Gen. Wayne Eyre addresses U.S. officers (DoD photo)
By Jason Davis
Retired Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Wayne Eyre has admonished Canadians for booing the U.S. anthem at sports events.
And Canadians haven’t reacted kindly to the retired soldiers’ advice.
Eyre said Canadians need to be careful “about burning bridges” with the Americans and “turning those (Americans) who are friendly to us against us.” According to Eyre, that means no more booing the U.S. anthem.
Eyre received media coverage of his remarks in the National Post on June 11 and later on CTV.
But Eyre’s message to Canadians sparked a social media blast against the retired general, with the overwhelming view being that he should just shut up.
What was Eyre even thinking? His American friends have openly talked about economically destroying Canada. Hundreds of thousands of Canadians have suffered economically because of the U.S. attack/tariffs on Canada’s economy, with thousands losing their jobs. (Eyre is exempt from such financial pain with his taxpayer-funded annual pension of more than $200,000).
Eyre’s advice to Canadians to stop booing the U.S. anthem sparked significant negative reaction (much of it too hostile to print here). But comments ranged from suggestions that Eyre should just move to the U.S. to questions on why would anyone take advice from a retired general who, while in command of the Canadian Forces, gave a standing ovation to a member of the Waffen SS. That’s in reference to the scandal in Parliament where all MPs as well as Eyre and others applauded Waffen SS soldier Yaroslav Hunka. Some Canadian veterans asked Eyre to apologize for his actions but he did not.
Even some Americans joined in on the commenting about Eyre’s statement that his fellow Canadians should make nice with the U.S. – these U.S. citizens recommended that Canadians reject Eyre’s advice and requested that their northern neighbours boo the U.S. national anthem….loudly and often. In fact, U.S. President Donald Trump was loudly booed by U.S. citizens at Madison Square Garden on June 8, 2026, when he was shown on the jumbotron during the American national anthem.
As for Eyre’s claims about Americans who are “friendly” to Canada, TV journalist Glen McGregor pointed out that it was the U.S. public who went to the polls to vote in the Trump administration. “I’m curious about who the former general thinks chose this administration that wants us to become their 51st state,” McGregor asked on the social media platform X.
Shortly after Eyre made his comments that Canadians should be careful about not upsetting Americans, U.S. president Trump unloaded once again on Canada.
“We don’t need anything that Canada has,” he said June 10, also adding Mexico into the mix. “We don’t need their cars, we don’t need their lumber, we don’t need their energy, we don’t need anything that they have.”
It has been pointed out that Eyre is extremely close to the American military. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Special Forces Qualification Course, the U.S. Marine Corps Command and Staff College, the U.S. Marine Corps School of Advanced Warfighting, and the U.S. Army War College. He was also Deputy Commanding General – Operations for XVIII (U.S.) Airborne Corps.
Eyre is not the first retired general to admonish Canadians for booing the U.S. anthem. Retired Chief of the Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier did the same back in 2025 but once again, Canadians were in no mood to be lectured. They pushed back, labelling Hillier as a U.S. lackey….and worse. The response was similar to Eyre’s situation.
Hillier also went on the social media platform X on Feb. 15, 2025 to complain about Canada and throw his weight behind Trump supporter Kevin O’Leary’s proposal for a common dollar, integrated border and immigration requirements and common economic approaches with the U.S.
That didn’t go over too well with Canadians either.
Eyre’s comments are also not the first time some of his advice has fallen flat. In 2021, the general informed those leaving the Canadian military to “put service before self, not to retreat into retirement.” The response from Canadian Forces personnel was overwhelming negative and Eyre was labelled as being out of touch. The general had to sound retreat on his comments.
Eyre also had a few things to say about the Canadian government’s attempts to repair damaged trade relations with China. The National Post report on Eyre’s speech had this: “The move has raised hackles within the Trump administration, which is in intense economic competition with China all the while seeking to increase trade with the Asian behemoth.
"We need to be wary about siding with China over the U.S., as I believe that is the path to ruin," Eyre said.”
That resulted in more egg on the face for the retired general.
The same day Eyre’s remarks were reported, the New York Times came out with an article revealing that the Trump administration had been secretly courting China to improve trade relations between the two nations. The U.S. was involved with a new pivot toward China that was forging what the Trump administration was calling ‘constructive strategic stability’ with the Asian economic giant.
That prompted journalist Ben O’Hara-Byrne to comment: “Interesting – so the entire time (Trump’s) underlings, proxies and assorted sycophants went after Canada for trying to get a break on canola exports and thaw the relations with Beijing as some grant act of betrayal, Trump was forging ‘constructive strategic stability’ with China.”
