe even all of Anglo-Canada’s provinces became American states…. Who do you think would be more pleased at this outcome? With whose values and world-view and secret fantasies (or, god ‘elp us, with whose secret agenda) do you think such an outcome would most harmonize? Rank ‘em in order of “most pleased” to “least pleased”: Ignatieff, Harper, Layton, Mulroney. (That’s not my ranking, by the way. That’s a random sequencing of your pop-quiz choices.)

Ted

Tell me again why Taylor, the walking typing Conservative talking point, is allowed to blog at Maclean’s.ca? This is all the same stupid politics.

Seriously, when are Conservatives going to give us a policy or governance reason to vote FOR Harper instead of this pap about he’s the greatest Prime Minister in the history of Canada because… he likes hockey?!?!?

http://macleans.ca kc

Don’t forget the blue sweaters.
Ti-Guy

Seriously, when are Conservatives going to give us a policy or governance reason to vote FOR Harper

Because there aren’t any. Neoliberal policies are inherently unpopular, for reasons that should be abundantly clear by now.

So we’re going to continue to get this type of fatuous tripe until the establishment media decides to stop.

http://prairiewrangler.wordpress.com/ Olaf

Right, because Harper has been such a staunch, unwavering advocate of neoliberal policies since taking office.

Ti-Guy

My memory of Harper goes considerably further back than yours. What do you think he was doing all that time at the NCC and making Canada-hating speeches to American neoliberal think tankers?

As for what Harper’s been doing since taking office…as I’ve said: kabuki. Seriously, I don’t think there’s anything meaningful to be gleaned from his tenure so far, except to suggest he really doesn’t know what he’s doing anymore.

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t care much for the neoliberalism of the Liberals either, but back in the 90′s, you were a lonely voice if you tried to criticise the received economic wisdom of the time. Anyway, I was in 3rd World, watching IMF-imposed neoliberalism working its magic, up front and personal.

http://prairiewrangler.wordpress.com/ Olaf

It seemed to me that you were saying there is no reason currently to vote for Harper and his neoliberal policies. The problem with that sentiment is that he no longer has any neoliberal policies, even if he was once upon a time a strong advocate. But you’re absolutely right, I doubt many Canadians are much interested in going back to 1995 and voting for Harper.

Wotcher?

Is this true? Stephen Harper was in the dressing room distracting the players before games? I’m even more impressed by the ability of Canadian hockey players to overcome adversity and still win.
Mike T.

Tickets to every seat were $90 minimum. That’s $180 every time you and your kid sit up in the bleachers. So our regular guy PM dropped almost a grand – at least – to take his kids out for some hockey.

But he’s hardly out of touch with the difficult financial times we face.

Jack Mitchell

Mike, didn’t you know that all real Canadians make over $75 000 a year? And vote Tory, natch.
http://mark-peters.blogspot.com mark peters

So what!?

The PM makes a lot of money compared to the national average, but why shouldn’t he? And which parent out there with money to boot would not drop a grand to take his son or daughter to the WJC when they are right on the doorstep? Heck, a good many Canadians are inclined to drop a grand they don’t have on a big screen TV. At least the PM is investing in his relationship with his son.

Luc Lalonge

Bonjour.

M. Ignatieff wasn’t the grandson of a tzar. Instead Wikipedia (in French & English) mentions that the new Liberal Leader’s great-grandfather was Count Nikolay Pavlovich Ignatyev, the Russian Minister of the Interior under Tsar Alexander III.

Luc in Montréal
Jake

Everyone in Ottawa knows that Harper doesn’t like Hockey any more more than Karl Rove believes in god.

Its the most cynical of political calculations, a way for an otherwise stodgy parliamentarian to connect to a far off middle and lower class Canadian electorate.

Dannad

Sweater vest Stevie? No…………

Monty99

I thought he was an absolute hit on TSN coast to coast Gold medal night!
A real sweet guy in a sea of leftwing cynics
Putting Country…CANADA… before ‘party’ with it’s vast coterie of bloodsuckers and hangers on a-la Adscam, Shawinigate, HRDC, Gun Registry etc etc etc for decades and decades and decades.
That’s the DIFFERENCE between the Conservatives and the ‘liberal party’…and lets not even begin to talk koalition!
Love of Country and ALL of its people, not just members of the minority left liberal elitist choir screaming at the top their lungs in a vainglorious attempt to protect their tax payer funded rice bowls, all the while hypocritically wrapping themselves in the Canadian flag…our flag.. and saying they speak for “ALL” Canadians and know what is “best” for all Canadians. (wretch…….)
Well get use to it …you’re out of power for a reason(s) and Stephen Harper, while not being exactly a media spotlight celebrity darling, is an absolute straight shooter of a guy trying to do his honest best for Canada in a sea of shilling connivers.
Ordinary Canadians from coast to coast, relate.
I smell Majority!

