Conversations That Matter: Connecting All Canadians

Stuart McNish invited Michael Downie to join him for a conversation that matters about the need to raise awareness, promote education, and improve connections among all the peoples of Canada.

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On January 19, 2022, Chanie Wenjack would have turned 67. He died in 1967 at the age of 12 after fleeing a residential school in northern Ontario. He tried to walk about 400 miles in the cold weather to get home.

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Chanie was a member of Ojibway and attended Cecilia Jeffrey Residential School in Kenora, Ontario. He felt alone and ran away. He died trying to get home to see his father. His story is heartbreaking. It’s one that Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie shares on Secret Path, the beloved singer’s latest musical and solo video.

Downie said, “I never knew Chanie, but I will always love him. It haunts me. His story is the story of Canada. We are not the country we thought we were. “

In his last performance on stage, he called on Prime Minister Trudeau to fix the problems in northern Canada, saying, “It may be worse than ever, so it’s not getting better.”

According to the United Nations Human Development Index – Quality of Life, people living on band lands or reservations in Canada have a standard of living that is ranked 63rd in the world. The rest of Canada ranks sixth.

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“Sixth versus 63 is a huge gap in the standard of living. It is a gap that represents a disproportionate number of First Nations people in prisons; represents the high youth suicide rate, which is four to five times the national average; it represents 40,000 indigenous children in foster care and represents a cap on education funding approaching half the provincial averages, ”said former National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Perry Bellegarde.

Micheal Downie, the older brother of the Tragically Hip singer and the filmmaker who produced Secret Path, continues the work of the foundation they both established, the Downie Wenjack Fund. The fund asks Canadians to build a better country and see the people we have been trained to ignore.

Stuart McNish invited Michael Downie to join him for a conversation that matters about the need to raise awareness, promote education, and improve connections among all the peoples of Canada.

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Reference-vancouversun.com

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