The Impact Of The Multi-Cultural Hyphen Is Significant...

Equal time for Canadian flags

Published On Mon Jun 21 2010

 

Re: Cheering for the home team or home country? Column, June 20

Kudos to Angelo Persichilli for his article in which he questions the display of flags of various nations in Toronto streets during the World Cup tournament. I find it strange that people didn’t show the same number of flags of Canada during our “homegrown” Winter Olympic Games where our successes surely warranted a similar display of pride. I would hope that those who display the flags of their country of origin or are “raising a glass” during this tournament will also raise a toast to Canada or display a Canadian flag on July 1. Persichilli's suggestion of having both a Canadian flag as well as that of the favoured team is one worth considering.

Jim Shepherd, Richmond Hill

Persichilli: Cheering for the home team or home country?

June 20, 2010 Angelo Persichilli

There is nothing wrong in looking elsewhere for something when you can't find it in your own back yard. For example, Canada doesn't have a queen, so we borrow one from England. Canadians don't have a place in the sun in the winter, but many of us borrow one in Florida. Torontonians don't have a hockey team — I mean a real one — so they look elsewhere for vicarious excitement. And now the soccer World Cup tournament is on. We don't have a national team in the competition, so Canadian soccer fans have to look elsewhere to find a focus for their excitement about their beloved sport. There are plenty of choices, and we started seeing them displayed in the streets of Toronto even before the tournament got underway. The celebrations, for whatever team, are fun to watch and an expression of a city on course toward real globalization — provided they're civilized and not too aggressive. And, in fact, not a single soccer celebration in Toronto has gotten out of hand in the past — unlike what happened in Montreal during the recent brief Stanley Cup run by Les Canadiens. But let me go beyond the fun aspect and ask a serious question: If Canada were at the World Cup tournament, what flag would we see in the streets of Toronto? And let me be blunt: If a game were being played between Canada and the team of another country, say Italy, where would our hearts be? My point is not to force an answer to a question that many are afraid to ask and many more are afraid to answer. But I believe it is necessary to think about this every time some of us feel marginalized from mainstream Canada. I was on St. Clair Avenue four years ago celebrating the victory of the Italian soccer team in Germany and I hope to be there again this year. But the question is: Was I celebrating the victory of a soccer team or the victory of “my” country? The rhetorical answer I've received from many politicians is, “That's what Canada is all about — celebrating our differences makes us stronger.” That's true and it's also a nice clip for the 6 o'clock news, but I would like to know how many Canadians would cheer for the Canadian soccer team in a game against a country with which we share a cultural affinity. For example, I'm wondering how many people in Quebec would cheer for France in a game against a Canadian team, and I could ask a similar question about soccer fans in Woodbridge, on the Danforth or on College Street if our national team were playing, respectively, Italy, Greece or Portugal. We know the consequences of frustrated nationalism, and I believe more and more in a world without cultural, political and economic boundaries. Considering the technological and demographic changes, we are definitely moving toward a better society even if we have to go through a time of confusion and adjustment. In this context, the question of which flag we show during an international sports tournament might sound frivolous, and I do believe that it's wrong to mix sports with politics, culture or social issues. But are we sure that we are moving toward a more open world and not diving straight into a social ghetto? Kudos to CBC coverage that treats the tournament for what it is, a world sports event with analysis and good technical comments. But some Canadian media are not treating soccer as the most popular sport in the world (and in Canada) but downgrading it to a folkloric expression of Canadian multiculturalism, basically a huge wine-and-cheese party where the “ethnics” celebrate their culture and their national teams. And this is exactly my argument: Are we sure that cheering for a team other than Canada is just sports and nothing more? I wouldn't presume to force answers to questions that Canada has refused to ask for decades, probably for more than a century — but I do have a suggestion. With the World Cup underway in South Africa and Canada Day just around the corner, since we cannot cheer for Canada, why don't we show the Canadian flag along with the one of the team that we've decided to support as Canadians? Angelo Persichilli is the political editor of Corriere Canadese. His column appears Sunday.