Don Cherry said his departure from Hockey Night in Canada in 2019 was not an orchestrated “exit strategy” related to health concerns, as was recently suggested by Ron MacLean, his ex-longtime on-air partner.

The former co-host of Coach’s Corner isn’t ready to call MacLean’s candid comments to the

Kingston Whig Standard

a “betrayal,” but admitted to feeling aggrieved by the narrative created after so many years have passed.

“I’m very disappointed in Ron that he would bring this up,” Cherry, 91, told the

Toronto Sun’s Joe Warmington in a conversation about MacLean’s assertions

. “I’m very disappointed that he would reach back five years and do this.

“He should let it go,” he added.

Cherry said he was “really surprised” when his wife Luba showed him the story, noting to Warmington that as far as she is concerned, MacLean is not welcome at their home or to contact them. Luba told the writer she would speak with her husband’s former peer directly.

⁦@CoachsCornerDC⁩ explains his “disappointment” in Ron MacLean and that he is not welcome to his home as far as his wife is concerned following a recent interview in which conveys personal health information and unsubstantiated narratives how he left Coach’s Corner in 2919 pic.twitter.com/mBI3WmTWds

— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) July 12, 2025

Broached with the subject of Cherry and his son Tim possibly ending their podcast Grapevine by Whig Standard sports writer Gare Joyce recently, MacLean was reminded of Cherry’s departure from HNIC and tied it to the pneumonia he was suffering from at the end of a long Stanley Cup Final between the St. Louis Blues and Boston Bruins that June.

MacLean alleged that Cherry was struggling to breathe on their flight to Boston for a decisive Game 7, and he was taken to a sauna upon landing in an attempt to “clear out his lungs.”

A then 85-year-old Cherry would go on air that night, but his account of what occurred after the game differs from MacLean’s.

“Don and I didn’t have our post-show ritual beers (because) he was so sick,” MacLean told the Whig Standard. “I just had a couple of beers by myself and then I got a call from (National Hockey League Commissioner) Gary Bettman — you know, he and I are like, well, pick your poison — and he asks, ‘How’s Don?’ I tell him, ‘He’s good. Why do you ask?’ (Bettman) says, ‘Well, he’s in hospital.’ That was a shocker.”

For his part, Cherry insisted to Warmington that while he was “pretty tired,” there was no hospital visit in Boston.

“I went to my room,” he said, admitting he later visited a hospital upon returning to Canada, where he spent one night being assessed and treated for pneumonia.

Regardless, MacLean went on to suggest the “pneumonia scare” led Cherry to begin “plotting a way out” that ultimately arrived on a November broadcast ahead of Remembrance Day when he spoke about immigrants to Canada not wearing poppies to honour Canada’s fallen soldiers.

“You people come here, whatever it is, you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for a poppy,” Cherry said at the time.

Rogers Sportsnet released him two days later following public backlash, which MacLean said “was the right outcome.”

“Don needed out, and the time was right. (Remembrance Day) was his last swing, taking a stance that’s unpopular, but that feels good in his world. For Don, it’s all a fight. It’s all a battle. So he was happy and I’m happy for him.”

Cherry also flatly rejected that assertion, saying “he wasn’t looking for a way out.”

“He can say what he wants, but it never happened.”

⁦@CoachsCornerDC⁩ says ⁦@Ron_MacLean⁩ in story suggesting he was looking for an exit plan to leave Coach’s Corner and Hockey Night in Canada on Rogers Sportsnet is wrong and than it’s the other way around. They were looking for reason to fire him. pic.twitter.com/I8TnUnmegr

— Joe Warmington (@joe_warmington) July 12, 2025

Cherry said he’s not been in contact with MacLean about the statements, nor does he plan to reach out.

As for the future of the Grapevine podcast, Cherry and his son told Warmington that the show will continue.

• Rex Murphy: Don Cherry’s cruel exclusion from the Order of Canada
• ‘I’ve been through some ordeals’: Ron MacLean is the last Canadian icon

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As Canada ramps up defence spending in an effort to meet its NATO commitments, a pollster suggests the military may struggle to find the people it needs. According to a new Angus Reid Institute poll, just under half of Canadians say they’d be willing to serve if war broke out, and younger adults were the least likely to say they would volunteer.

The survey asked Canadians if they would be willing to fight in a war. Only 49 per cent of respondents said they would volunteer for military service in a combat role. Nineteen per cent said, “Yes, if my country called on me,” while 30 per cent said, “Yes, but only if I agreed with the reasons for fighting.” More than a third (39 per cent) said they would not be willing to volunteer to fight, while another 12 per cent were not sure. In 1985, when asked if they would be willing to fight for Canada, 61 per cent said “yes,” while 15 per cent said “it depends.”

