This Video Reportedly Shows Andrew Scheer Sitting During The Canadian National Anthem

Since the start of this federal election campaign, several old videos have resurfaced of Canada’s major party leaders, and most of them have been less-than-flattering. Now, with the election just days away, another old video has re-emerged on social media, and it appears to show party leader Andrew Scheer sitting during the national anthem of Canada. 

This is the third big video to resurface during the campaign. Back in August, Conservative leader Andrew Scheer was heavily criticized after a 2005 video of him denouncing same-sex marriage went viral, and shortly after, a highly controversial video of the Prime Minister in blackface also reappeared.

In a tweet on Wednesday morning, Liberal MP Marc Garneau shared the old video of Scheer, which showed a considerable number of Canadian politicians in the House of Commons. While most people were standing to sing the Canadian national anthem, there was one person who was notably sitting down, Andrew Scheer.

Responding to the video in the same tweet, Garneau wrote, “I've served my country in uniform, in Parliament and in Space. I'm shaking my head watching this. Watch Andrew Scheer sit through O Canada while MPs from all parties sing it in celebration.”

The video is reportedly from early 2018, shortly after the government passed a bill to make the "O Canada" lyrics completely gender neutral. Andrew Scheer was openly against the lyrical change, saying in 2016 that he wanted to “keep our National Anthem the way it is.”

It is believed that his decision to sit down during the national anthem was a reflection of his feelings about the change to Canada’s traditional song, which replaced the line "in all thy sons command," with "in all of us command."

During a press conference on Wednesday, the Conservative leader was asked about Marc Garneau’s tweet and the video that accompanied it. In response, Scheer stated, “I will take no lessons from Marc Garneau on standing up for our veterans, or for our men and women in uniform.”

He went on to add, “This is a guy who sat around the cabinet table knowing … that Justin Trudeau is telling veterans that they are asking for more than he can give. So I will take no lessons from Marc Garneau."

While this is certainly not the worst old video to resurface during Canada's 2019 federal election campaign, it has definitely got Canadians on Twitter talking.

By Wednesday afternoon, both "O Canada" and "National Anthem" were trending on Twitter, with varying degrees of support for Scheer's refusal to stand.

With the election now just days away, one thing can be certain: Canada's party leaders likely don't want any more of their "old videos" leaking!

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