Don Cherry won't apologize for poppy comments; broadcast-standards body won't accept more complaints
There have been two new developments in the ongoing controversy over the Coach's Corner segment on Hockey Night in Canada on November 9.
First of all, Don Cherry appears to be in no mood to say he's sorry for declaring that "you people" who move to Canada won't wear poppies in Toronto, unlike people living in small cities.
"I've had my say," Cherry said after he was reached by phone on Sunday by Toronto Sun writer Joe Warmington.
Secondly, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council is not accepting any more complaints about Cherry's remarks about immigrants loving "our milk and honey" yet not paying a couple of bucks for a poppy.
Cherry made these comments despite more than a million British subjects in India fighting for the Allies during the First World War even though they were deprived of the franchise in India.
"The CBSC has received a large number of very similar complaints concerning Coach’s Corner broadcast on CBC (Sportsnet) on November 9, 2019, exceeding the CBSC’s technical processing capacities," the organization stated.
The CBSC is a self-regulatory body created by private broadcasters to deal with complaints by viewers or listeners.
Broadcasters are regulated by the Canadian Radio-television Telecommunications Commission. Its website states that the first stop for any complaint is the broadcaster itself.
According to the regulatory body's website, it's also possible to file a broadcasting complaint with the CRTC in writing as long as this occurs within four weeks following the airing of a program.
"Why? Because broadcasters keep tapes of their broadcasts for 4 weeks," the CRTC states. "If they receive your complaint more than 4 weeks after the program or ad has aired, the tapes may no longer be available, and the CRTC may not be able to follow up."
Cherry's sidekick on Coach's Corner, Ron MacLean, apologized for not responding to the controversial comments.
https://twitter.com/RonMacLeanHTH/status/1193674011248644096
Rogers owns Sportsnet, which has exclusive rights from the National Hockey League to produce Hockey Night in Canada.
On the weekend, Sportsnet also apologized.
https://twitter.com/SportsnetPR/status/1193563973158887431
For its part, the NHL simply stated that the comments were "offensive and contrary to the values we believe in".
https://twitter.com/PR_NHL/status/1193596716467073025
Update
After this article was posted, Sportsnet announced that Don Cherry was stepping down immediately.
"During the broadcast, he made divisive remarks that do not represent our values or what we stand for," Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley said.
https://twitter.com/SportsnetPR/status/1193983313272279040/photo/1
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