AS I SEE IT COLUMN: An open letter to Wayne Gretzky and Bobby Orr

Dear Bobby Orr and Wayne Gretzky,

What has happened to you?

You are two of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of hockey skates, but when given the choice to side with a sociopathic tyrant who dreams of annexing Canada, insults our Prime Minister and imposes bruising tariffs on Canadian goods, versus standing up for the nation that welcomed your ancestors from other countries, taught you the game of hockey and made you multi-millionaires, you embrace a convicted felon over your home and native land?

Of course you are entitled to embrace anyone you want. But why, in an existential fight for the very future of our great country, have you chosen to side with a maniac instead of forcefully defending Canada?

Wayne, why couldn’t you be bothered to wear a Team Canada jersey at the 4 Nations? Why did you fist bump Team USA but not the team for which you were the honourary captain?

How can you stand beside felon Trump and say absolutely nothing when he tells the assembled press that he wants to annex Canada and insults our leader by calling him a governor?

Bobby, you’ve been a supporter of the convicted criminal since he entered politics in 2015. Never mind him bragging about grabbing women by their genitals or ripping babies from their parents at the border, now your friend has imposed crippling tariffs on Canada and threatened our very existence and you say nothing in defence of our country?

You write a public letter not chastising your friend and convicted felon Trump for his deluded fantasy of taking over Canada, but to reprimand Canadians for being upset at Wayne?

Guys, why is it impossible for you to defend Canada?

Are the tax breaks you are going to get from your criminal pal in the White House worth the visceral public backlash against you are getting here in the country you’ve so publicly turned your backs on?

Bobby, when your buddy calls Ukrainian President Zelensky a dictator while sucking up to a murderous dictator in Putin, how on earth are you okay with that?

Wayne, you have Ukrainian blood flowing in your veins. How can you abide felon Trump’s awful treatment of Zelensky and the Ukrainian people after all the death and destruction Putin has wrought in Ukraine?

Gentlemen, how do you reconcile convict Trump’s animosity towards America’s longest ally and friend — Canada — while your criminal pal embraces Putin, America’s staunch enemy and someone rightfully accused of crimes against humanity?

Wayne, your family published a letter to the media in which your wife says you are heart broken about the comments being made about you in our true north strong and free. Do you not understand how you broke the hearts of millions of Canadians when you partied with felon Trump on election night and at the inauguration? (An online survey from a reputable outlet found that 89% of Canadians who took their poll were very upset with you.)

Gentlemen, why have you chosen to be pals with someone who overflows with cruelty, hate and racism?

Both of you have ancestors who came here from other countries. Wayne, your ancestors came from Poland, Ukraine and Belarus. Bobby, yours came from Guyana, Scotland and Ireland.

How do either of you sleep at night knowing the awful things convict Trump says and does about people – exactly like your ancestors – who emigrated to a foreign land simply to give their offspring a chance at a better life?

Bobby, Wayne, you are – or at least were – practically saints in Canada. You were nobility; millions of Canadians admired you.

Why are you so willing to flush all that national goodwill down the toilet?

You can pick your friends and believe any political ideology you want; that is your right. But what you fail to grasp is that this isn’t a progressive, liberal or conservative thing. It’s a Canadian thing. We are under attack.

What’s next? Will we see you in election ads for Trump wannabe Pierre Poilievre?

The thundering silence from both of you in refusing to stand up for Canada is beyond heartbreaking.

A nation mourns the loss of two of its genuine heroes.

Be Canadian. Buy Canadian.