Ti-Guy

How can you exhort people to love Canada when you display such utter contempt for so many of your fellow Canadians?

Monty99

Oh you mean like the left liberal elitist minority pffft …see above

Ti-Guy

You’re the elitist. You really do think you’re better than a lot of other people….more genuine, more patriotic…more of a real Canadian.

Monty99

sniff sniff…is that the smell of a shilling conniver?!

Ti-Guy

“Shiling conniver?” Is that the name of some sort of fancy caffeinated beverage?

http://macleans.ca kc

Monty99
Yr a long way from home. SDA is looking for you. Hope they bring the strait jacket – yr raving man. If you hurry on back they may have some of those little blue pills left. You know, the ones that keep yr head from exploding!

Monty99

I’m right at home….Canada!
You?

http://macleans.ca kc

Canada – isn’t that the whole pt of this little tiff? We’re all Canadians, but apparently not as much as you, because we don’t agree on whether SH is a good PM.

cam

I don’t think that’s a majority you smell. You’re waaaaay too close to something else to smell anything… and your supposed to kiss it, not smell it.

kody

Iggy chose to live most of his entire adult life outside of Canada. In his publications he describes himself from the perspective of him being an American.

The reason for this post?

Trying to diffuse the obvious fact, that Iggy is about as “un Canadian” as any Canadian politician, let alone prospective leader, in the history of our country,

by tying an illigitimate reason to the label of un Canadian.

By way of example, it would be like providing an example of one who chose to not read a story to a child one time, as a mocking example that the person is a child abuser,

while carefully avoiding the fact that the person has a lengthy record of child abuse convictions.

Has this site registerd with Libbloggers yet?

If that

catherine

kody, it is Stephen Harper who has directly belittled Canada and Canadians: “First, facts about Canada. Canada is a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term, and very proud of it.”

Numerous times during that speech Harper made it clear what a low opinion he had of Canadians.

Harper often manages to give Canadians the impression that he doesn’t much like them. Who gives a fig if Harper likes hockey or not, when he doesn’t seem to like, respect or care about the majority of people he is supposed to serve.
http://macleans.ca kc

Kody – take you unCanadianess and shove it all the way into that space you would otherwise use for a brain. Un… anything is an American concept. We don’t need it north of 49.

Paul

bio up-dates:Ti-Guy and kc

Ti-Guy still living in parents basement, vows to be out by age 40.
Looking for a date, convinced their are still girls with that low of self esteem.
Anger management contiues to absorb most of his welfare cheque.

kc at downtown corner with sign reading ” will launch into ad hominid attacks for food”.
Trying to put a new spin on ” I know your are but, what am I”.
Shopping for a new pocket protector to carry his retainer in.

Jack Mitchell

“Ad hominid” is right, given kc’s half-human targets.

http://macleans.ca kc

jack M
Silly me, as usual you’re way ahead of me. “Hominid” just about describes hose guys.

Sophie

Have you considered using basic grammar skills when you are writing your cheap attacks?
http://macleans.ca kc

Paul
As regards attacks onKody – guilty as charged. Take a look at many of Kody’s posts. He continually uses these cheap theatrical attacks, not occasionally but all the time. The worst of it is i don’t think he believes a word of it. As for ad hominid attack, pt out out any i have made on any one else. I just snapped. What’s your excuse.

http://macleans.ca kc

Oh well i did have a go at 99 too. What can i say? I’s the meds.

Ti-Guy

Ti-Guy still living in parents basement, vows to be out by age 40.
Looking for a date, convinced their are still girls with that low of self esteem.
Anger management contiues to absorb most of his welfare cheque.

I am incensed at this brutish assault upon my personal dignity.

http://macleans.ca kc

Your incensed! What about me? At least you’ve got a basement, i’m on the street corner. Notice how we’re both poor? Conservatives are just sooo obvoius.

catherine

I agree with kc that kody labelling Ignatieff “un-Canadian” is an american not a Canadian concept. Republicans like to label liberal viewpoints and those who hold them as “un-American”.

Kody and Paul – no comment on Harper’s putdowns of Canadians?