In Canada, wearing a poppy on November 11, Remembrance Day, in honor of fallen Canadian soldiers has been a rare civic tradition of solidarity and patriotism. It is inspired by the poem “In Flanders Fields” by Canadian doctor-soldier John McCrae about the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915:
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
But Canada now has other sacred idols.
A couple of days ago, Canadian living legend hockey broadcaster Don Cherry said:
“You people … 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,” Cherry said. “These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price.”
So, the 85-year-old has been fired on Remembrance Day for lack of reverence toward Canadian history’s true heroes, recent immigrants.
Cherry refused to apologize:
“I know what I said and I meant it. Everybody in Canada should wear a poppy to honour our fallen soldiers. To keep my job, I cannot be turned into a tamed robot.”
