Music

Canadian pop icon Chantal Kreviazuk sent a subtle, but unequivocal, message to Donald Trump on Thursday night (Feb. 20) with her tweak of the lyrics to the Canadian national anthem at the 4 Nations Face-Off championship game between the U.S. and Canada. “In true patriot love that none but us command,” she sang instead of the line, “true patriot love, in all of us command,” while performing “O Canada” before the game at Boston’s TD Garden; Canada won the thriller 3-2 in overtime.
In a lengthy Instagram post afterwards, Kreviazuk explained her motivation, writing, “i am sorry if my performance of our national anthem rubbed you the wrong way. if i was a little off pitch or if it wasn’t perfect in its tone. i am sorry if i messed up the french line i inserted to bring some balance to our nation’s history without losing those words ‘glorious and free’ in english,” she said.

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“i am sorry if you think that we’d be better off annexed. here is the thing. art to me is an expression of our truth. and in this very peculiar and potentially consequential moment i truly believe that we must stand up, use our voices and try to protect ourselves,” she added. “no – we should express our outrage in the face of any abuses of power. i was raised in part by music that was inspired by brave voices committed to peaceful conflict resolution. Canada , not unlike ukraine is a sovereign nation. period. we have a culture individual to others. we are united in our values. we care. we’re kind. We are strong.”

The post included a picture of the singer’s hand with the lyric “that only us command” written on it in mascara with emoji of a Canadian flag and a flexed muscle alongside.

Former Canadian First Lady Sophie Trudeau applauded Kreviazuk’s statement, writing in the comments: “You stand in the beauty of your art, your presence and your love of humanity. We need MORE like you!”

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — who has repeatedly and unequivocally shut down Trump’s obsession with annexing Canada — sent a clear message about the American President’s imperialist fantasy after the game in an X post where he stated, “You can’t take our country — and you can’t take our game.”

In a statement to the Associated Press, Kreviazuk explained her protest action by saying she did it “because I believe in democracy, and a sovereign nation should not have to be defending itself against tyranny and fascism.” Trump reportedly called the U.S. team before the game to wish them well and posted on his social media site that he would be watching, with White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt saying that he would be “watching for the United States to win.”

She added, “and we look forward to the United States beating our soon-to-be-51st state, Canada.” Trump has referred to Trudeau as “Governor Trudeau” in press briefings, suggesting that a U.S. takeover of Canada is a realistic agenda item during what has been a shock-and-awe first month in office in which he has once again flouted democratic norms. Both Trudeau and Canadian Public Safety Minister David McGuinty have thrown cold water on the bizarre notion, with McGuinty telling reporters before the game that, “Canada is a sovereign and independent country. It has been for over 150 years and will remain so. This discussion of 51st state is a non-starter.”

Earlier in the tournament, the crowd at Montreal’s Bell Centre could be heard booing during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner,” in the first face-off between the U.S. and Canada. The unusually hostile action from our stereotypically polite neighbors to the north was another sign that they do not find anything funny about Trump’s repeated musings about incorporating their sovereign nation into the U.S.

Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that Trudeau said he did not think of Trump’s fantasies about incorporating Canada as a joke, but a serious threat as the American President continues apace with his attempts to disrupt what has for more than a century been one of the U.S.’s most stable, profitable international relationships.

“I suggest that not only does the Trump administration know how many critical minerals we have, but that may be even why they keep talking about absorbing us and making us the 51st state,” Trudeau told a group of business leaders in Toronto.

The White House appeared to lean into Trump’s imperial aspirations on Wednesday when it shared a fake TIME magazine cover altered to feature the President’s name with the caption “long live the king” alongside a picture of Trump wearing a crown. Since taking office, Trump has threatened to take over another sovereign nation, Greenland, as well as sparking serious concern in the Middle East with his musings about seizing the Gaza Strip and forcing out its Palestinian residents in order to turn the devastated territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East,” with no announced plan for where the region’s two million residents will live during or what he has described as a real estate make-over.

One way in which Trump has attempted to put pressure on Trudeau and Canada is by threatening to impose 25 percent tariffs on Canadian exports to the U.S., a one-sided strategy that economists say will result in higher prices for American consumers at a time when inflation is beginning to rise again. Though Trump had promised to lower prices on goods immediately upon taking office, he acknowledged this week in a Fox News interview that inflation is rising again after former President Biden brought the rate down from a disastrous 9.1% in June 2022 — the highest rate in 40 years — to just over 3% when he left office in January.