WARMINGTON: When it comes to Alberta's wants, Coach Don Cherry says Canada should listen
Grapes feels Alberta has a 'pretty good' case they deserve a better deal from Canada
Article content
As they embark upon getting a better deal from Ottawa, Alberta has the coach in their corner.
And, unlike Premier Doug Ford who was highly critical of Premier Danielle Smith’s Monday news conference suggesting if Albertans want a referendum on potential separation from Canada she oblige, Don Cherry says he understands the great western province’s position.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
WARMINGTON: When it comes to Alberta's wants, Coach Don Cherry says Canada should listen Back to video
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“They want a better deal, and they deserve it,” Cherry told the Toronto Sun.
Cherry, once voted as Canada’s 7th Greatest Canadian by the audience of the CBC, is vehemently opposed to the breakup of Canada. But he’s not opposed to making sure Alberta gets some of the concessions that Smith outlined she expects to happen.
As part of the Cherry’s Corner segment that Sun photographer Jack Boland and I did with Grapes following the Maple Leafs first game against the Florida Panthers, we asked Don if he wanted to weigh in on the sovereignty issue.
It was interesting because as we were talking about Canada, he pulled out a special Canadian flag built from Canadian lumber and old wooden Canadian hockey sticks that was given to him by Canuck patriot artist and woodworker Jamie Wiley of Parry Sound.
“I love this,” Cherry said of the special Canadiana piece that melds together the country’s love of nation and hockey. “This was made with pride by Jamie, who is a good Canadian.”
I wrote about these special wooden flags back on Flag Day, Feb. 15.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Cherry is as Canada first and Canada strong as he was when Rogers let him go in 2019 after 38 years on Coach’s Corner on Hockey Night in Canada for saying “you people love our milk and honey” and the “least you can do” is spend a couple of bucks on a poppy. Nothing has changed for Don on Canada from when he was encouraging people to buy and wear a poppy to honour our fallen and serving troops and our veterans on Remembrance Day.
His opinion mattered then. And, at 91, it still matters now. Cherry is a voice of a patriotic generation.
Meanwhile, the biggest part of Smith’s concerns is that Alberta’s growth isn’t curtailed by anti-energy lobbyists and their wealth that is used by other provinces through equalization payments.
“For Albertans, these attacks on our province by our own federal government have become unbearable,” said Smith.
She made the point that the approach in the past ten years with Liberals at the helm makes no sense.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“The world looks at us like we’ve lost our minds,” the premier said in her historic statement. “We have the most abundant and accessible natural resources of any country on earth, and yet we landlock them, sell what we do produce to a single customer to the south of us, while enabling polluting dictatorships to eat our lunch.”
Cherry agrees that Alberta needs to be heard. “When you hear their argument, it’s pretty good,” said Grapes.
That said, Cherry’s pal Ford was not thrilled with what Smith foreshadowed in her statement.
“This is a time to unite the country, not people saying, ‘Oh, I’m leaving the country,’” the Ontario premier told reporters after Smith’s announcement. Smith retorted: “I don’t tell him how he should run his province, and I would hope that he doesn’t tell me how I should run mine.”
tap here to see other videos from our team.
Cherry has managed to find the middle ground and his sage analysis offers good advice for Canadians to follow when it comes to Alberta. His point is all things can be true at the same time. He’s against the idea of Alberta leaving but also sees their point.
And he doesn’t believe that in the end Alberta will vote to break up Canada.
“I believe Canadians (would) never (vote to) ever leave. I don’t believe Alberta will leave either.”
But he does agree that the province’s concerns should be both listened to and addressed.
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion. Please keep comments relevant and respectful. Comments may take up to an hour to appear on the site. You will receive an email if there is a reply to your comment, an update to a thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information.