After snubbing Don Cherry for over 40 years, the Order of Canada should drop politics and appoint him

This week’s appointment of hockey icon Don Cherry to the Order of Ontario begs the question yet again: Why hasn’t Cherry been made a member of the Order of Canada? It’s been nearly 45 years since Cherry first hosted Coach’s Corner back in 1982. The brash straight talker immediately began winning over millions of Canadians, who made sure they didn’t change the channel during the first intermission of the Saturday game on Hockey Night In Canada. In 2004, Cherry was ranked the seventh greatest Canadian of all time by the CBC’s miniseries The Greatest Canadian (2004), The sports broadcaster bested Sir John A. Macdonald, Wayne Gretzky, Alexander Graham Bell, and many other Canadian luminaries. More than 1.2 million Canadians cast votes for who they believed was the best Canadian throughout the nation’s then nearly 140-year history. And yet Gretzky, and every other name in the top 30 greatest Canadians eligible to be added to the Order of Canada (alive after it was formed in 1967) has been bestowed the top Canadian civilian honour—except Cherry. A community-minded coach The Order of Canada, created exactly a century after Confederation, states it recognizes Canadians exemplifying “extraordinary achievement, service to the nation, and dedication to the community.” Cherry, now 92 and fully retired from public life since stepping back from his podcast last year, brought in millions of Canadians during the peak of cable television in the 90s and early 2000s. Grapes had well above 10 percent of the entire nation watching his Saturday night sideshow. It was described as “one of the most watched five minutes on Canadian TV.” During the 37-year-old lifespan of Coach’s Corner, Canadians across the country would eagerly tune in to see what Cherry had to say about our national game, and anything else on his mind around the state of the nation and its people. Community was also something top of mind for Cherry. He isn’t just an iconic, colourful hockey commentator in equally colourful suits. He has been a devoted philanthropist and humanitarian, as well as the biggest booster of Canada’s military service men and women, veterans, and fallen soldiers. Cherry regularly cheerleaded the Royal Canadian Legion and their poppy campaign, minor hockey and youth development , animal welfare and pet rescue, hospitals and health fundraisers, first responders, and cancer charities. “Cherry is also recognized for extensive philanthropy, supporting the military and police, youth sports and animal welfare through Don Cherry’s Pet Rescue Foundation. He founded Rose Cherry’s Home for Kids and is a strong advocate for organ donation, ” said the citation in part for his Order of Ontario, The man certainly fits the Order of Canada’s raison d’être: desiderantes meliorem patriam (“they desire a better country”). Why the snub?  Cherry has undoubtedly been repeatedly nominated and repeatedly rejected for the Order of Canada throughout the past four decades. Each year on Canada Day, a list of new appointees to the Order of Canada is revealed and each year, social media lights up with Cherry’s many fans calling for him to be added to the list of now 8,729 members. Yet many lesser, far obscurer names—with thinner credentials—have been appointed. Such eminent figures include music journalist Nardwuar the Human Serviette, political cartoonist Michael de Adder, Antonio Ariganello for “standards in accounting”, and Deanne M. Fitzpatrick for advancing “rug hooking as an art form”. The politics of Order of Canada appointments Certainly, Cherry would be a controversial appointment to the order, but no more so than other appointments such as abortion rights activist physician Henry Morgentaler in 2008. Cherry’s reputation of course took a hit in the eyes of some Canadians when, during the height of cancel culture in 2019, his “you people” comments on his personal observations that immigrants and newer Canadians weren’t wearing poppies enough in the lead-up to Remembrance Day got him fired from Coach’s Corner. Nevermind Cherry’s countless interactions and appreciation for Canadians from immigrant families, like his clear love for second-generation Muslim Canadian NHL star Nazem Kadri or his friendship with black NHL star P.K. Subban. Many of Cherry’s detractors on the Left read the worst racist view of the incident. It couldn’t be that Cherry, then age 85, spoke a bit more off the cuff than usual when voicing his frustration over an issue he cares passionately about and that the rest of the country should care about. Regardless of one’s interpretation, however, his wide popularity with many Canadians remains. Even after his gaffe, Cherry’s reputation certainly stands much taller than previous recipients stripped of their Order of Canada medals; including David Ahenakew (for his antisemitic comments), Peter Savaryn (for his Nazi military service being discovered), Ranjit Chandra (for committing academic fraud), and music artist Buffy Sainte-Marie (for faking Indigenous identity). Cherry’s glaring omission becomes all the more clear when looking at the makeup of the Advisory Council of the Order of Canada, which chooses appointees. The council presents itself as a non-partisan body operating above the fray of politics, but a clear-eyed look at its composition tells a different story. The clerk of the Privy Council, the top unelected bureaucrat in the country, whose boss is the prime minister, holds a permanent seat. So does the deputy minister of Canadian Heritage, another senior federal appointee whose department exists to define and promote a particular vision of Canadian identity. The chair of the Canada Council for the Arts is a cabinet appointment, chosen by whichever government is in power. In addition, another seven seats of the council are filled by sitting members of the Order of Canada, selected by the Governor General, who herself is appointed and acts on the advice of the prime minister. The remaining ex officio seats belong to the head of Board of Directors of Universities Canada and the Royal Society of Canada, bodies drawn almost exclusively from the country’s left-leaning academic establishment. While the council doesn’t receive a phone call from the Prime Minister’s Office with their picks, today, its members hail from a Laurentian elite largely appointed and tied to Canada’s natural governing party. That progressive, central Canadian worldview runs counter to Cherry’s unapologetic, blue-collar, proudly nationalist sensibility. Prime Minister Mark Carney, who’s shown himself to be more of a pragmatist than a partisan, could score a major political win by extending an olive branch to the millions of Canadians Cherry represents. The prime minister could further unite the country by publicly nominating Donald Stewart Cherry to the nation’s highest honour, ensuring Canada’s coach is finally given his rightful and deserving spot in Canadian history.