“One of the things that’s becoming very clear, and very evident is that the conversation around military readiness, security, defence, is certainly having a moment. We’re seeing a 30-year high in terms of willingness to spend more on defence,” said Shachi Kurl, president of the Angus Reid Institute, in an interview with National Post. “We wanted to understand the size and the scope of the willingness (to volunteer for the armed forces) among Canadians.”

For years, the Canadian Armed Forces has been dealing with a recruitment crisis and public pride in the military has taken a hit following concerns about underfunding and the lingering impact of the 2021 sexual misconduct scandal. In 2019 nearly 80 per cent of Canadians said they felt proud of the armed forces, today that has dropped to 52 per cent.

Willingness to serve was highest among men over the age of 54, with 69 per cent saying they would be willing to volunteer (35 per cent unreservedly and 34 per cent if they agree with the war) and only 21 per cent saying they would not. However, since the army’s retirement age is 60, this willingness is of limited practical use. Meanwhile, younger Canadians, who are more sought after by the armed forces, were less willing to volunteer.

“It’s one thing to just talk about, we’re going to spend money, it’s another thing to commit the dollars and spend the money, but the money is going to be spent on people. So how do you square that circle, knowing, for example, that among the least amount of willingness … is among that 18 to 34 cohort,” said Kurl.

The poll found that 45 per cent of men aged 18 to 34 were willing to volunteer to fight (21 per cent unreservedly and 34 per cent if they agree with the war) while 36 per cent of men said they were not willing to volunteer. Women in that age group were far less willing to serve, despite efforts to recruit more women to the armed forces. Only 31 per cent said they would volunteer (10 per cent unreservedly and 21 per cent if they agree with the war) while 58 per cent said they would not.

Overall, Canadians older than 54 are more willing to serve (55 per cent) than men and women aged 18 to 34 (43 per cent).

The poll also showed that political affiliation played a role in willingness. Nearly six in 10 past Conservative voters said they would volunteer, compared to just over four in 10 Liberal voters. A majority of NDP (54 per cent) and Bloc Québécois (52 per cent) supporters declined to volunteer at all.

“We’ve seen through extensive study at the Institute on other related areas, such as where should Canada’s international priorities be, Conservative voters do tend to say they should be more on defence,” said Kurl.

“It’s notable, again, in terms of some of those who are most willing are older male conservative voters,” which again, is not the demographic the forces’ are looking for.

As Canada recommits to its role in NATO, the question isn’t just how much the country is willing to spend on its military, but who is willing to serve in it.

“We don’t have robot armies yet, so there’s also a human aspect to this,” said Kurl.

The national online survey was conducted from June 2 to 23 among a randomised sample of 1,619 Canadians who are members of the Angus Reid Forum. It was weighted to represent Canadian adults nationwide, according to the census. Traditional margins of error do not apply to online surveys, but, for comparison purposes, a probability sample of this size would have a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

• Canada’s boutique military: ‘Should we not be able to defend ourselves?’
• Less than 1% of students rank Canadian Forces as their top career choice

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Most of the fentanyl entering the United States continues to come from the southern border, not the northern one, according to a recent report by an American think-tank, despite President Donald Trump’s statement on Thursday that Canadian authorities have failed “to stop the drugs from pouring into our country.”

“Countering supply effectively depends on understanding what the dominant drug-trafficking routes are,” says the report by the Manhattan Institute, which was published July 1. “New data on fentanyl seizures presented here largely reinforce previous understanding that most IMF (illegally manufactured fentanyl) enters the U.S. from the south. These data call into question tariffs and other policies and policy justifications that treat the threat from the northern border as comparably severe.”

Donald J. Trump Truth Social 07.10.25 08:15 PM EST pic.twitter.com/33y4kfJlPl

— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) July 11, 2025

The report used new data regarding fentanyl seizures, which challenges public pronouncements made by Trump and the White House about the threats posed by the Canadian border. Authors Jon Caulkins and Bishu Giri write that such concerns are largely overstated and could even undermine America’s ability to prioritize tightening the country’s border with Mexico.

The report looked at “large” seizures of fentanyl — defined as over a kilogram of powder or more than 1,000 pills — that would suggest wholesale trafficking as opposed to smuggling for personal use. It found that officials made more large seizures in U.S. counties along the northern and southern borders when compared to the rest of the country. However, far more seizures were made in the south.

