His full quote (most places are using ellipses to replace parts of it) was -
“I live in Mississauga. Nobody wears, very few people, wear a poppy. Downtown Toronto, forget it. Downtown Toronto nobody wears a poppy…
“Now you go to the small cities and you know, the rows on rows.
You people love — that come here — you love our way of life. You love our milk and honey. At least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada. These guys paid the biggest price.”
saying “you people that come here” leaves little doubt for me that he was referring to immigrants.
Mentioning Toronto and Mississauga, 2 of the most diverse Canadian cities, also makes it clear who he was referring to IMO. As of 2016, 51% of Toronto is made up of visible minorities. Where as the smaller Canadian cities he mentions tend not to be diverse at all.
Edit - I think you also have to consider Don Cherry’s long history of xenophobic remarks. He’s made no secret of his distaste for immigrants over his long career. These are not even his worst comments. I was actually a bit surprised that he got fired seeing as he’s said worse in the past. But I guess this was just the final straw that broke the camels back...