Hip frontman gone fishin’ with his pals in Ontario
Gord Downie has sung about a famous fishing trip that ended in disaster for Toronto Maple Leafs defenceman Bill Barilko. He has taken them himself in the past.
So when the curtains closed after the Tragically Hip’s final concert — one in which the singer struck a political note urging Canadians to address the plight of First Nations — it made perfect sense for Downie to flee the spotlight for the sun, stars and fresh air in abundance on James Bay. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t a surprise.
Downie posed for a photograph this week after he was spotted by a local woman, Catherine Cheechoo, at the Timmins Airport during one leg of his jaunt to Northern Ontario.
Photobombing the picture was Downie’s longtime friend and celebrated Canadian author, Joseph Boyden. The CBC reported that the band, along with Boyden, was taking apost-concert fishing trip that would be led by aboriginal guides.
A spokesperson for the Tragically Hip’s record label, Universal Music, did not respond to requests for comment.
The image set off a flurry of inquiries and excitement, including an erroneous report that Downie, who has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer, had accepted an invitation to visit the Attawapiskat First Nation, which lies on the banks of the Attawapiskat River, not far from the western shores of James Bay.
Best known to most Canadians for being in the news due to emergency flooding, housing shortages, health problems and youth suicides, Attawapiskat also inspired a 2012 song by the Hip, “Goodnight Attawapiskat.” It was written after a trip the band took to the nearby Fort Albany reserve for an indigenous education conference at Boyden’s urging. A year after Boyden and Downie met in 2006, they also embarked on a fishing trip to the James Bay lowlands, the author wrote this week in Maclean’s magazine.
“Do rock stars even know how to fish?” Boyden remembered thinking. It turned out that Downie had a perfect sensitivity to the issues facing remote aboriginal populations, as did his bandmates, and that sensitiv- ity was part of the key to their popularity and ensuring success, Boyden said.
“To a man, the Hip are not just musicians. Some are environmentalists, others activists, some politically involved, all of them humanitarians. They are engaged and inquisitive citizens. This is why they have remained not just so relevant but so creative for so many decades.”
During the Kingston concert, Downie praised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for prioritizing First Nations issues since taking power in October 2015. The singer also suggested Canadians had been “trained” to ignore the pressing health, education and living conditions of aboriginals.
“Prime Minister Trudeau has got me. For his work with First Nations he’s got everybody. He’s going to take us where we need to go,” Downie said. “It’s going to take us100 years to figure out what the hell went on up there. But it isn’t cool and everybody knows that. It’s really, really bad. But we’re going to figure it out. You’re going to figure it out.”
The message was heard by an estimated 11.7 million people who watched the concert on television.
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde told The Canadian Press this week he was surprised and pleased by Downie’s message.
“To use a platform in that regard to focus on priorities and issues, it really speaks to his strength of character,” Bellegarde said. “And he gets it. He sees the need to do something.”
Attawapiskat Chief Bruce Shisheesh also expressed his thanks to Downie in a video message posted to YouTube.
“My community has suffered so much. Me and the young people have had to wait for months for Trudeau to come and see our mouldy homes and the overcrowding that triggers the suicide epidemic here in our community.”
Shisheesh later extended an invitation for the band to come and visit the remote community, which has an on-reserve population of about 1,900.
But Shisheesh dispelled any rumours Wednesday that the Tragically Hip or its famous frontman had accepted his invitation.
“It’s not true,” he said. “I’ve never heard from him.”