![]() ![]() I just keep thinking of how he believed in what he believed in so strongly. ![]() It’s a class that contains literature written by First Nations, Metis, and Inuit writers. I did finally weep, though, when I showed the CBC’s version of The Secret Path last week in my Grade 11 English class. It struck me so viscerally, though, to think that he was gone, that I felt physically ill. I didn’t weep when I heard he’d died this fall. I read that volume of his work voraciously, falling in love with a number of pieces that rippled with brilliant energy and imagery. My favourite poem of his is “Sailboat.” There are others, but I love the last few lines, when he writes that “the most you can do is / spend all your time / giving some of your time / meaning.” When Downie was named as an honorary member of the League of Canadian Poets this past spring, I thought, “Yes. When my second book of poems, braille on water, was released by Penumbra Press in 2001, I remember standing in a Chapters store somewhere in Ontario, my mouth open in shock because my first book of poems with a spine was right up against Gord Downie’s new collection of poems, Coke Machine Glow. I’ve always been a fan of The Tragically Hip, but I’ve been an even greater fan of Gord Downie’s poetry for nearly as long. If you were to tell me I couldn’t go canoeing in Killarney, and swim into what feels like a living Group of Seven painting, well, I’d weep again, and likely lash out somehow. If you were to tell me I couldn’t hike at Point Pelee National Park at least a couple of times a year, I’d probably weep. I’ve even written a series of Great Lakes poems which are in my newest book, Some Other Sky, and I’m more than in love with these lakes because I’ve gone swimming, canoeing, and hiking along their shores this summer. Each one has its own spirit, personality, and vibrancy. In the last year, I’ve discovered my own great and passionate love for some of the Great Lakes, mostly Huron and Erie. I had admired his advocacy on water rights and health for a number of years. I emailed it off to Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, where I knew he was a board member, and they said they passed it on to him. I don’t normally write letters to people who are ‘famous,’ but I did write one to him earlier this year. Go to the angels Gord and rock that choir.Īnd we will watch the constellations, and you, reveal themselves one star at a time.So far, I haven’t written anything about the loss of Gord Downie…and make no mistake…that’s what it is: a significant loss for this country of Canada, but an even greater one for those who love his poetry. Gord wanted the nation to know that there are thousands of Chanie Wenjacks out there today trying to find their way home from a system that has robbed them of their families, of their identity and their culture. In the face of his own mortality, Gord took his suffering and brought our nation on a journey of justice and reconciliation. He wasn’t just an incredible artist, he was a decent loving human being who believed the world could be a better place. I had the honour of knowing Gord from my days as a musician. The cranked up, rowdy arena rock band that was both profoundly intimate, and profoundly Canadian. The Tragically Hip has been the soundtrack of our nation. We are devastated by the loss of our friend Gord Downie. "The boy, Canada's boy has gone home to Fiddler's Green. NDP Statement on the Death of Gord Downie NDP MP Charlie Angus (Timmins- Baie James), and NDP Critic for Culture and Heritage, Pierre Nantel, made the following statement:
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