Close X
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
ADVT 
National

Gord Downie To Release Album And Graphic Novel Inspired By Residential Schools

The Canadian Press, 09 Sep, 2016 11:25 AM
    TORONTO — Just weeks after fans bid what they feared could be a final goodbye to beloved Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie, the terminally ill singer has revealed he will release a new solo album with an accompanying graphic novel and animated film inspired by the tragedy of Canada's residential school system.
     
    "Secret Path" tells the story of a 12-year-old First Nations boy in Ontario named Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 after running away from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ont.
     
    The album and book will be released on Oct. 18 and the film will air on CBC on Oct. 23.
     
    "I never knew Chanie, but I will always love him," Downie said Friday in a statement. "Chanie haunts me. His story is Canada's story. This is about Canada. We are not the country we thought we were."
     
    In May, Downie made the shocking announcement that he has terminal brain cancer. Tickets for the band's "Man Machine Poem" summer tour, which many feared could be their last, sold out almost immediately, leading to CBC picking up a national broadcast of the final tour stop in Kingston last month. The concert quickly became a national event as millions tuned in across the country.
     
    During that final show, Downie called out to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who attended the concert, to help fix problems in northern Canada in his last scheduled live performance with his band.
     
     
    "It's maybe worse than it's ever been, so it's not on the improve. (But) we're going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help," Downie said onstage.
     
    In Friday's statement, Downie said he learned the story of Chanie Wenjack, who was misnamed Charlie by his teachers, from a 1967 Maclean's magazine article.
     
    Downie recounted in Friday's release how the boy died beside railroad tracks after escaping the school and trying to walk to his home more than 600 kilometres away.
     
    "All of those governments, and all of those churches, for all of those years, misused themselves," Downie said. "They hurt many children. They broke up many families. They erased entire communities."
     
    For more than 100 years, the federal government funded church-run schools across the country to eliminate parental involvement in the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual development of Aboriginal children, according to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada. The last school closed in 1996.
     
    More than 150,000 First Nations, Metis, and Inuit children were placed in these schools often against their parents' wishes, which led to an apology from then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper in 2008.
     
     
    Downie began "Secret Path" as 10 poems that were turned into the 10 songs for the album, which was recorded over two sessions near Kingston in late 2013.
     
    Proceeds from the album and graphic novel will go to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation at the University of Manitoba, which is dedicated to preserving the history of the residential school system.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Quebec Taxi Lobby Furious With Uber Deal; Considering Legal Action, Protests

    Quebec Taxi Lobby Furious With Uber Deal; Considering Legal Action, Protests
    MONTREAL — Quebec's taxi lobby is furious at the news of a deal between the provincial government and Uber.

    Quebec Taxi Lobby Furious With Uber Deal; Considering Legal Action, Protests

    Kids Help Phone Study Suggests One In Five Teens Has Considered Suicide

    Kids Help Phone Study Suggests One In Five Teens Has Considered Suicide
    TORONTO — A new study suggests that one in five Canadian teens has seriously considered attempting suicide in the previous year.

    Kids Help Phone Study Suggests One In Five Teens Has Considered Suicide

    Avowed Atheist Minister Should Be Defrocked, United Church Panel Urges

    Avowed Atheist Minister Should Be Defrocked, United Church Panel Urges
    TORONTO — An unabashedly atheist minister who does not believe in the Bible should be defrocked for her beliefs, a United Church committee has recommended in a split decision that seems likely to stir further dissent in the church.

    Avowed Atheist Minister Should Be Defrocked, United Church Panel Urges

    Former Marriage Commissioner Fights Requirement To Perform Same-Sex Ceremonies

    Former Marriage Commissioner Fights Requirement To Perform Same-Sex Ceremonies
    WINNIPEG — A former Manitoba marriage commissioner is asking a court to strike down the province's requirement that all commissioners perform same-sex marriage ceremonies.

    Former Marriage Commissioner Fights Requirement To Perform Same-Sex Ceremonies

    Lisa Raitt Has Made Up Her Mind On Leadership, But Not Yet Ready To Announce

    OTTAWA — Conservative MP Lisa Raitt says leadership candidate Kellie Leitch is trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist by suggesting the federal government should screen potential immigrants and refugees for anti-Canadian values.

    Lisa Raitt Has Made Up Her Mind On Leadership, But Not Yet Ready To Announce

    University Of Ottawa Hockey Team Prepares For Return After Two-year Suspension

    The University of Ottawa says its varsity hockey team is preparing to hit the ice again this fall, two years after the program was suspended in connection with a sexual assault investigation.

    University Of Ottawa Hockey Team Prepares For Return After Two-year Suspension