BeaverTales

GORD DOWNIE

Today’s BeaverTale is related to Gordon Edgar Downie. Can you select the correct answer? Aside from being a legendary musician and songwriter, Downie was a trueblue, Canadian hockey fan. Downie’s favorite team was: a) Boston Bruins b) Winnipeg Jets c) Toronto Maple Leafs

Answer

Gordon Edgar Downie was born February 6, 1964, in Amherstview, Ontario. Growing up, Downie played minor hockey as a goalie and his bantam team won the Ontario championship in 1979. His favorite NHL club was Boston, for good reason, as Downie’s godfather was Harry Sinden, the Bruins’ general manager during the Bobby Orr era. It was during Downie’s high school days at Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute, that he formed a rock band consisting of schoolmates Gord Sinclair, Davis Manning, Rob Baker and Johnny Fay. Later, saxophonist Manning departed and guitarist Paul Langlois joined ( The Tragically Hip) in 1986. Formed in 1984, ‘ The Hip’ became one of Canada’s premiere groups with a string of hits, including Wheat Kings, Bobcaygeon and Ahead By A Century. Downie released five solo albums from 2001 to 2016. All told, Downie and the Tragically Hip won 16 Juno Awards and were nominated 45 times! Gord Downie was also known for championing the cause of Canada’s First Nations Native people, social justice and the environment. In Wheat Kings, Downie focuses attention on the wrongful conviction of David Milgaard and Now The Struggle Has A Name brings light to the historic mis- treatment of Canada’s indigenous people. Downie was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in 2015. Gordon Edgar Downie decided to give his band a proper send- off, with The Tragically Hip’s Man Machine Poem Tour ( July- August, 2016), followed by millions of Canadians from coast to coast to coast. After the final tour, Downie released Secret Path, recounting the story of Chanie Wenjack, who died from exposure after fleeing the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in Kenora, Ontario, in 1966. Gord Downie passed away on October 17, 2017, but his legacy will live forever.

“Let gratitude for the past inspire us with hope for the future.”