As I watched thousands of Montrealers belting out “O Canada” on my TV screen during a hockey game at the Bell Centre a few months ago, I felt something unfamiliar rising in my chest: genuine patriotism. For a Jewish Montrealer who grew up resenting French Quebec and sometimes feeling ambivalent about Canada as a whole, this was nothing short of remarkable. I’d never expected that the part of Canada I once felt most alienated from would be what finally inspired my own patriotism.
The game had made the news for all the right reasons. The American national anthem had been heartily booed before the international match between USA and Canada. This wasn't surprising given that the US had just initiated a trade war against Canada with tariffs that were sure to hurt, and Montrealers have flirted with booing “The Star Spangled Banner” in the past.
What s…
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