It's not 'just a uniform'
The post-national devil is in the details.
Howard Anglin — previous Deputy Chief of Staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Principal Secretary to the Premier of Alberta, Jason Kenney — is quietly considered a north star in our industry, and is known to be right about a great many things.
Like many of you, I’d imagine, I found the weekend’s opening ceremonies in Italy to be refreshingly highbrow, blissfully light on progressive bacchanal, and largely free of the kind of globo-slop messaging that has come to define the past decade of festivals of sport and entertainment too often hijacked into the kind of propaganda exercise we can do without: the kind that doesn’t seek to inspire, but to divide and shame.
How unfortunate, then, that Canada was the stubborn outlier in appearance; seemingly clinging to its recent post-national history, with an outfit that’s launched a cottage industry of hot takes, but at the very least discourse capable of bridging divides that only ever seem to widen.
In pillorying those making excuses for the mediocrity of Canada’s failed avant-garde opening ceremony experiment, Anglin was again on the mark, serving as a reminder that, no, we weren’t overreacting. Bad is bad. And when it comes to matters of reclaimed nationalism and national symbolism, “There are no big things and little things in life or in a state: it all matters, the details as much as the direction.”
My friend and colleague Kate Marland was also all over the target. Weeks ago, she flagged Lululemon’s “post-national collection” as a culture war yet to come:
Lululemon claims this kit is “familiarly Canadian”. But a quick browse does not trigger any familiar Canadian emotions. Long in the rearview mirror are Hudson’s Bay’s iconic flag mittens, which sold over 3.5 million pairs. If you want to keep your hands warm while supporting our athletes in 2026, your only option is a pair (priced at $98) available in “Medium Forest” or “Black Garnet”, no flag or national colour in sight.
If the goal of this collection is to eradicate any connection between the wearer and the traditional symbolism of our country, then I think it is safe to say, mission accomplished. There is no better physical representation of the sorry state of our national pride than this collection.
The post-national devil, it appears, is in the details.
Defenders of the status quo in legacy Canadian media have launched a half-hearted defence, claiming, “a certain gaggle of folks are absolutely losing their minds over a puffer, crapping on a proud Canadian company to prove some kind of esoteric inane point. Relax.”
But if you’re onside with Howard, and Kate, two thought-leaders on the right and ‘new right,’ who love their country, not for what it pretends to still be, but for what it was, can, and should be again, there’s nothing “esoteric” or “inane” about flagging matters of wrapping Canada in pantones that do not fit or flatter.