“Counties along the Mexican border account for only 2.35 per cent of the U.S. population; but in 2023–24, they hosted about 40 per cent of the nationwide quantity of fentanyl appearing in large seizures, for both powder and pills,” says the executive summary of the Manhattan Institute’s

report

. “By contrast, counties in the lower 48 states that border Canada account for 3.1 per cent of the U.S. population but only 1.2 per cent of the powder and just 0.5 per cent of the pills obtained in large seizures.”

Caulkins, the H. Guyford Stever University professor of operations research and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College in Pittsburgh, told National Post that his findings are “not terribly complicated or subtle.” He said that cross-border drug flows often mirror where seizures occur, and the data point to an uncontroversial finding.

“The basic punch line of this study is that seizures of fentanyl in the United States are disproportionately at borders: no surprise. It’s mostly produced internationally and then shipped in. But the vast majority of that is on the borders of Mexico, not on the borders with Canada.” When asked whether he was surprised by his findings, Caulkins, who has been a drug police researcher for over three decades, laughed and said he wasn’t.

“It’s what I expected.”

One thing that did strike him as overlooked was drug smuggling into Alaska, which he hadn’t contemplated deeply before. The report found that certain counties in Alaska could be portals from Canada to the broader Alaska market, “although those quantities are much too small to be of consequence beyond Alaska.” There were 26 seizures in Alaska counties that border Canada — “triple what would be expected based on those counties’ population” but still small when compared to the rest of the Alaska market.

“Maybe Alaska does get its fentanyl from Canada, because there’s not necessarily a large presence of Mexican drug trafficking organizations in Alaska, and you can’t easily drive from Mexico to Alaska without crossing several international borders,” he said. “I didn’t know that was coming, and by all means, maybe U.S. and Canadian authorities can put a few more inspectors on those ferries or whatever. But that’s not going to move the needle for the country, but it might be useful, right locally.”

President Trump has frequently cited the weakness of the nearly 10,000-kilometre long U.S.-Canada border as a threat to national security and a vulnerability that cartels and smugglers actively exploit.

“Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illicit drugs of all kinds have poured across our borders and into our communities,” Trump wrote in a

public statement released

on February 1, just weeks after returning to the White House. He framed the crisis as having “profound consequences on our Nation, endangering lives and putting a severe strain on our health-care system, public services, and communities.”

“Canada has played a central role in these challenges, including by failing to devote sufficient attention and resources or meaningfully coordinate with United States law enforcement partners to effectively stem the tide of illicit drugs,” Trump said in February.

Two days after Trump’s message, then prime minister Justin Trudeau announced the implementation of a new “$1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl.”

I just had a good call with President Trump. Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl. Nearly…

— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 3, 2025

Prime Minister Mark Carney dismissed Trump’s claims of a porous Canadian border posing a threat to American national security in a social media message responding to the U.S. president on Thursday night.

“Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge of fentanyl in North America,” the prime minister

wrote

. “We are committed to continuing to work with the United States to save lives and protect communities in both our countries.”

The Manhattan Institute report concluded that it would likely be more useful for the United States to direct more of its focus to the southern border if it wants to reduce the flow of fentanyl.

“Counties along the Canadian border are not an important part of this story,” the report states. “Whatever the merits or drawbacks of tariffs on imports from Canada — a question of economics and international relations that goes far beyond our analysis — such actions cannot be justified as part of a pragmatic and data-informed response to the threat of fentanyl to the United States.”

Throughout the current trade negotiations with the United States, the Canadian government has steadfastly defended our workers and businesses. We will continue to do so as we work towards the revised deadline of August 1.

Canada has made vital progress to stop the scourge…

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) July 11, 2025

• Carney says deadline for new deal with U.S. delayed as Trump threatens 35% tariffs on Canada
• U.S. identifies fentanyl superlabs in Canada as a ‘growing concern’

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A group of Indigenous leaders are pushing for the cancellation of shows featuring the Irish hip-hop group Kneecap, arguing the rappers glorify terrorism and promote antisemitism.

“Kneecap has outwardly supported antisemitism, genocide, and the indiscriminate murder of civilians. Allowing them to play in Canada would be a stain on our country’s reputation,” says the letter, signed by nine Indigenous leaders in Canada.

Kneecap, a Belfast-based trio comprised of Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh (who performs under the name Mo Chara), Naoise Ó Cairealláin (Móglaí Bap) and JJ Ó Dochartaigh (DJ Próvaí), has seen a number of concerts cancelled amid the band’s outspoken support for Palestinians and criticism of Israel.

