Joe Warmington

TORONTO - It’s not just in Cleveland where the Chief Wahoo logo and Indians name are under siege.

The logo has been banned right here in politically correct Toronto.

Have you ever heard of the junior baseball team once called High Park Braves?

Well, they feel they were forced by the city to drop their name and famous logo over a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission from an activist who had never been to one of their games.

“It did take us by surprise,” Jim Wynnyk — general manager of the AAA team — said of when they were put on notice in March.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with Ann Ulusoy, director, management services, and myself ... to discuss a recent concern emailed to the city from a member of the public about the use of the Indian (Chief Wahoo) logo on your website for the High Park Junior Baseball Club,” wrote Pat Profiti, a parks department supervisor with the city.

Instead of being patted on the back for decades of helping youth, Wynnyk and field manager Matt MacDonald were summoned to discuss “the portrayal of derogatory aboriginal images and words on sports team logos” thanks to the “Ontario Human Rights Commission” and “City of Toronto’s human rights and anti-discrimination policy.”

The team agreed to change the famous Chief logo to a tomahawk. But that idea was rejected.

Wrote Profiti: “The city urges you to consider whether a reasonable person would likely find the tomahawk symbol derogatory towards aboriginal individuals and not in keeping with the aim of the Human Rights Code and the city’s human rights policy.”

Maybe a condom or syringe would have been more acceptable to them? If only the political-correctness police cared more about the Toronto homicides of all types of Canadians. No, they are worried about a sports team logo.

“It has been our team’s name and logo for 50 years and just like that, we were asked to end that,” said Wynnyk.

“If our team felt we were disrespecting or showing any type of malice, we would disregard the hats Immediately,” he added. “We feel we are showing respect towards their culture.”

It cost more than $60,000 to change the uniforms, from T-ball to junior level. Their logo now has an H and a P (yawn).

“We don’t even play in High Park,” said Wynnyk. “We play at Christie Pits.”

It’s not nice to see a team’s history scrubbed because of a political movement that would be better focused on real issues facing First Nations. Changing the High Park Braves into something nameless and logoless does not help one aboriginal person.

“We never once had a complaint to us directly in a half century of playing baseball in the metro Toronto baseball league,” he said. “And it never occurred to any of us once that we could have been insensitive.”

His players, who range in age from 19-21, are too busy working to obtain American baseball scholarships or to move up and play with the Toronto Maple Leafs of the Intercounty Baseball League to worry about complaints directed at their uniforms.

“So many people are having to bow down to all of this,” said Wynnyk. “The whole thing is ridiculous.”

It’s getting more ridiculous.

In a free society, Ontario’s human rights commissioner doesn’t want journalists to call the Cleveland Indians the Cleveland Indians!

Swear to God.

“Let’s not wait for them to change their names. There are many things we can do in the spirit of reconciliation,” Commissioner Renu Mandhane told National Post reporter Ashley Csanady. “We don’t need to say those names when we’re talking about those teams.”

Yes we do.

The Toronto Blue Jays are playing the Cleveland Indians.

There, I wrote it and will continue to until they are not called that anymore — just like what happened to the High Park whatevers.