There is no ‘you people’: Jagmeet Singh condemns Don Cherry

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — NDP leader Jagmeet Singh is adding his voice to the chorus of people condemning Don Cherry for comments made on Hockey Night in Canada Saturday.

“All sorts of people have served and paid the ultimate sacrifice in the name of Canada. Women, immigrants, LGBTQ2S Canadians, Indigenous people. There is no “you people”. We’re all as Canadian as the next. We honour all who served. That’s what Canada is all about,” Singh wrote on Twitter and Facebook Sunday.

Singh is the only federal leader who weighed in Sunday.

Harjit Sajjan, Minister of National Defence under Justin Trudeau, also took to Twitter to object to Cherry’s comments.

 He proceeded to pay tribute to the diverse people who have enlisted in the Armed Forces, including Indigenous people, people of colour, immigrants, and women.

Don Cherry, on his weekly segment as part of Hockey Night in Canada Saturday, said he’s less frequently seeing people wearing poppies anymore to honour fallen Canadian soldiers – and he singled out those he believes are immigrants in Toronto, prompting a swift online backlash.

Sportsnet president Bart Yabsley issued a statement Sunday morning, calling Cherry’s comments discriminatory and offensive.

“They do not represent our values and what we stand for as a network. We have spoken with Don about the severity of the issue and we sincerely apologize for these divisive remarks.”

The NHL called the comments “offensive and contrary to the values we believe in” in a brief statement issued Sunday.

Rogers Media, a subsidiary of Rogers Communications, is the parent company of Sportsnet which also owns NEWS 1130.