Elbows Up!
- RG
- Apr 2
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 9
Canadians are an odd breed. While I think most of us love our country, we do not brag about it, or insist that others praise Canada above all, or pretend that we are flawless.
I loved the recent ad with Prime Minister Mark Carney and Mike Myers, mostly because it was so Canadian. Myers is one of those Canadians who most Americans probably think is American, so PM Carney decides to test him. The test is skewed to Canadians born in the early 1960’s, but I got almost all of them, and thought it might be fun to go through the questions.
Mr. Dressup was a children’s show which shared some similarities with Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Not overly surprising as Ernie Coombs and Fred Rogers worked together on “Misterogers”, which was an early prototype of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood. Casey and Finnegan were puppets with whom Mr. Dressup interacted regularly – Casey was a child, and Finnegan was a dog. I remember them well, though I remember watching more of The Friendly Giant and Polka Dot Door...
Bud the Spud is a reference I missed, probably because I was a baby when it came out. It’s a song by Stompin’ Tom Connors about a trucker hauling potatoes from Prince Edward Island.
Howie Meeker was a hockey player for the Toronto Maple Leafs, and a well-known commentator on Hockey Night in Canada for many years.
Knowing that Regina is the capital of Saskatchewan, knowing the band The Tragically Hip, and knowing that Toronto’s two seasons are “winter” and “construction” are easy ones. I must confess, however, that I never really watched or played much hockey, so I missed the “take away the pass” reference, though I figured it out afterwards.
Either way, he’s clearly, Canadian, eh?
But where did the ad come from, and why is it important? And what’s all this about “elbows up”, anyhow?
Taking the last one first, “elbows up” is a reference to the famous hockey player Gordie Howe, who was known as “Mr. Elbows”, for his tough physical play on the ice, though he had a reputation for being well-mannered and trusting off the ice. He was also known as “Mr. Hockey”, “Power”, “The King of Hockey”, and a bunch of other names.
Regarding the ad and it’s origin, I’d be tempted to use the word “patriotism”, but that word has so much baggage that it would cause more confusion than it resolves. The easiest way to illustrate that is to note that many would call Colin Kaepernick a patriot for “taking the knee” at football games, while many others would insist that he is a “traitor” for the exact same reason.
In the essay “Civil Disobedience”, Henry David Thoreau said:
“A very few-as heroes, patriots, martyrs, reformers in the great sense, and men-serve the state with their conscience also, and so necessarily resist it for the most part; and they are commonly treated as enemies by it”
Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
In other words, to paraphrase a fascinating article on Thoreau’s definition of patriotism, true patriots stand up to fight for people’s rights, even when that resistance leads to them being treated as enemies by the state.
And what about those who don’t speak up, or who fail to act in accordance with their words?
“The slight reproach to which the virtue of patriotism is commonly liable, the noble are most likely to incur. Those who, while they disapprove of the character and measures of a government, yield to it their allegiance and support are undoubtedly its most conscientious supporters, and so frequently the most serious obstacles to reform”
Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience
These are the ones who (pretend to?) object to the government’s actions, while staying silent or complying. They are, arguably, worse offenders than the very government to which they object. This sounds a lot like most of the Republican party and supposed Democrat “leaders” like Chuck Schumer. who supported the March 2025 “continuing resolution” funding bill.
The coming Canadian election is, at least partly, about what it means to be Canadian.
As recently as a few months ago, polling suggested that Pierre Poilievre was very likely to win a not-yet-called federal election, but then several things happened.
First, Donald Trump won the 2024 US presidential election. This was surprising, but didn’t appear to have a dramatic effect on Canadian polling.
Then, in December 2024, the Canadian political landscape was shaken by several developments, including the resignation of deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland on 16-December-2024, and the announced resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on 6-January-2025.
Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that he was running for the leadership of the Liberal Party on 16-January-2025, and this was followed by Trump’s inauguration on 20-January-2025. It’s unclear what effects these events had on polling, but then came Trump’s announcement of a trade war against Canada (and Mexico) on 1-February-2025, along with his threats to make Canada “the 51st state”.
This was a step too far – even conservative Canadians who were previously sympathetic to Trump were angered by his actions. By the time Carney was elected leader of the Liberal Party on 9-March-2025, it was clear that something was happening. Canadians were unified in a way we haven’t seen for a long time - people with whom Trudeau was unpopular got excited about Carney, and messaging from the Conservative Party was weak and inconsistent.
Poilievre’s rhetoric has long been reminiscent of Trump’s, and he was recently characterized by Chrystia Freeland as “maple syrup MAGA”. However, his similarities to Trump are probably best summarized by This Hour Has 22 Minutes, where they review Poilievre’s platform...
More recently, Trump’s comments that he’d “rather deal with a Liberal” were hilariously pitiful attempts at “reverse psychology”, and Poilievre was wonderfully described as “Timbit Trump” by Mark Critch’s fantastic “Trump”. There was also an endorsement of Poilievre by Michael Myers, and a great bit about Poilievre continually describing Canada using words like "broken".
Still, while the momentum has certainly shifted, we cannot be complacent. In my opinion, Poilievre and the Conservative party currently represent a major threat to Canadian democracy, and even Canadian sovereignty. We cannot allow them to win – we’re Canadians, and we’re better than that.
If you’re Canadian, you need to VOTE!! Vote in advance, or on election day (28-April-2025)
In the meantime, if you want a bit of fun, I found a great music video...
Elbows up!
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