“I’m very lucky to be in a position where I’m able to reach an audience,” he says. Downie’s latest graphic novel and album duo, The Secret Path, tells the story of a residential school student named Chanie Wenjack, who died more than 640 kilometres away from his home while fleeing northwestern Ontario's Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in 1966. Canada now has the opportunity to listen to the voices against the pipelines and choose its next moves carefully, he says. The title host of CBC’s The Strombo Show says he has clean energy, indigenous rights, and democracy on his mind. Stroumboulopoulos believes the prime minister has entered “very interesting” political territory with the decision. Do we have a better 150 or do we have the same 150?”. So if we have people and we have laws, honour them.”. “Watching Gord now on The Secret Path tour, and hearing what he’s saying and the strong challenges he’s issuing to the prime minister and Canadian people, I think the artist part of your brain is really fed that way. He was in Haiti just before his trip to Standing Rock, working with Artists for Peace to support education, justice, and dignity in disadvantaged communities. “Of course, we’re not naive, we know Gord’s health is front and centre in a lot of people’s minds, and we honour that, but this is about celebrating this band who has done something incredible," he explains. “But there’s also that other part of you that wants to go to a bar and watch a band play wicked rock and roll tunes, and they feed that too. George Mark Paul Stroumboulopoulos is a Canadian media personality. Media personality George Stroumboulopoulos hosts concert-parties in his Richmond Street West home, setting the stage for a chill evening for musicians, music lovers and Toronto notables looking for a place to happen. He hosted the HIP30 concert in his living room. I don’t believe one country is better than the next… but I do believe that countries that have the rule of law are generally in a better position to grow and help their people grow. “Most of the so called ‘Global North’ is only what it is because of the rule of law,” the radio host explains. Photo courtesy of George Stroumboulopoulos on Instagram. Most recently, George joined Apple M… While The Tragically Hip front man has been working towards indigenous reconciliation for years, his efforts have been hurled into the spotlight since his terminal cancer diagnosis in May. George Stroumboulopoulos was coming home from an anti-pipeline protest at Standing Rock in North Dakota when he heard how Canada was about to boost its own oil and gas industry. The militarized police response to the movement along with the decision to move the pipeline away from a municipality's drinking water system and directly into the water source of a First Nation, cemented his resolve. While he self-identifies as an environmentalist, he says the trip was less about protesting an oil pipeline than it was supporting the right of indigenous people to land, culture, and self-determination. He is currently (as of December 2019) a radio host on CBC Music. The concert will air on The Strombo Show on Jan. 1 between 8 p.m. and midnight on CBC Radio 2. I didn’t get the sense that there was meaningful conversation, and I didn’t get the sense that the nations had any real say in it.". He spent most of his time in a pickup truck doing supply runs, he adds, and already has plans to return in the New Year. The renowned Canadian media and music personality arrived home in Toronto to news that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cabinet approved two new oilsands expansion projects. You need an active subscription to post a comment. Each weeknight, George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight brings you a smart, sharp and intimate conversation with some of the world’s biggest stars and original thinkers. Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos chops wood at the Standing Rock camp in North Dakota in November 2016. (Photos by Vanessa Heins) The time was the stroke of midnight. CBC listeners will be able to hear Stroumboulopoulos paying homage to the famous Canadian band on a taped show that will air on New Year's Day. Demonstrations at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation — which attracted more than 8,000 people from around the world and halted construction of a US$3.8-billion pipeline — are proof of the power of peaceful protest, says Stroumboulopoulos. George Stroumboulopoulos, Actor: Hobo with a Shotgun. “We get to determine what kind of 150 years we have next. He says that the protest camps in North Dakota were already buzzing about Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain expansion and Enbridge’s Line 3 before the decision came down. “There’s a part of your brain, that artist’s part of your brain that is really fed by what Gord says,” says Stroumboulopoulos. And, as the gates close on 2016, Stroumboulopoulos sees a historic opportunity for Canada in its 150th anniversary year. I think what’s amazing is how they’ve really mastered both crowds, or both parts of your brain.”.