Over the weekend in Ontario, our Canadian pride was on full display.
Thousands of cheering Canadians, their voices seeming to echo across all of the country, many waving flags in a sea of red. Across the nation and much of the world, the spectacle showed the heart of the country.
Supporters from British Columbia to Nunavut and Prince Edward Island stood shoulder-to-shoulder, Indigenous, immigrant, school teachers, truckers, fifth-generation farmers, families, all cheering and supporting the Canadian cause.
Outside Ontario, Canadians watched televised accounts, cheering along with those carrying the Canadian message as they carried the Canadian flags. Across the Lakeland and in all corners of Alberta, the undeniable feeling of pride was apparent.
The Canadian men's soccer team remains undefeated on their path to the Word Cup after beating the United States 2-0 in a CONCACAF qualifier inside a packed Hamilton, Ontario stadium on Sunday.
Canada’s team faces El Salvador on Wednesday to clinch one of the top three finishing spots in the division that will send them to the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in March.
While other flag-waving activities were taking place in Ontario and across Canada over the weekend, the soccer result is a truly unifying one and serves as a lesson of how simple it can be to come together for one important cause.
With the buildup of conflict in our own country and around the word, Sunday’s game was a shelter in the storm. The flags were waving because Canada was winning. The cheers resounded because Canada was winning. Not because it was being fractured or because its integrity was in question. At the very least, the game took our minds away from conflict and protest, from social media opinions and political unease. It showed us that we do have common ground, that we do share many of the same values and passions for our country.
There’s something to be learned from the way we pull together for a team, even as we seem to be pulling apart as one.
