People across the country are praising Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie for using his televised concert in Kingston, Ont., to campaign for Canada’s North.
He also showed his esteem for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and called on the crowd to hold the PM to account.
“We’re in good hands, folks. Real good hands,” Downie said on Saturday, as the camera showed Trudeau in the crowd at the Rogers K-Rock Centre, clad in a Hip T-shirt. “He cares about the people way up north. That we were trained our entire lives to ignore.”
Downie took two separate opportunities to address the need for decolonization.
He called on the prime minister to address Canada’s historical mistreatment of its Indigenous people and to “get ‘er done.” He also asked the audience to hold Trudeau to account and commit to acknowledging and fixing the problems.
“What’s going on up there ain’t good. It may be worse than it’s ever been,” Downie said.
“You know, Prime Minister Trudeau’s got me. His work with First Nations. He’s got everybody. He’s going to take us where we need to go.”
Tragically Hip lead singer Gord Downie greets Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shortly before the band’s concert in Kingston, Ont., on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016. (Twitter/@JustinTrudeau)
The fact Downie spent time addressing the issue rather than something more expected — raising money for cancer research — touched many across the country.
If more Canadians were like #GordDownie we’d have the racist, colonial Crown-Indigenous policies beat!
— Russ Diabo (@RussDiabo) August 21, 2016
#GordDownie needs to know we appreciate his care/concern 4 Indigenous ppl @perrybellegarde @gcfiddler @Tony_Alexis @ChiefDay @makwa_d et all
— Sheila North Wilson (@shenorthwilson) August 21, 2016
Gord knew all of Canada was watching. He could have asked for cancer $. He didn’t. He pleaded for improving the lives of indigenous people.
— David Harvey (@davidharvey) August 21, 2016
Closing with words for the people “way up North… We’ve been trained our whole lives to ignore” #TheHip #CBCTheHip pic.twitter.com/vhdds4ZCM0
— Sima Sahar Zerehi (@SimaSaharZerehi) August 21, 2016
“What’s going on up there aint good,” Gord Downie says of the North. #thehip Had to be said.
— Sara Minogue (@CBCMinogue) August 21, 2016
You have the eyes & ears of the entire country & you use it to talk about First Nations concerns ❤️ #ThankYouGord #TheHip #CBCTheHip
— Rebecca Bollwitt (@Miss604) August 21, 2016
“He cares about the people way up north. The ones we were trained to forget.” #GordDownie on PM @JustinTrudeau & indigenous peoples.
— Shane Mackenzie (@ShaneMackenzie_) August 21, 2016
The eyes of a nation were fixed on him, he used the moment to call for action on #FirstNations living conditions. #GordDownie
— Max FineDay (@MaxFineDay) August 21, 2016
And it turns out, it wasn’t only Canada watching Saturday’s concert.
According to CBC’s Piya Chattopadhyay, an hour into the show at least 120,000 people were streaming the concert online, including people from Trinidad and Tobago, Kuwait, Laos, Bangladesh, the Philippines, India, Australia, Japan and Mexico.
Fans were also watching in the States:
#ThankYouTragicallyHip respect.
— jimmy fallon (@jimmyfallon) August 21, 2016