Fans boo as the US national anthem is sung before the Vancouver Canucks and Detroit Red Wings play an NHL hockey game in Vancouver, British Columbia. Photo: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP via CNN Newsource
By Ben Church, CNN
Supporters at an NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers continued the trend of Canadian sports fans booing the US national anthem on Sunday, a day after Donald Trump announced tariffs on Canada.
The game was being played at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, home of the only Canadian team playing in the NBA. Many fans could be heard booing when a 15-year-old girl started singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the game.
She was then met with a mixture of boos and applause after finishing her rendition, before the crowd loudly applauded the Canadian anthem that followed.
It follows similar incidents at NHL games across Canada on the weekend, according to the Associated Press.
Fans at the Minnesota Wild's game against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, for example, could be heard booing the US anthem, with the jeers growing audibly louder towards the end. Just like in the Raptors game, the rendition of "Oh Canada" which followed was greeted by loud cheers.
Trump announced extraordinary new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China - signing the long-promised economic policy at his Mar-a-Lago club on Saturday. The Trump administration said tariffs are aimed at curbing the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants into the US, but they potentially risk substantial price increases for American consumers.
Hours after Trump's action, Trudeau announced retaliatory 25 percent tariffs on US goods, that will be "far-reaching and include everyday items," making good on his promise that Canada would retaliate forcefully and swiftly if the United States imposed levies. The country's trade representatives met with Trump administration officials as recently as Friday in an attempt to stave off the tariffs.
Raptors forward Chris Boucher, who is a Canadian citizen, said he had never heard anything like the booing he witnessed before the game.
"No, no, no," he said, per AP. "But have you ever seen us getting taxed like that?"
Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajaković declined to comment on the boos when asked about it post-game, in which the Raptors beat the Clippers 115-108.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue also declined to comment on the boos but said he sang the Canadian anthem because he "likes that song."
- CNN
