Political Correctness gone mad in Canada, again.

[df2inaus]

Possibly the most outspoken and popular sports commentator in North America is again facing the wrath of self-righteous overpaid leftist bureaucrats.

Don Cherry became the target of Canada's left a year ago when he blasted the Prime Minister on the air for refusing to support the US going to war in Iraq.

This man, while an average hockey player, has become one of the biggest breaths of fresh air in the North American media.

I love this country so much but its become unbearable and I'm looking forward to leaving in a couple of years.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSu ... 37821.html

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."

[Whitey]

The commissars of the New World order demand yet another sacrafice upon the alter of Political Correctness.

[Sisyphus]

I love this country so much but its become unbearable and I'm looking forward to leaving in a couple of years.

[/quote]

So where are you off to, df? Is there some hidden paradise on earth you're keeping secret from us?

[df2inaus]

Sisyphus,

Good question. Believe it or not, I'm going back to the UK to be near my wife's parents. Certainly not the holy grail is it?

I'll explain, Anglo-Saxon wrote he'll always be English in his heart. I'll always be Canadian in my heart.

My grandfather fled for his life from Ukraine in the '20's and found Canada and really did consider it paradise. By the time he was 80, he was very sad to see his beloved adopted country declining and our alleged leaders not making the slightest effort to stop it.

One defining moment came in 1985, when Canadian intelligence officers were witness to a bomb test explosion in British Columbia. They were not allowed to arrest the perpetrators because it might have offended the Sikh community. The consequences? Air India 747 blows up over the Irish Sea.

When a Canadian goes abroad and picks up a newspaper, he finds it impossible to read a single thing about Canada. That suits me just fine because I don't want to know about the latest blunder.

Call it escapism if you want. All the things that are wrong with Britain bother me a great deal, but I don't take it personally, it doesn't seem to get to me as much. I'd like to know what the English expats living in Canada think about this!

All is not lost, I'm trying to be part of the solution right now actually by working on the campaign of the right wing Conservative Party, they are not Tories, they are for real. Nearly every MP west of Ontario, where Andy and Anglo live, is Conservative, so another option would be to move where I'm among like-minded Canadians.

[Sisyphus]

Sisyphus,

Good question. Believe it or not, I'm going back to the UK to be near my wife's parents. Certainly not the holy grail is it?

Not sure, df. I know loads of people who've moved permanently to Spain. I like it there but would never do 'full time'. I've done a fair bit of travelling and enjoyed every country I've been in; but there's always something nice about coming 'home'.

Moving to be near the mother-in-law? Now there's a man with physical and moral courage if there ever was one.

[df2inaus]

Sisyphus,

I've done a fair bit of travelling and enjoyed every country I've been in; but there's always something nice about coming 'home'.

Of course there is! I love my country and when or if we do come back permanently, we'll probably live on Vancouver Island or in the Okanagan.

The reasons the missus and I want to go back to the UK is that we'll be able to afford to see Europe by car multiple times, I can go back to my beloved TA, and the pound means something abroad. Hillwalking or the seaside is just a couple of hours away. I can run all year round.

The rest of Canada has a love-hate relationship not unlike the North-South of England. Toronto's great for making money and watching the value of your home skyrocket, but as for quality of life, places like Alberta and British Columbia have us beat, as Andy and Anglo-Saxon will attest.

[Tab]

How is this for madness, a student at Westside High School in Omaha Nebraska [Trevor Richards age 16] was suspended for applying to be considered for the prize Distinguished African-American Student Of The
Year. Trevor had been born in Africa and so had his parents and grand parents. The problem was Trevor was white and even though he was the only student to be born in Africa, the school maintain that he was insulting the black people as only black people could be African American. Now if we follow this line of thought can black people be Americans.

[Sisyphus]

like Alberta and British Columbia have us beat, as Andy and Anglo-Saxon will attest.

#

df

I once saw a film with Anthony Hopkins being chased by a big grizzly bear [oooH, what a lucky boy! ] Can't remember the name. The thing I enjoyed most wasn't the script, the plot or the acting. It was the scenery. Absolutely mind boggling. Breathtaking. So when the film ended I sat there watching the credits to see the 'filmed on location' bit. The cinema had emptied and there's me still watching. Do you know how LONG credits go on for???? Any way, the cinema attendant must have thought I was nuts as he was waiting to lock up

Anyway, eventually, up it came. Canadian Rockies, Alberta. I have three items left on my list of 'Things to do before I die'. Visiting the Canadian Rockies is one of them.

[Frank S.]

Sisyphus, that was "the edge" with Hopkins and Alec Baldwin. More recently, "Insomnia" with Al Pacino had some great scenery shots as well, but I'm not sure where it was filmed. Alaska? BC?

[Sisyphus]

Frank

You're right: it was The Edge. And it might have been BC. Brain cells decaying daily!

Didn't see the other film but will look out for it in Blockbusters!

Cheers!

[Andy O'Pray]

like Alberta and British Columbia have us beat, as Andy and Anglo-Saxon will attest.

#

I have three items left on my list of 'Things to do before I die'. Visiting the Canadian Rockies is one of them.

Sisyphus. One of the best ways to enjoy the Rockies is by train. Take the train from either Edmonton or Calgary to Vancouver. If you take the Edmonton route you will stop off at Jasper national park. The Calgary route takes you through Banff. Better still go from Edmonton to Vancouver and return Vancouver to Calgary. Just remember to bring plenty of film with you.

Aye - Andy. :fadein:

[Sisyphus]

Cheers Andy,

Good advice I'll seriously consider for my 'itinerary' - if I get to 'tick off' that one on my list of 3.

[Mr Grimsdale]

Of course there is! I love my country and when or if we do come back permanently, we'll probably live on Vancouver Island or in the Okanagan.

Vancouver Island - very nice!
I've never understood why you chaps haven't let Quebec go its own way.

[df2inaus]

Mr. Grimsdale,

I've never understood why you chaps haven't let Quebec go its own way.

Neither do I. I'm absolutely convinced both nations would fare so much better on their own. There are forces more powerful than separatists at work in Quebec who will do anything to maintain things the way they are.

Imagine if Scotland or Wales wielded enough influence to completely reshape Britain's foreign policy for fear they would separate. That would mean either no foreign policy at all or just hiding behind the UN, which is what Canada does.

I hope to see an independent Quebec in my lifetime.