Cherry’s poppy anger misplaced

In the now infamous segment of Coach’s Corner,

Don Cherry — in his once much-beloved style — decried a perceived dearth of commemorative poppies among new immigrants in Toronto and neighbouring Mississauga.

I am a former Windsor resident living in Toronto. The Bloor-yonge neighbourhood in which I reside is densely populated by new immigrants to Canada. Over the past week, I perceived a veritable sea of poppies in the area.

Don doesn’t live in my neighbourhood, so I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt. It is possible in the areas which he frequents there are in fact fewer poppies being worn. And perhaps those not wearing them are indeed new immigrants to Canada.

Even if that were the case, Don is wrong to lash out at that demographic.

If Don wants to be mad at someone, he should be mad at Canadians.

In my admittedly young lifetime, I have perceived only the most perfunctory lip service paid to the importance of the poppy.

There is a commercial here, a Facebook meme there and always around Remembrance Day.

That sort of commemoration hardly seems fitting of the sacrifice Canadian solders made so many years ago.

It is not a fitting remembrance of the horrors the troops faced, their reasons for fighting or the cost measured in human lives lost.

Don could have used his platform to pay proper tribute to those momentous occasions in our history to help better educate Canadians — new and old — on the importance and significance of our tradition.

He chose instead to deliver an angry, thoughtless condemnation.

If we want to keep the tradition of the poppy strong, it is incumbent upon us to better teach ourselves its importance.

Arman Anderson, Toronto