Don Cherry suggests Canada's $49.5M Haiti aid is 'nuts'
 

Don Cherry suggests Canada's $49.5M Haiti aid is 'nuts' - Montreal - CBC News

Don Cherry tweets about the millions in Canadian aid to Haiti: 'Are we nuts?':


Don Cherry‏@CoachsCornerCBC

You know , I am one of those guys, like most people in Canada, we like to help the countries all over the world. But sometimes it makes you wonder.

Maybe it’s just me. But Canada gave Haiti 49.5 million dollars last year . Are we nuts? We’ve got a guy dying in Toronto waiting 3 hours for an ambulance.

We got people waiting 7, 8 10 hours, if they’re lucky in a waiting room with one doctor for a zillion people.

We nickel and dime our doctors, nurses and veterans plus a million other services. Yet we can send almost 50 million to Haiti.

I’ll tell ya something. The working guy is getting kind of sick of people spending money like that.

It’s a good job we got a good guy like Julian Fantino, with a little common sense, in charge. 50 million, I wonder how much have we given them over the years? Lets smarten up.


Agree or disagree? I know where I stand.

Cherry is an idiot. You are supposed to help when someones i need. Sri Lanka donated money to the US help with hurricane Katrina.

agree and disagree, world isnt perfect
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A line must be drawn somewhere.

Everyone in the world needs money. If we helped everyone in their time of need, we would be broke.

Always agree with Cherry, this time no different
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Wasn't there another natural disaster shortly after Haiti? And didn't it get a lot less aid/exposure?

As long as we have a budget for how much money we give away, I'm cool with it. I rather give the money to someone who is less fortunate half way around the world than to have the surplus and have a bullshit govt. union wanting a piece of it.

It's a fine line though. I wouldn't want to be in charge of distribution of aid, too much to think about.

In reference to the #idlenomore movement, why aren't Natives protesting this money being sent from out of Canada to help non-Natives?

I don't see anything wrong with what Don Cherry said.

Our health care system is crumbling; forget the ER, you can't even find a bloody family doctor. Everyone is been told to go to a clinic where you sit around for 3 hours and the doctor you see has no clue about your past medical history.

The other issue I have with sending millions of dollars to countries like Haiti is the corrupt governments that take the aid money and basically pocket it. There's never any accountability even though you have so called third party organizations monitoring the money. We should be more concerned about our citizens, we've helped enough now it's time to focus on what we need at home.

I am very proud of Canadas effort to help other countries in times of need, but he has a point. Fixing the issues in your own country should always be the #1 priority of any government, however, compassion and aid for your fellow man should not be forgotten in the process. This statement really only looks into a tremendously small portion of the money spent by Canada. When you look at it from a small window like cherry did, its easy to come up with that sentiment. When you look at it as the whole picture, and the amount of money that Canada spends on protecting its own citizens, it may seem like more of a drop in the bucket. Its all perspective. For me personally, I'm happy that Canada puts money into compassionate causes like this, but I can see the other side of it, and he is right about the fact that our healthcare system is really lacking. However I think if we were to look at the budgets here we'd probably see $50M wouldn't be able to solve all that much for us, when it could be so much more beneficial to a country that was so desperately in need. Was it too much though, its very possible, but I know for sure they have a lot of people watching over the proper use of a sum of money that large.

I have no issue with sending food, water and building supplies but we need to stop sending blank checks.

As an individual, personally seeing a troubled man/woman on the street, yes.

As a country with it's own problems to deal with first and foremost, no.


I'm not saying that I hate that our government helps others during times of grief, but sometimes some of that money spent outside of the country very well could be needed inside the country. Don speaks the truth about the state of our health care system, it needs help, so that people can get help.. you know.. before they die of waiting around.

i admit, i don't know what's going on in haiti, but 49.5 mil isn't a lot for a country. i'm not saying we should be giving more. i just want to know what they're getting it for

I'm not usually a fan of the guy, but good on Cherry for putting some focus on this.

is his issue the Canadian Government giving money or the Canadian public giving money?
Maybe I missed it in the article but wasn't really clear?

Either way he's an idiot. Put him in a disaster ravaged country and see how fast he will be asking other countries for help.

Wow. Some of you dudes are nuts.

Look, I dig that everyone and anyone can bitch about anything....but seriously, to call our healthcare system 'crumbling' and bitch about line-up while we live in a country where you pay a few dimes a day for that luxury is silly. You want to know why you are waiting so long for a doctor?? Because when idiots get a fucking cough, they run for help. Do you know how many people sit in the ER or clinics to be told to go home, take an advil, drink fluids, and rest?!

