   Canadian speech police consider action
  not a bash against Canada or Canadians, just sems a bit silly. im sure many of you guys will agree.linky to clickyquote:Hill whining over GrapesFeds slam hockey talker for French gaffes By KATHLEEN HARRIS, OTTAWA BUREAU, SUN MEDIA  OTTAWA -- The furor over anti-French remarks made by hockey sports commentator Don Cherry has skated onto Parliament Hill. Official Languages Commissioner Dyan Adam said her probe into Cherry''s comments about francophones will be a "priority" while an angry senator demanded an apology in the red chamber. At issue are comments made on Hockey Night In Canada''s Coach''s Corner Jan. 24, when Cherry derided calls for mandatory use of protective visors by NHL players following a spate of eye injuries. Only "Europeans and French guys" routinely wear the visors, said the unrepentantly frank commentator known as Grapes. Yesterday, Adam called the remarks a "major issue" that were creating national turmoil. Her mandate is to ensure Official Languages Act provisions are upheld at all public institutions, including the CBC. "In this case, what we are hearing from the complainants is that the remarks in question don''t help in the respect of those communities and that they actually stigmatize them," she said. Liberal Senator Jean-Paul Gauthier agreed Cherry must be sanctioned for "disparaging" remarks that crossed the line. "You and I pay our taxes to support the public network. The mandate of the CBC is to promote national unity, not disunity," he said. He urged the Senate to write CBC president Robert Rabinovitch to tell Cherry to "shut up." "This is madness," said Conservative Jim Abbott, adding the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council shouldn''t be "censoring" free speech. "Clearly the bureaucrats have gone crazy," he said. "They''ve taken lessons from the official language police in Quebec." Former NHL coach Jacques Demers wrote in his weekly column in Le Journal de Montreal that Cherry should apologize or be fired for his "racist" comments. Cherry wouldn''t discuss his latest dip in hot water as he celebrated his 70th birthday yesterday. "I don''t want to talk about it," he said with a chuckle on all-sports radio station The Fan 590. "In a couple of weeks I''ll talk about it. But I''ve raised enough eyebrows." we had a similar situation in the US, although it was mre racially based as opposed to nationality based. however, there was no talk of any crime being committed. WOW.    Dredd________________________________________"To die with your sword still in its sheath is most regrettable" -- Miyomoto Musashi  
  Yeah, pretty ridiculous. But, as you said, we have our own PC problem.  "Tell me who''s the real patriots The Archie Bunker slobs waving flags Or the people with the guts to work For some real change?" -- Dead Kennedys ;  This is all extremely funny when you take into consideration that... it''s Don Cherry...Telling Don Cherry to be more PC really defeats the purpose of putting him on the air in the first place. ;  i worked a contract in Ann Arbor Michigan for about 3 months, fortunately for me it was during the end of the regular hockey season , all the way thru the Stanley Cup play offs. i really enjoyed watching the CBC, even though the news was a bit funny, the hockey coverage was top notch, on par with our football coverage here in the states. unfortunately i dont get the CBC in Dallas.   Dredd________________________________________"To die with your sword still in its sheath is most regrettable" -- Miyomoto Musashi ;  I'm not sure where you see the silliness; is it because he said stupid stuff on the air, or because some Canadians are jumping on him for it?When he referred to the "French", I think (that's what the local newspapers say, anyway) that he was referring to francophone Canadians. It's the reason why it's creating a bigger turmoil here in Quebec.The last time I heard of Cherry was during his infamous pro-America and pro-war stance last year:quote:Cherry, wearing one of his signature flamboyant ties -- a sparkly one in the colours of the American flag -- did not initially want to get on the topic of war, but after MacLean told him that: "everybody wants to know what you think," Cherry reluctantly complied. Cherry began his near-seven-minute tirade by apologizing to the U.S. on behalf of Canadians, saying that "years of pride went down the drain" with the Montreal fans' behaviour on Thursday. The Coach's Corner tandem did not agree on the war in Iraq. Cherry berated MacLean about being neutral on the subject, then slammed the Canadian government for its "lack of support to our American friends." "I hate to see them go it alone. We have a country that comes to our rescue, and we're just riding their coattails," Cherry said. That, after a hockey game, on our national television channel. I have to say:EDIT: I was looking for a video of that conversation, but without luck. ESPN has an article CBC removes 'inappropriate' video from Web site which starts by "For Don Cherry, apparently not all speech is free." Cédric   [edited by - Cedric on February 7, 2004 9:57:36 PM];quote:Original post by Dreddnafious Maelstrom  i really enjoyed watching the CBC, even though the news was a bit funnyI''m curious: why? The francophone equivalent of CBC, though it''s managed by a different group, has always managed to produce very high-quality news-reporting IMO (except for this year). I''m not as familiar with CBC, but what they did seemed comparable.Cédric ;  Don Cherry may not be the most sensitive, politically-correct, liberal-thinking person on the planet, but I respect for saying exactly what he thinks, without giving a damn for what anyone else thinks. The world would be a better place if we weren''t constantly tip-toe-ing around sensitive issues instead of taking them head-on.Yes, he''s a bigot. I''ve watched HNIC since I could see (not so much recetly; not having a TV makes it tricky), and it doesn''t take much to realize that it''s all for entertainment. He''s a clown; look at the clothes he wears . Nobody in their right mind takes what he says seriously. "Coach''s Corner" is by far my favorite part of HNIC.If he gets fired, political correctness in this country has gone too far. ;quote:Original post by ze_jackal  Don Cherry may not be the most sensitive, politically-correct, liberal-thinking person on the planet, but I respect for saying exactly what he thinks, without giving a damn for what anyone else thinks.Do you think that there should be a limit to what he can say on TV?The man embodies some of the stereotypes found in the super-male population, he represents them. It doesn''t take guts to attack people outside your supporters.quote:The world would be a better place if we weren''t constantly tip-toe-ing around sensitive issues instead of taking them head-on.He''s not "taking an issue head-on"; he''s spouting playground insults on TV. I think that the biggest problem is that people take offense from this kind of random insult, but it''s not like we''re going to change human nature tomorrow.Here, for a good laugh, watch how comfortable he is when he is tip-toe-ing around a really sensitive issue (it starts after 3 minutes and a half)quote:Nobody in their right mind takes what he says seriously.I''m not so sure about that. There are bigots everywhere, who are no doubts overjoyed to see someone they respect say what they think on TV. Plus, there are plenty of kids who are highly influenceable by the HNIC.Cédric ;quote:Original post by LockePick  Telling Don Cherry to be more PC really defeats the purpose of putting him on the air in the first place.Exactly.  I find the whole thing very amusing. AFAIK, the local paper even said that a lot of hockey all-stars are siding with Cherry. You don''t tell Don Cherry to shut up  Jesus saves ... the rest of you take damage."A page of history is worth a volume of logic." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes;quote:"Europeans and French guys" routinely wear the visors.Is this the statement that has everybody pissed off? If so, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. It''s actually true that most of the players that wear visors are french or european. He is just pointing out a fact. The fucking cbc is really pissing me off lately. They are so left wing and too worried about being politically correct. It makes me want to throw up. The only reason I watch the cbc is for HNIC. That is a tax payer funded network that is just there to spread propaganda to the citizens. I don''t think I want to pay for it anymore. 