Monday is Remembrance Day in Canada, a holiday to celebrate members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty. During Saturday night’s Hockey Night in Canada broadcast, Don Cherry used the holiday to lament the perceived ingratitude of Canadian immigrants towards veterans.
Canadians often wear a poppy pin on their lapels to indicate remembrance, but Cherry says it’s not happening enough, particularly among “you people that come here.”
Sportsnet removed from YouTube the original video of this segment. Here’s a partial transcript:
I live in Mississauga. Very few people wear the poppy. Downtown Toronto, forget it. Nobody wears the poppy. Now you go to the small cities. You people . . . that come here, whatever it is — you love our way of life. You love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys pay for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price for that.
On Sunday morning, Sportsnet issued a statement apologizing for Cherry’s “discriminatory remarks.”
Statement from Sportsnet: pic.twitter.com/QZ76r9Y7sb
— Sportsnet PR (@SportsnetPR) November 10, 2019
There has been no statement from Don Cherry at this time.