Do you know what is happening in Haiti? People are lying in the streets dying a slow and painful death from cholera and dysentery. Pretty sure they would be OK with waiting 3 hours for the bottle of pills they need.

45 million is nothing to the gov't....we in BC are spending 150 million to make our card cards prettier. There are any number of things I curse the provincial and federal gov't for spending my tax dollars on...we all would like out nurses, teachers, service men and women to make more money.

The one thing I DO NOT curse my gov't for...is sending aid to other countries who NEED it.

You treat others the way you'd want to be treated. Think that goes the same for countries and their relationships. 49.5M isn't actually a LOT, it's quite a fair amount but nothing that is a cause for concern

P.S. People need to realize, Don Cherry = bullshit-coming-out-of-his-mouth marathon

hopefully none of that money went to wyclef jeans foundation
Wyclef Jean's Haiti charity a 'cesspool of fraud and broken promises' that has collapsed under mountain of debt | Mail Online

49.5 mill is not a whole lot. How much are we paying Don Cherry? There is no country without problems so under your logic no country should donate money. We didn't have to help Britain and the rest of Europe in WWII but we did and that benefited us greatly.

as long as it isnt those filipino women asking me to donate money

Send medicine and aid workers than, not cash

by the time cash actually reaches the people who need it, how much is left of the 45 million?

I know Haiti is basically a crippled 3rd world country that needs as much help as it can get, but I love all these people in the states after natural disasters etc who are on the news saying the government is failing them, they need aid money, etc. Then they have all the ad's "text 8888 to donate $5 to katrina victims"

Straight up, if there is ever a huge earth quake or natural disaster that hits BC, i guaranfuckingtee i'm not gonna be standing on the news begging for money and aid and people to text a number to donate money, you know what i'm going to be doing?

I'm going to be swinging a hammer, pushing a shovel, rebuilding MY house, rebuilding MY friends houses, WORKING

not fucking begging for aid, people need to try and help themselves sometimes.

You'll need to clarify; is this an actual question, or are you merely being facetious?

The 'Idle No More' movement, nor any other respected First Nations movement, believes Federal discretionary spending should be monopolized by the interests for which they advocate. If any First Nations group were advocate such, they would be contradicting values integral to the culture they pretend to support. Through the First Nations equivalent of Fairy Tales, children are taught early on to not acquire more than is necessary to sustain oneself in reasonable comfort, and to support those less fortunate.

Addressing the subject of the thread briefly;

I am PROUD to know, I am a member of a nation that recognizes the need to support those in times of desperate need. Haiti was one of the poorest nations on Earth prior to the earthquake, and recovering from the devastation would be nearly impossible without outside support.

$49.5 million balances out to approximately, $2 per tax payer?

Our health care system is crumbling? How about, no. Our health care system is amazing, we're just all too entitled to realize it.

2-3 hours to see a family doctor is unfortunate, but you're forgetting one or two very important details.

Greater Vancouver has a high population density, and as a result of immigration a disproportionately old population, and with those strains on the health care system you can only expect longer waits. I have a friend living in Mission, who gleefully points out she rarely waits more than 10 minutes to see a Doctor whenever this discussion has arisen in her presence.

There's also a significant shortage of Doctors becoming General Practitioners, but not because of funding, because of a lack of interest in the field.

Yeah, and why wouldn't you be begging for aid? Because most of us have insurance and live in a developed country where we can go to our garage and get our fucking hammer. You can not compare a natural disaster in a underdeveloped country to one in a developed country! These people were barely living to begin with before the earth took a shit on them. Come on, dude.

And, don't get me started with this Katrina and superstorm Sandy bullshit. At least they are only asking their own citizens to help them...a developed country can take care of its own...much like I would expect Canada to do. But, Haiti is a different story. Those people actually need the help of others.

Agree with Don! We have to take care of things at home before helping others.
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Knee jerk reaction is to say that we should use that money to look after ourselves. However, when you really think about it, the government spends roughly $180 billion every year on health care. If you consider that the average person costs $5400/year for health care, that $50 million we're giving to Haiti is literally a drop in the bucket. We're giving the equivalent of 9 Canadian's yearly payments away to another country.

Whoop de doo.

^ that $50 million goes a long way in 3rd world countries.
given that the cost of living for most of these places are less than a $1 a day, $50 million can have a huge impact. Where $50 million to canada is just a drop in the bucket.

Plus, other western countries also donated to Haiti too, not just us.