Wayne Gretzky 'choked up' during chat with Doug Ford talking about love for Canada
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is the latest public figure to support Wayne Gretzky after Canadians had questioned his loyalty to his home country.
Following an appearance as the honorary captain for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off final in Boston last month, Gretzky was targeted by many Canadians who noted his long-standing ties to American president Donald Trump, including Gretzky attending Trump’s official election party and inauguration over the past few months.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Ford gave an unprompted response about a recent conversation with the NHL’s all-time leading scorer.
“One other thing I want to mention is my friend Wayne Gretzky. He’s the most patriotic Canadian there is anywhere on the planet. As other American Canadian athletes go down to the U.S., they hand in their Canadian passport and get an American passport to pay lower taxes,” Ford said. “I talked to Wayne the other day, and he was so choked up talking to me. He is a patriot. He loves Canada. He never gave up his Canadian passport. Folks, give the guy a break. Just give him a break. He loves Canada. He loves it like no tomorrow.”
Doug Ford wants people to stop booing the U.S. anthem, and says he had a phone call with Wayne Gretzky and calls him the “most patriotic Canadian there is anywhere on the planet… just give him a break.” pic.twitter.com/Z1P8wQdAA1
— Adam Laskaris (@adam_la2karis) March 4, 2025
Ford had previously said in the press conference that he disliked the booing of American anthems at sporting events and that Trump had “chosen chaos” by his policy to implement a 25 percent tariff on Canadian goods.
Wayne’s wife, Janet Gretzky, shared a response to a Toronto Sun guest column written by Bobby Orr in defence of Wayne last week.
“I have never met anyone who is more proud to be a Canadian, and it has broken his heart to read and see the mean comment. He would do anything to make Canadians proud, with his love for hockey and his country,” Janet wrote on Instagram.
Notably, neither Janet Gretzky nor Orr named Trump explicitly.
“Wayne is my friend, and he wants to make me happy, and is therefore somewhat ‘low key’ about Canada remaining a separate Country, rather than becoming a cherished and beautiful 51st state, paying much lower taxes, a free and powerful military, NO TARIFFS, and having a booming economy,” Trump himself wrote on Truth Social last week.
Trump also suggested in the same post that Gretzky could run for and win “any political office in Canada.”
Gretzky himself has still yet to publicly comment on his ties to Trump.