Ó hAnnaidh faces charges under the British Terrorism Act for allegedly waving the flag of Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group, last November. (He is out on bail.)

“We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves. This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction,” the group wrote on social media, according to al Jazeera.

The letter argues that Kneecap, having allegedly voiced support for Hezbollah and Hamas, should not be allowed to play in Canada on Indigenous land.

“By allowing Kneecap to perform on Indigenous lands, Live Nation and the MRG Group are not only endorsing rhetoric that promotes division, hate, and glorification of terror — they are violating the spirit and obligations of the Treaties of Peace and Friendship,” the letter states. (The peace and friendship treaties were a series of treaties signed between the British and the Mi’kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy people prior to 1779.)

Kneecap has four shows planned for Canada, two in Toronto and two in Vancouver. All four October shows are sold out. The signatories of the letter are calling on Live Nation, the concert promoted, and MRG Group, which manages the venues where Kneecap is playing: History in Toronto and the Vogue Theatre in Vancouver.

Concerts elsewhere have been scrapped and politicians have called for further cancellations since Kneecap played a set at California’s Coachella music festival in April and accused Israel of committing genocide, something the Jewish state has vehemently denied. The group has also compared Israel’s actions in Gaza to the actions of the British in Ireland during the Troubles.

“The Irish not so long ago were persecuted by the Brits, but we were never bombed from the f–king skies with nowhere to go! The Palestinians have nowhere to go – it’s their f–king home and they’re bombing them from the sky. If you’re not calling it a genocide what the f–k are you calling it?” Ó hAnnaidh

said on stage in California.

News reports have also cited video from a 2023 concert that appears to show a band member saying “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah” and another that allegedly

shows a band member saying

: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”

Grand Chief Harvey Yesno, one of the signatories of the letter and the former chief of Eabametoong First Nation and grand chief of Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said that part of the reason Indigenous leaders are speaking out is to reassert their voices within Canada.

“We’re in a land of freedom to express yourself … so that’s allowed throughout the country. But the difference is, is when you’re inciting hate and violence and acknowledging who — Canada has put some of these organizations as terrorist organizations. That’s where we draw the line,” said Yesno. “So, our concern there is the defilement of the land, because we believe that, as the Indigenous people on these lands, that we have a responsibility to point out, hey, wait a minute, you can’t be doing that. You can’t be inciting violence here on our lands because the defilement of the land causes things to happen amongst the people.”

Yesno said the group has yet to receive a response from the concert organizers. The signatories are largely involved with Indigenous Embassy Jerusalem, an international group of Indigenous people from various countries that expresses Indigenous solidarity with Israel.

In late June, Kneecap played a show at England’s Glastonbury Festival, despite Keir Starmer, the prime minister of the United Kingdom, saying it would be inappropriate. Kemi Badenoch, the leader of the U.K. Conservative Party, called on the British Broadcasting Corporation to not broadcast Kneecap’s show; the public broadcaster demurred, saying it does not ban artists.

“It’s not about us, it’s about distraction and a loud warning to other acts to stay silent or we will try silence you,” Kneecap wrote on X.

Kneecap could not be reached for comment. Live Nation and MRG Group did not respond to National Post’s request for comment.

Let’s not loose sight of why the entire political class of Britain and their media are so “outraged” about Kneecap and have no outrage for a mass slaughter of children👇

You cannot tell the truth at Coachella.

It’s not about us, it’s about distraction and a loud warning to… pic.twitter.com/nNdLw7njwK

— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 30, 2025

• How the antisemitic meltdown at the Glastonbury Festival unfolded
• MPs call on Canada to bar British rap duo Bob Vylan over ‘death, death to the IDF’ chant

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Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew has pushed back against U.S. lawmakers who recently sent a letter to Canada’s ambassador

complaining that wildfires

are sending smoke across the border and making it difficult for Americans to enjoy the summer.

The Tuesday letter was signed by six Republican lawmakers from Minnesota and Wisconsin, and questioned Canada’s approach to fighting wildfires. In response, Kinew said Thursday that the lawmakers should speak with the American firefighters currently on the ground in Manitoba, instead of making political statements from afar.

“I’ve shaken the hands of American firefighters in northern Manitoba who are helping us out,” said Kinew. “I would challenge these ambulance chasers in the U.S. Congress to go and do the same, and to hear how much the American firefighting heroes who are here, how much they love our province.”

The letter was sent by representatives Tom Tiffany, Brad Finstad, Tom Emmer, Michelle Fischbach, Glenn Grothman and Pete Stauber of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and addressed to Canada’s U.S. ambassador, Kirsten Hillman.

