PM pays tribute to Hip frontman
Conservative MP says Liberals should consider a state funeral for singer who died Tuesday
OTTAWA (CP) — There was an uncommon slowness in Justin Trudeau’s step Wednesday morning as he walked toward the weekly Liberal caucus meeting on Parliament Hill, his thoughts weighed heavily with the news that Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie had died.
“I thought I was going to make it through this but I’m not,” the prime minister said, his voice cracking with emotion, tears streaming down his face. “It hurts.” A couple of hours before, the Hip had announced that their lead singer died Tuesday night at the age of 53 after a more than year-long battle with brain cancer.
“We all knew it was coming,” Trudeau said. “But we hoped it wasn’t.”
Trudeau added that Canada was less of a country for having lost Downie.
There was a personal connection between the prime minister and the musician that was only seen publicly on a few occasions.
As his band wrapped up a 15-stop farewell tour in Kingston, Ont., in the summer of 2016, Downie called out to Trudeau, who was in the audience, urging him to take action on behalf of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, to make their lives better.
Before that show, Trudeau embraced Downie backstage and later described the bittersweet moment as both a celebration of Downie’s life and a chance to say goodbye.
In the months that followed, it was evident that Trudeau had taken the singer’s message to heart as his government took several steps to reconcile with Indigenous communities over the treatment of aboriginal children and families under the residential schools program.
On Wednesday, through tear-welled eyes, Trudeau commended Downie for his love of country, his profound ability to use words to create landscapes and his dedication to the plight of Indigenous Canadians.
“Gord was my friend, but Gord was everyone’s friend,” Trudeau said. “He knew, as great as we were, we needed to be better than we are,” he added.
Conservative MP Tony Clement, a musician himself, lamented that it was his unfulfilled dream to perform with Downie.
“It’s always been a desire of mine to play with him at some point, but they’re incredibly influential to any Canadian who has picked up a musical instrument, there’s no question about it,” Clement said. “I could do a fairly poor version of Ahead by a Century.”
Clement also called on the government to consider a state funeral for the iconic singer.
“I think they should really consider it, I really do,” he said. “I think he matters that much to Canadians.”
TORONTO — Gord Downie, the poetic lead singer of the Tragically Hip whose determined fight with brain cancer inspired a nation, has died. He was 53.
Downie died Tuesday night :with his beloved children and family close by,” the band said in a statement on its website Wednesday morning.
In the wake of his diagnosis with glioblastoma — an incurable form of cancer — the musician became a symbol of perseverance in the face of his mortality.
“Gord knew this day was coming — his response was to spend this precious time as he always had — making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss” on the lips,” the statement said.
Downie spent the last chapter of his life raising funds for brain cancer research and advocating for the rights of Canada's Indigenous Peoples.
“Gord said he had lived many lives,” said the statement, which was attributed to the Downie family. “As a musician, he lived 'the life' for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. No one.”
Downie, one of Canada's most revered singer-songwriters, penned a steady stream of 1990s rock radio staples including “New Orleans Is Sinking,” “Blow at High Dough,” “Courage (For Hugh MacLennan),” “Ahead By a Century” and “Bobcaygeon.” While Hip albums released in the 2000s didn’t produce nearly as many hits, the band hung on to its unofficial status as Canada’s favourite rock band.
While the Hip was frequently described as quintessentially Canadian, Downie had dismissed the suggestion that he set out to celebrate his homeland in song.
“I haven’t written too many political lyrics,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press in 2014. “Nor have I written any pro-Canada lyrics, any kind of jingoistic, nationalistic cant .... That stuff doesn’t interest me and I don’t even know if I could write that if I tried because I don’t really feel it.
“Social causes are quite obvious. Music brings people together. So my function in anything I do is to help bring people closer in.”
In the aftermath of the shocking May 2016 announcement that Downie had been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer the band said it would mount a tour — which many assumed would be the Hip’s last.
And he used the spotlight to focus more attention on the issues facing Indigenous communities in Canada.
Interest was off the charts and tickets sold out nearly immediately. Despite conflicting with its coverage of the Summer Games in Rio, the CBC broadcast the last show of the tour live — in the Hip’s hometown of Kingston, Ont. — and thousands of fans also attended public viewing parties across the country to experience the band’s swan song.
An impassioned Downie led the group through a nearly three-hour set and acknowledged the country’s enthusiastic support.
“Thank you, people, for keeping me pushing and keeping me pushing,” he said from the stage, which prompted a “Gordie!” chant from the audience.
He used the national platform to call for more attention to the inequities faced by Indigenous Peoples, particularly in the North.
“We’re in good hands, folks, real good hands,” Downie said in reference to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was in the audience.
About two months later, Downie released the multimedia solo project “Secret Path,” which recounted the life of 12-yearold Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 after running away from a residential school in northern Ontario.
“Secret Path” won three Juno Awards in April — best adult alternative album, songwriter of the year for Downie, and best recording package of the year for its presentation with a graphic novel. While Downie didn’t attend the Juno festivities, he appeared in a pre-recorded acceptance speech during the telecast.
“First Nations have many, many stories like this one,” he said in reference to Wenjack’s experience being separated from his family and put in a residential school.
“My dream would be that this record with Jeff Lemire’s drawings might help people. Might give teachers something to help teach our young ones.”
In June, Downie was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada for his work in raising awareness of Indigenous issues. He was also set to be honoured by the Order of Canada along with his bandmates for “their contribution to Canadian music and for their support of various social and environmental causes.”
The Tragically Hip’s last release, “Man Machine Poem,” won the Juno for rock album of the year and the band also took home the group of the year prize, which was its third time winning the award among 11 nominations.
The Tragically Hip’s modest beginnings can be traced back to 1984 in Kingston, where Downie co-founded the band with four high-school friends — including guitarist Rob Baker, bassist Gord Sinclair and drummer Johnny Fay. Guitarist Paul Langlois joined in 1986 when saxophonist David Manning left the band.
The early years were a slog as the Hip graduated from local university campus shows to dive bars like the Toucan, where they played on a stage tucked in the back corner of the venue’s basement.
A small but loyal fan base began to form just as their self-titled debut EP hit record stores in 1987.
While not one of the Hip’s most-loved releases — and one the band didn’t touch during their career-spanning final tour — it offered a sliver of insight into Downie’s songwriting and performance potential.
Downie’s reputation for adding monologues to songs during live performances was started with a memorable performance of “Highway Girl,” which fans nicknamed the “double suicide rant” version. Part of the mid-song rant would later make up the lyrics of the song “Locked in the Trunk of a Car.”