Here in the U.S., it takes the exposure of a breast filled with copious amounts of silicone to spur the goverment into action. But North of the border, the threshold is a little lower.
The target: CBC Hockey Night In Canada commentator Don Cherry, for comments he made about which players in the NHL wear visors and drug use in Canadian Junior hockey:
An aide to Dyane Adam, official languages commissioner, confirmed that she is looking into allegedly anti-francophone remarks made by Don Cherry between periods on Hockey Night in Canada.``The commissioner feels it's an important enough issue that she's going to investigate,'' said the aide, who asked not to be named.
``There was no formal complaint filed here, but she has on her own initiative decided to investigate. She feels that the allegations are serious enough.''
During a Jan. 24 broadcast, Cherry berated those who were calling for the mandatory use of protective visors by NHL players in the wake of several recent eye injuries.
The only players who wear the visors are ``Europeans'' and ``French guys,'' he said.
In an earlier segment aired after reports that players were using drugs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, Cherry, without giving any evidence, said drug use in junior hockey is confined to the QMJHL.
Just what sort of insanity is this? You can easily make the case that Cherry can be an absolute blowhard -- albeit an entertaining one at that. But a government investigation?
But this isn't the first time Cherry has gotten into trouble. During the run-up to the war with Iraq, Cherry didn't hesitate to make his case that Canada should have been ashamed for not supporting the U.S. Further, when French Canadian fans began to boo the Star Spangled Banner last season, Cherry said he wanted to make it clear that the rest of Canada didn't agree with most Quebec on the issue.
Normally, Cherry's Coach's Corner is archived at CBC.ca. But after a few days, the CBC removed the video of that particular segment from their Web site. With that kind of track record, you ought to hurry to watch the archived version of the January 24th segment before the CBC decides you might get hurt.
But wait, there's more! An American playing in the OHL got his own dose of political correctness, Canadian-style, for this bizzare incident:
Plymouth Whalers captain and defenseman James Wisniewski was suspended for five games by the Ontario Hockey League because of a gross misconduct penalty in Friday night's 7-4 loss to visiting Owen Sound.Stefan Ruzicka, Owen Sound's top goal-scorer with 27, challenged Wisniewski to a fight; Wisniewski responded by saying he did not fight "Euros." The comment was overheard by a linesman. Ruzicka, a third-round draft pick by Philadelphia in last year's draft, is a native of Nitra, Slovakia.
Wisniewski said he didn't think he was being insensitive, and coach Mike Vellucci agreed.
"I don't think he meant it in a harmful way," Vellucci said. Ruzicka "is a 30-goal scorer, not a fighter."
Ted Baker, the OHL's director of hockey operations and referee-in-chief, said the league does not tolerate comments directed at players based on their origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation. Baker said the league reminded teams about the policy following the firing last year of Sault Ste. Marie coach John Vanbiesbrouck, who used a racial slur to describe a player. Baker said there was no opportunity for Wisniewski to appeal.
Note to Wisniewski: next time, just deck the guy. They wouldn't suspend you more than a game for that.
Don Cherry is, in effect, a government employee because he works for the CBC. It doesn’t exactly look good for an employee of a public broadcaster to being slandering the largest, most powerful minority group in the country. Cherry has been walking on thin ice for a few years and I get the feeling some people at the top are looking for an excuse tog et rid of him.
I guess the CBC is as independent as the BBC.
If anything, this points out the absurdity in this day and age of having a government control a country’s largest broadcaster. The Canadian Government should get out of the broadcasting business, and privatize the CBC altogether.
In the meantime, the CBC ought to demonstrate the courage of its convictions, and fire Cherry outright. This so-called investigation is an incredible sham.
Gee, if Dyane Adam is pondering filing litgation against Don Cherry for what he said about Europeans, image the fun she’d have with Tiger Williams.
http://www.canoe.ca/Columnists/mcrae_feb4.html
The CBC received enough complaints that the government is investigating whether or not Cherry’s comments were inappropriate. Seems like a reasonable course of action to me. I’d prefer this over a knee-jerk reaction and at least they’re looking into complaints.
As for privatizing the CBC, it would go under. It can’t carry the programming it carries and be profitably run as a business but it still plays an important role in Canada.
I don’t think they have any intention of getting rid of Cherry. The investigation is a smokescreen to diffuse bad PR. I say thank goodness he’s on television. He’s one of the only honest voices out there. He says dumb and offensive things occasionally, but that’s the price you pay for letting real people express real opinions.
Have to agree with BenW on the CBC-privatization issue. A public broadcaster is absolutely essential to anyone who wants to hear an intelligent conversation on television, or watch something besides American Idol and Joe Millionaire in prime time.
About the run-up to the post, somehow I think using a nationwide platform to spread unflattering stereotypes about certain groups of people *is* worse than the flash of a breast.
And what unflattering stereotypes are we talking about? That only European and French Canadian hockey players are smart enough to wear visors? Or having an opinion that drug use in junior hockey is confined to the QMJHL — no matter how wrong that opinion might be?
We have more than enough instances of real racism in this world to go around. Rousting Cherry for his on-air antics only serves to devalue the charge when far more serious transgressions occur.
And as for the FCC investigation, it’s only slightly less ridiculous. . .
In the eyes of the Canadian government making anti-Francophone remarks is on par with making anti-Semite or anti-African American comments in the US. Cherry wasn’t saying French players were smart for wearing visors- he was saying they’re weak and cowardly for doing it.
To clarify, I was talking about the idea that French-Canadian and European players aren’t as tough, or don’t have as much heart, as English-Canadian players, ie. because they generally wear visors and have fundamental skills.
In general, the practice of painting a whole group of people with one broad brush is distasteful…
I’m not saying he should be kicked off the air. Cherry’s hilarious, and he typifies a tough-guy stereotype that we like to associate with Canada. Because he’s a stereotype himself, it’s hard to blame him for thinking in terms of stereotypes. “Oh, it’s just Don,” we chuckle.
But I worry that he’s also quite influential, and that there are people out there who don’t just chuckle, but actually take what he says seriously, and that’s why it’d be nice to see him put into context, challeneged, shot down, or even to see him learn once in a while, instead of getting five uncontested minutes to push his one-sided view on the world.