![]() It also allows Sportsnet to use its logo in connection with the show, which is streamed on the CBC’s online platforms. ![]() In an unusual arrangement to maintain the tradition of free, over-the-air broadcasts of “Hockey Night in Canada,” the CBC now broadcasts Sportsnet’s production of the games on Saturdays with all the advertising revenue flowing to the Rogers subsidiary.Ĭhuck Thompson, a spokesman for the CBC, said the CBC had no control over the production, including the decision to use Cherry. Rogers also owns the Toronto Blue Jays and is one of two partners in the company behind the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Raptors. rights for English-language broadcasts in Canada passed from the CBC, a public broadcaster owned by the federal government, to Rogers Communications, a cable television and cellphone company and broadcaster, which owns Sportsnet. ![]() Almost from the time it first aired on CBC television in 1952, the show has enjoyed one of the largest audiences in English-language Canadian television. “Hockey Night in Canada” provided Cherry with a powerful pulpit. players in Canada do not usually wear poppies on their uniforms, though coaches often have them pinned to their lapels.) The Irish soccer player James McClean has become widely known for refusing to wear the poppy, believing it shows disrespect to the victims of the British Army, especially the Irish. Poppies appear prominently in sports around Remembrance Day - all English Premier League players wore one on their uniform this weekend - but they are not a universally beloved symbol. “Everybody in Canada should wear a poppy to honor our fallen soldiers.” “I know what I said, and I meant it,” he told The Toronto Sun. called the comments “offensive and contrary to the values we believe in.”Įven after his firing, Cherry said he saw nothing wrong with his comments. The former Liberal Party leader and Ontario premier Bob Rae called Cherry’s remarks “ignorant and prejudiced.” Bonnie Crombie, the mayor of Mississauga, Ontario, the Toronto suburb where Cherry lives, posted that “ to say that ‘you people’ do not respect our veterans is despicable.” Several people noted that Cherry’s claims about the lack of poppies on display appeared inaccurate.Ĭherry didn’t find much support from hockey’s establishment, either.īefore firing him, Sportsnet apologized for Cherry’s comments and called them “offensive.” Ron MacLean, the co-host of “Coach’s Corner,” disowned them on a broadcast on Sunday. Jagmeet Singh, a Sikh who leads the federal New Democratic Party, posted a photograph of his great-grandfather in uniform from when he served in the British military during both World War I and II. In its lapel was a poppy, sold as a fund-raiser by chapters of the veterans’ group.Ī former head coach of the Boston Bruins, Cherry had long hosted the six- to seven-minute segment on “Hockey Night in Canada.” He is an unabashed right-wing conservative with the on-air persona of someone holding forth in a bar, and has repeatedly offended wide swaths of Canadians with his opinions on hockey and other issues.įrom a country where immigration is encouraged and immigrants are generally welcomed, the reaction to his commentary was swift. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.”Ĭherry, 85, who is as well known for his flamboyant dress as for his inflammatory opinions, appeared in his “Coach’s Corner” segment wearing a Royal Canadian Legion blazer, even though he is not a veteran. The poppy is a prominent symbol of Remembrance Day, observed on Monday in countries with historic ties to the United Kingdom.Ĭherry complained that in downtown Toronto “nobody wears a poppy,” a contrast with “small cities.” Then, apparently addressing nonwhite Canadians, who make up just over half of Toronto’s population, he added that: “you people love - that come here, whatever it is - you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. In rambling remarks on Saturday night, Cherry criticized what he believed to be the insufficient patriotism of Canadians who weren’t wearing small plastic poppies in honor of military personnel who died on behalf of their country. ![]() ![]() games that make up “Hockey Night in Canada.” “Following further discussions with Don Cherry after Saturday night’s broadcast, it has been decided it is the right time for him to immediately step down,” said Bart Yabsley, the president of the cable channel Sportsnet, which produces the Saturday night N.H.L. Don Cherry, the colorfully dressed fixture of “Hockey Night in Canada” broadcasts, was fired on Monday after on-air comments that were widely viewed as a racist attack on the patriotism of immigrants. ![]()
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