Don Cherry has vocal supporters online, but only about a dozen people showed up to protest his firing at an impromptu rally Wednesday afternoon in Toronto.

They clasped coffee cups to keep warm. They sporadically chanted, “Bring Cherry back.” A few brought signs with messages of support. Some brought Canadian flags. Nearly all of them proudly wore poppies.

Outside the Rogers building at 1 Mount Pleasant, near Jarvis St., a larger number of journalists and TV crews surrounded the few protesters who expressed their undying support for Cherry and their opposition to his dismissal.

Cherry saw his 37-year career on Hockey Night in Canada come to an abrupt end with his firing on Remembrance Day, two days after a Coach’s Corner segment in which he complained immigrants — whom he referred to as “you people” — were not wearing poppies honouring veterans.

Sportsnet, which is owned by Rogers, said it terminated Cherry because his remarks were “divisive.” His co-host Ron MacLean also apologized Sunday night on his show Hometown Hockey, calling Cherry’s remarks “hurtful, discriminatory” and “flat out wrong.”

Cherry’s supporters said Wednesday that it was merely the choice of words.

“I think he meant all Canadians, and he is right. We don’t remember and pay respect enough,” said Jacqueline Vanin.

She drove in from Mississauga with her husband Paul for the protest.

“Firing Don shows we are subjected to weighing every word we say, and that is not a good thing in a free country,” said Vanin, who added it’s important for every Canadian to wear the poppy.

Glen McMullan was among the first people to arrive at the protest.

“If he made a mistake I know he didn’t mean it,” McMullan said.

McMullan, 55, said he has watched and idolized Cherry since the first years of Coach’s Corner. McMullan said he has come to expect Cherry to be “not politically correct,” but believes he means no harm.

“His intent has always been good. He is not telling anybody not to come to Canada,” McMullan said.

Cherry has appeared on several networks since his firing to defend his stance. He told Fox News’s Tucker Carlson he stands by what he said but could have used a different phrasing.

“If I had been smart and protected myself I should have said everybody should be wearing a poppy,” he said, adding “people are very sensitive.”

Asked by Carlson how much Canada has changed over the 38 years of his broadcast career, Cherry said the smaller cities and the United States are still the same.

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Former Mississauga mayor Hazel McCallion issued a statement supporting Cherry, saying she has seen a decline in Canadians wearing the poppy. She said Cherry is “proud of his country and supports all Canadians.”

As of Wednesday afternoon, nearly 200,000 people had signed an online petition for Cherry to get his job back.

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