Gord Downie's brother thanks crowd at Hip singalong, calls for Indigenous reconciliation
Gord Downie’s brother surprised a Toronto crowd of Tragically Hip fans honouring the late singer in an open-air singalong and encouraged them to keep Gord’s spirit alive by fighting for Indigenous reconciliation.
Mike Downie stood up in Nathan Phillips Square Tuesday night to thank the crowd, and those listening at home, for their outpouring of love and support.
"My family and I have felt it, and it’s made things easier and it’s made things harder. It made it easier because you showed how much you loved our brother, and harder because we realized how many people were hurting.”
Hundreds gathered at the foot of Toronto City Hall for a tribute to Downie by Choir! Choir! Choir!, a music collective known to draw crowds in song. Attendees braved brisk wind and cool temperatures as they belted out the band’s hits such as, "Bobycaygeon,” "Courage,” "Wheat Kings,” and "The Stranger” off of his solo album "Secret Path.”
The choir group, led by Daveed Goldman and Nobu Adilman, asked attendees to make a $5 donation to the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund, which raises money for cultural education towards Indigenous reconciliation.
Adilman told The Canadian Press that Gord meant so much to Canada and they just wanted to celebrate him and his music with the event.
"When we lose some of the great ones, if we can provide a space where people can come together and share the music and feel connected in a difficult time, then we'll do it,” he said. "It just felt like the right thing to do and I feel like these tributes are happening all over the country and big or small, they all matter."
Mike Downie recounted the day he learned about Chanie Wenjack on a radio documentary and later met with Gord for lunch to brainstorm ways to share his story with Canadians.
"We were both shocked that we both knew so little about residential schools and what happened,” he said.
That conversation eventually led to Secret Path, a 10-song album and accompanying graphic novel about Wenjack’s death after fleeing a residential school in northern Ontario.
Learning about Canada’s troubled history with Indigenous people and taking steps toward reconciliation isn’t a problem the government can fix on its own, Mike Downie said.
"I think it’s going to take everyone doing their part,” he said.
"I think it’s time to change our country. I think we’re missing something really key. We think we’re a young country, but we’re not. We think we’re 150 years old, but we’re not. If we tried a little bit harder, if we brought in the Indigenous people who have been here for 12,000 years, we could be different. We would be the better for it, and we would be the envy of the world.”
Another way to keep Gord’s spirit alive, Mike Downie said, is in song.
"Keep singing my brother’s songs. Keep thinking great thoughts about my brother, and keep thinking about how you can make this country better, because we can do it. We can do it and it starts right now.”