In the letter, they outlined that over the last few years, Canadian wildfires have impacted American’s quality of life. They argued that a “lack of active forest management” is a key cause, but arson could also be a contributing factor. The letter went on to say that with all the technology available, “this worrisome trend can be reversed if proper action is taken.”

“This is what turns people off politics,” Kinew said in response. “When you’ve got a group of congresspeople trying to trivialize and make hay out of

a wildfire season

where we’ve lost lives in our province. There’s no place for that in politics.

“If you can’t get likes on Instagram from your own skills as a politician don’t bother trying to throw other people under the bus during a state of emergency.”

• Manitoba is under province-wide emergency order as wildfires continue to burn
• U.S. Republicans demand to know what Canada is doing to curb wildfire smoke

Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.

OTTAWA — Canada’s largest public sector union is warning that any cuts to federal employees, as the Liberal government looks to shrink spending, will mean slower, lower-quality services for people seeking passports, employment insurance and veterans benefits.

Sharon DeSousa, national president of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), said Prime Minister Mark Carney should stick with his campaign promise to “cap” the federal public service — not cut it.

However, Carney’s senior-most minister this week

directed cabinet to find a total of 15 per cent in spending cuts in their departments by 2028-29

. The direction from Finance Minister

François-Philippe

Champagne spelled out cuts of 7.5 per cent by 2026–27, an additional 2.5 per cent cut by 2027–28, and another five per cent on top of that by 2028–29. The target  will amount to $25 billion, a government official confirmed to National Post.

Any cuts to staff, said DeSousa, will have consequences.

“What it actually means is that you’re looking to cut jobs, which means cutting services — end of story,” DeSousa said. “It will mean longer wait times. It means that we’re not going to be able to deliver on the programs that are a priority to us, and I think everyone is going to be impacted.”

“What we’re talking about is employment insurance. We’re talking about veterans who are looking for services. We’re talking about an aging population who is looking to get guidance as to how to receive their benefits. It’s going to impact people looking for passports.”

“There’s not one area that’s not going to be affected,” she added.

Mohammad Kamal, director of communications to the President of the Treasury Board, did said the government’s spending review is requesting that all departments “bring forward savings proposals by targeting programs and activities that are underperforming, not core to the federal mandate, duplicative, or misaligned with government priorities.”

There are exceptions, however: the Department of National Defence, the Canada Border Services Agency and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will be subject to a “lower savings target” of two per cent over those three years, said Kamal.

The process does not apply to agents of Parliament — such as the auditor general and the parliamentary budget officer, the courts administration service and the office of the registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada — to “preserve their independence,” he said.

Anxiety among federal public servants is reportedly already high. DeSousa said 10,000 jobs were cut just last year, and an estimated 2,000 to 7,000 more jobs could be on the chopping block for this year as well. That includes contracts at the Canada Revenue Agency, as well as the departments of employment and immigration that are not being renewed, she said.

“Right now, if you try to call Canada Revenue Agency, less than five per cent of the calls are being picked up. They don’t have enough people to do this,” she claimed.

While the government has vowed to not touch transfers to individuals and provinces, or social programs such as child care and dental care, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak warned Indigenous services should be exempt from the cuts as well.

“I think health care for Canadians and Indian Affairs should never be cut back,” said Woodhouse Nepinak in an interview. “And I think because the gaps are so huge, you don’t want to further and widen the gap on First Nations people by cutting services and programs very much needed to make this country be a better place.”

DeSousa said the government can look at different ways of finding efficiencies in delivering services to Canadians while still redirecting money to the government’s core priorities.

“There’s a different way that we can do this. It doesn’t have to be done like previous administrations, where it starts off with just this lazy approach of austerity and cutting jobs… I don’t think it needs to be at the expense of people who rely on those services.”

DeSousa suggested reducing the amount departments and agencies spend on outside consultants, which would save millions of dollars each year, but also reverse the return-to-office mandate to free up buildings so they can be repurposed for other initiatives, such as low-income housing, or sold to generate potentially billions of dollars in savings.

“What we’re trying to do is to provide practical solutions that the government can, in fact, look at so that it doesn’t make the sacrifices on the programs and services, and to get them to understand the actual impact their decision-making is going to have, and how it’s going to affect people residing in Canada who depend on them,” she said.

“For us, it’s about fighting for their services.”

National Post

calevesque@postmedia.com

• Finance minister directs cabinet colleagues to find billions in spending cuts
• Carney says deadline for new deal with U.S. delayed as Trump threatens 35% tariffs on Canada

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