Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy Says Canada Should Share Its Prosperity Better

The co-front man for one of Canada’s greatest bands, Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, says people are born into economic and social circumstances that either shows a wide horizon before them, or a small horizon – and when it’s small, it’s “suffocating.” The singer spoke to The Lindsay Advocate from St. John, New Brunswick, while on tour with the Jim Cuddy band to promote his recent solo album. Blue Rodeo is performing in Lindsay on March 22 at the Academy Theatre in support of Women’s Resources.

In a wide-ranging discussion of social issues, he says he doesn’t buy the stereotype about low income people being lazy. and when you lack that, it’s suffocating,” Cuddy says. He recalls when he first started out in the service industry as a waiter, he couldn’t make a decent living. “Luckily I just met the right people,” to get into the music business and do something different, he says, noting he has family members who come from a wide variety of economic circumstances.

“People who are lower income often don’t know doctors and lawyers and other people who could make a difference in their lives. It’s so much about being able to look out your window and see the different possibilities…

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When it comes to basic income and the Ontario pilots being tested in Thunder Bay area, Hamilton/ Brant County, and Lindsay, Cuddy says he doesn’t know a lot about the program in detail, but he does believe in sharing the national wealth better. “I think generally, that prosperity should be shared with those who are in need,” he says, in a country as wealthy as Canada. “It just makes sense to me,” he says, noting that if basic income brings someone from about $720 a month to about $1,400 per month, “that money is 100 per cent recycled into the local economy.”

“I can’t see how that’s not a good idea. It’s a sane and humane idea, to bring a level of decency into their lives that can only have a positive effect,” Cuddy says. The Canadian Music Hall of Fame band singer says their concert at Women’s Resources is “important” and “there’s a lot of need out there.” join us April 27 TH

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(Let’s hit “pause” on our story for a second and note that though we can’t always control our circumstances, we do have some control over our reactions to them. You should know that as Assia shares her story there’s not a trace of self-pity; in fact, over a two-hour chat, the prevailing mood is good humour and there is lots of laughter (an important feature of her culture, she tells me). Back to the story. Assia went through the public school and CEGEP system, then on to university, first (hoping to become an immigration agent) completing a certificate in immigration and intercultural relations, then a bachelor’s degree in political science and international development from the Universite de Montreal (UdeM). She graduated last year. It was time for a change. “For the past couple of years I hadn’t seen myself evolving,” she says. “I felt I was stuck in the same position.” Change has come; in fact, two big changes. Lindsay has provided the second of those changes. The first was a three-month internship helping farmers learn small business skills in a small village in Senegal, a country just along the coast from Guinea (where her father now lives). It was a return to her African roots after 16 years away, her first opportunity to immerse herself in African culture again. It was also a chance to have time with her father. (“I spent the whole week crying — happy tears!” she says). And the second life-changing experience was coming here, to Lindsay, last August. As of last year, officially a Canadian citizen (after 16 years in Canada), Assia had decided to leave Quebec. “I told myself ‘Canada is a huge country’,” she says. She had applied and been approved for Odyssey, a federal/ provincial program created to promote our two official languages, and was given a few choices. She’d already visited and enjoyed Halifax — attracted by its historic connection to black culture — and she’d seen PEI, but decided on Ontario, where she also has relatives. She chose the placement at Leslie Frost Public School because she was told Lindsay had a good transportation system. (She laughs when she tells me this; I laugh too). What were her impressions of Lindsay? “After Montreal it’s small, but that’s what I wanted. It’s quiet and I like that. Everybody smiles and says ‘hi’ and people are helpful. In that way, it’s like Guinea.” What’s really had an impact is her work at Leslie Frost. It works both ways — the school’s had a real impact on her and she is contributing to the school. Assia admires the administration and teachers and the way everybody is so involved — not just in teaching but in extracurricular activities as well. She’s learned that she loves to teach. “The kids always want to read with me and try to speak with me in French,” she says. Clearly she has an aptitude for teaching, and it has been recognized. Teachers and the vice principal have seen her patience and the way she interacts with the kids and have asked if she’d ever considered becoming a teacher. For some of the children, Assia is the first black woman they’ve known.

“Why is your skin a different colour from mine?” she’s been asked. And “How do your braids stay on without an elastic?” The world gets a little bigger and more complex for the kids.

Assia has been helping with extra-curriculars and enjoyed teaching during black history month. Who knew that the inventors of the ice cream scoop and of traffic lights were black? Assia, obviously, and now the Leslie Frost students do too. They also learned about other kinds of contributions to Canadian culture. At the end of June the students will say goodbye to Assia. Shortly after, sadly, she’ll be saying goodbye to Lindsay. Next stop? After her Lindsay experience she has decided to apply to a Faculty of Education so she can become a teacher.