Messages

?First they came?? is the title of a poem by Martin Niemoller, a pastor who opposed the Nazis in the 1930s, was sent to a concentration camp, and later became one of the leading voices for German reconciliation. The poem specifically deals with the inactivity of the ?intellectual class? during Adolph Hitler?s rise to power, but is regularly held up as a warning against all political apathy. When the President turned into a demon after 9/11 it was widely quoted, though I was first made aware of it when Whoopi Goldberg and Bobby McFerrin (imitating a saxophone) did a version on a Comic Relief special in the 80s. And yes, like a lot of Canadians, I got a little nervous when Ralph Klein started bragging about our oil reserves to Dick Cheney a few years ago but as a white, middle-class kid from the suburbs, I could never really relate to the message of the poem. That is, until now.

Every morning I walk to work through Central Park. It?s a nice perk of living in Manhattan and having a cross-town commute. People are walking their dogs, sittiing on the grass, chatting with friends and it?s enough to make you forget you live in a big, unfeeling, ridiculously expensive city in a paranoid country that treats personal liberties as a gray area.

My walk today felt different almost immediately. Despite the beautiful weather, there seemed to be less people lounging on the lawns, there were hardly any dogs out (the giant Newfoundland Lab was nowhere to be seen) and not a single French tourist asked me to take a photo of them. And I think I know why:

No Hockey Playing.

That?s the notice that has been hastily painted on the roads all over the park. It wasn?t there yesterday and I?m not sure whose decision it was ? the two guys raking leaves had no idea ? but I find the message very disturbing.

Hockey is inexorably linked to Canada. Our marketing companies develop entire ad campaigns around it, when The Simpsons went to Toronto they passed a hockey player in line at customs, and I guarantee when you travel to another country one of the first things people ask you ? just after ?Do you know John in Winnipeg?? ? is about hockey. Sure, today it?s just no hockey playing in Central Park but how long until they ban other Canadianisms like the alternate pronunciation of the letter ?u? or the mixing of cheese and gravy. I put to you that No Hockey Playing is the same as declaring No Canadians.

Now, the question remains, what do we do about it? To paraphrase Pastor Niemoller?s poem: If we don?t speak up in support of hockey playing, who will speak up for us? We are a country born out of evolution not revolution, so our options are limited. We could just keep asking to play hockey until they give in. But I suggest we throw their own tactics right back at them.

The next time you order Freedom Fries call them French Fries, or better yet French-Canadian fries. If someone cuts you off in traffic tell him to ?Puck Off.? And when referring to Canada?s geographic location, let?s start calling ourselves ?Upper? North America. It?s a subtle difference but I bet it?ll drive them crazy. We may be a country of hockey fans but let?s show America we?re not playing around.