re: #52 Sir John Barron

What point about immigrants was the dude even trying to make?

Yesterday was Veterans Day. In Canada we call it Remembrance Day but the sentiment is the same.

However, in Canada people wear red poppy pins around this time of year as a show of respect and honor to those who served. I do believe it began as a British tradition that carried across the Atlantic. There’s a famous poem by a Canadian WWI soldier named John McCrae that begins: “In Flanders Fields, the poppies grow between the crosses row by row” which is another reason for the symbolism.

Cherry was ranting because of immigrants in the Toronto area that he felt were being disrespectful by not wearing poppies to honor Canadian servicemen. Now the poppies are 100% voluntary for EVERY single Canadian. It’s a personal choice whether or not you wear one.

Additionally, Cherry was using coded language that made it clear he was specifically talking about Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants, of which Toronto has a large population. So basically Cherry was saying immigrants were “unpatriotic” for not wearing poppies in the same vein as American RWNJs decry people as “Unpatriotic” for wanting to ban guns or not saying the Pledge of Allegiance. It’s the same bigotry in a slightly different coat of paint.