An Open Letter to Don Cherry

On Saturday December 4th I was in my usual spot on the couch on a Saturday night watching the Leafs on CBC with my kids. And there you were Don coming into my living room and spraying all over the furniture like a dog visiting a tree farm. You were going on and on about how if you are someone like me that loves hockey, but believes it is about more than two guys trying to beat the crap out of each other, then you are some kind of bleeding heart leftie or some such nonsense.

I was embarrassed for you Don; you looked and sounded like a fool in front of my 3 kids. Two of them play hockey. They, to be really blunt Don (and I know you will appreciate bluntness) thought you were an idiot and said so. These are tough farm kids Don. They aren’t afraid of a little rough stuff, but you showed yourself to be so out of step with today’s game- a game based on skill and speed that is was really hard not to just feel sorry for you Don. I know Don, for guys like us that really weren’t all that good we had to rely of fighting and so on to keep up. But really Don is that what you want for today’s kids- it sure isn’t what I want as a father of two hockey players and as someone who loves hockey at all levels. Heck put me in front of a game from anywhere to the fun and joy of tykes playing, to the spirit in girls hockey, or my Owen Sound Attack or my heartbreaking Leafs and I will enjoy it. I’ll even cheer for both teams when a great save is made, or a wonderful play, because I love hockey that much.

It was bad enough when you attacked the game of hockey with such clownish opinions in front of my kids Don, but then just a few days later you made the news for attacking those of us on the so-called left again. And I say so-called because apparently to you someone qualifies for being politically left wing if they dare to ride a bike and want to do it safely. (See how ridiculous you are Don when it is put so bluntly). You then went on to call people like me ‘pinkos’ and ‘ kooks’. Don, you are entitled to your opinions, you are even entitled to be ungracious and rude at an event meant to be a celebration and a place to find common ground. But you know Don, what really set me off was your claim that you somehow spoke for blue collar working people when we both know you are anything but. Don you make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year sucking at the teat of public money. You Don are a millionaire for no reason other than having a loud voice and even louder clothes. You are completely divorced from the reality of most working people in this country and have been for a long time. While families are finding life more and more unaffordable you are living the high life off their taxes. (Again Don I know you will appreciate some blunt talk)

You called people like me kooks Don- so I thought I should publicly state some of the kooky things I am fighting for, things the Conservative government you support are putting out of reach of working families, our seniors, our military and many others in our society. I’ll just include three for space reasons, but trust me the list is a lot longer.

Kooky thing number 1

I believe that supporting our troops means not putting them into situations where there is no clear goal or where there is no clear reason to believe our interests as a nation are at stake. I believe in treating our men and women in uniforms as if they matter and aren’t just fodder to politics. That’s kooky eh Don? I also think that no one in government has yet to really explain what we are doing as a country in Afghanistan. I’m just a simple family man, so maybe I just don’t get it, but I don’t think so. I’ve been listening. I support our troops doing the best jobs they can in a situation they did not create. But do you know who I don’t support Don? I don’t support a government that puts them in harm’s way without so much as a vote in Parliament, or that is not honest with Canadians about what we are really doing and who we are really supporting and continues to use them as props to promote themselves.

Kooky thing number 2

I know up where you roam in the many hundreds of thousands of dollars salary range for doing nothing more than spouting off it might be hard to notice, but times are tough down here. I know a lot of people who are working more than one job just to keep their heads above water, let alone get ahead. That Conservative government you are using our tax dollars to stump for on Coaches Corner is making things worse. Big banks are raking in millions upon millions in tax cuts while the rest of us folks are getting nickle and dimed by them. In fact the tax cuts to the bank alone this year would have been enough money to lift all seniors out of poverty in Canada. That’s a heck of a kooky goal don’t you think Don – a Canada where no senior has to choose between their heat and food? Seniors built this great country you and I love, but you support the guys that don’t care about keeping them in poverty – now who is it that is the kook again Don?

Kooky thing number 3

Did you know Don that many of Canada’s farmers have to take off farm jobs, or use their pensions to keep their farms going? I’ve been working on this one for a long time Don and I think it is just shameful that the people who grow our food are seeing their debt levels rise, economic hardship and all of their hard work not rewarded. And you know what Don, here’s the kooky part, it is your friends in the Conservatives that I have had to fight all the way. Doesn’t matter what front you look on but all around you are broken Conservative promises to farmers, boneheaded decisions and a failure to stand up for Canada’s interests. I know Don its kooky- because that’s not how they talk, but the record is just so darn clear. Farmers just want to make a decent living from growing food – a living that will cover their costs and leave a little left over so they might be able to enjoy a hockey game or two sometime. No farmer I know dreams of getting a multi-hundred thousand dollar cheque from public money like you do just for spouting their mouth off. Heck if that’s available let me know where to sign up! I know some people Don that would give you a run for your money. No, farmers want a free market that is fair and open and actually works. But your team, the Conservatives, keeps siding with big business and making it impossible for farmers to earn a real living from the market. It’s kooky Don. Those Conservatives of yours keep trying to help big business control the marketplace and guys like me keep trying to make the market open and free, but guess who gets called a ‘pinko’ Don. Life sure is strange sometimes isn’t it?

Don I wish you all the best. You do good work sometimes. I appreciate your highlighting the great people we are losing in Afghanistan, even if we disagree over the advisability of putting those young men and women in harm’s way. But Don, please stop pretending you know anything about someone like me, and Don, quit the childish name-calling. I would never put up with it from my kids, so don’t you think as an adult you might want to stop acting like a duffus.

Now really Don if you could get away from your millionaire friends for a minute and look at a little history you will find it was kooks like Tommy Douglas who brought Canada a universal health care system- a system your team is endangering by the way Don, through neglect. Other kooks fought to bring old age security to Canada so that seniors could retire with some dignity – again Don it is your team that refuses to live up to that promise to seniors. Other kooks fought to ensure working people had the right to refuse life-endangering work, days off and a whole host of things workers take for granted today. And yet again Don, if you could break away from your government paid job you would find that it is your team that is making it harder for working folks. Now Don here’s the thing, it was yet other kooks (although often it was the same kooks) who worked hard to make sure drinking water and the air we breathe was free of pollution while your team gives massive breaks to big polluters and looks the other way when they pollute our water – like the oil sands are doing. In the end Don, (and look out here comes some more blunt talk) I would far prefer a Canada where we kooks can get things done for Canadians than a bunch of out of touch Conservatives with you acting as a cheerleader in a clown suit.