The words were on the page. All 900 or so of them, ready for you to read in Saturday's Red Deer Advocate.
And then tragedy struck – a first-world, extremely not serious problem that most people probably won't care about, but can likely can relate to.
In an instant, the words were gone. The program I was using to type the column, a Pulitzer prize-winning column, I'm sure, crashed. And the column was gone. There was no auto-save, no backup, no finding in the column somewhere in the depths of my internet cache. I googled all manner of different solutions to make the column reappear. I spent more time googling solutions to get it back than I did writing it. I could have likely rewritten it in the time I took trying to find my original words that disappeared in the simple click of a mouse. There was no getting it back.
I don't need a pity party. I just want you to commiserate about a time you've lost something you worked hard to build. Or just lost something in general. That feeling in the pit of my stomach about losing that column was more about it being lost than it was about the work I put into the words.
I mourned the loss of those words because they were near and dear to my heart. I wanted to talk about Canadian patriotism and the different shapes it's taken in the last two months.
I wanted to talk about how we're used to being the quiet, friendly neighbour who doesn't ruffle any feathers. One who doesn't make a big deal about accomplishments and isn't into grand gestures or chest-beating. We're a country of hardworking people who are polite and kind. At least, that's what has been woven into our Canadian DNA.
But most of us are still fiercely proud to be Canadian. You saw it at the 4 Nations Face-Off when Canadians booed the American national anthem in response to Donald Trump's continued threats against Canadian sovereignty.
You saw it when some Canadians have turned on Wayne Gretzky. A Canadian icon. He is a hero to so many because of his excellence on the ice and his representation of our country. But he didn't wear the Canadian jersey during the 4 Nations Face-Off, and he hasn't spoken out against Trump's continual threats to our country, which include musing about making Gretzky the governor of Canada.
He hasn't said much of anything, allowing only Bobby Orr, another Canadian hockey icon to speak in his defence, as well as his wife. Gretzky was our hockey hero, every kid grows up knowing the number 99 and what it stands for. But in that moment, and the moments that followed he turned his back on Canada. He has the president's ear and he could easily use his influence to suggest that Canada isn't for sale and that Canada has no interest in being part of the U.S.A. That is what a true ambassador would do. That's what a hero and an icon would do. Instead, he's content to sit on the sidelines and watch the president continually mock the country that helped make him an international icon.
You can see it in your local grocery store, where daily conversations are being had about which products are Canadian and what American products that are commonly used can be replaced with a Canadian equivalent.
The latest polling from Leger and Angus Reid says more of the same:
Angus Reid Institute found that nine-in-10 Canadians said they would vote ‘no’ to joining the United States if given the option. Even in Alberta, where Trump sentiment seems to be strong than a lot of other parts of the country, 90 per cent of respondents would choose the same vote no option.
In a recent poll, Leger found the number of people saying they’re proud to be Canadian has jumped from 80 per cent in November 2024 to 86 per cent this month.
Pride is highest among people aged 55 and over — at 92 per cent — while 86 per cent of people between the ages of 35 and 54 and 75 per cent of people aged 18 to 34 said they were proud to be Canadian.
Canadians love being from Canada and when threatened, we unite to defend the land that we call home. We put flags in our windows. We change our purchasing habits and vacation plans. We boo anthems. We will not be intimidated by economic threats or otherwise. It's taken time, but so many of our leaders have grasped how important this moment is and how serious the president is.
Trump is considering redrawing what he calls our "imaginary border" according to 1908 treaty. He wants our water, and he wants to renegotiate a trade deal that he agreed to four years ago. He doesn't really care about NATO spending or fentanyl at the border, those are just guises to distract from "Making America Great Again".
LIke it or not, during the Biden administration, there was some semblance order. In large part, that's why Justin Trudeau is no longer Prime Minister. For all his faults, he sparred with Trump during his first term and won some battles and defended Canada for the most part. But without that bogeyman, Trudeau's faults were exposed, and his long tenure as PM became more about his failures than it did about standing up for Canada.
He had strong words for Trump in his final days and the fire he had in his early years as Prime Minister came back. He's out of a job now, and for the short term, Mark Carney has a herculean task ahead of him to continue to unite Canadians against Trump while also campaigning to gain support from all Canadians when he does eventually call a general election.
These were not the same words I wrote last Thursday, the ones that got lost in the dark depths of the internet. But I hope they still get the point across. I'm proud to be Canadian, and I'm proud to see how so many Canadians are showing that pride in the face of threats to our sovereignty.
Byron Hackett is Managing Editor of the Red Deer Advocate and Central Alberta Regional Editor for Black Press Media.
