Once the Hip finished that last show, Downie and his brothers, Mike and Patrick, threw themselves fully, completely into telling the story of 12-year-old Chanie Wenjack. “How many people can you say sang the country into our consciousness, in one way, and then sang the country’s biggest failing back into our consciousness a second time?” asked Mike Downie. We were closing the circle on this project, which had been three years (in the making), a significant piece of time and we know how precious time is, also, Gord is closing a circle. Patrick Downie spoke to the circle, recalled Mike. There will always be that empty chair.”Back in Toronto, when Mike was out paddling on Lake Ontario, he conceived the idea of the Gord Downie Chanie Wenjack Fund, an indigenous-led initiative.

Source: thestar October 22, 2016 03:00 UTC