Juno News - October 03, 2019From Country Music to Politics： In Conversation with George Canyon
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Summary
In this episode, I sit down with George Canyon, a conservative candidate running for the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova Scotia, to discuss his campaign and why he decided to jump into politics. We talk about why he chose to run, why he thinks it's the right thing to do, and what it means to be a Canadian voice in politics.
Transcript
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I'm sitting down in the New Glasgow, Nova Scotia campaign office of George Canyon's campaign,
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the conservative candidate for the riding of Central Nova with none other than the man himself,
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George Canyon. George, thanks for chatting with me and also thanks for having me here at your office.
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Yeah, you've caught me at a very unique part of the day. I'm not usually in the office. I'm out
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campaigning, so this is great. As a candidate should be. I want to start off with a brief story
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for those tuning into this because you and I chatted a couple of times in your capacity as an
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artist on red carpets at the Country Music Awards and there was one particular interview I did on
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my show with you a couple of years back about, I think it was a single that you had just released
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and we were chatting off air briefly and you had said, what do you want to talk about? And I
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mentioned, well, the singles come out and we'll talk about your music. That's all boring. What's
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actually going on that you want to talk about? And we ended up chatting briefly about politics.
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So the idea that you're running now, it is not as out of nowhere for me and for people that know
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you as it might be for some others. Yeah, you know, for 10 years, I've wanted to step up and
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serve in this capacity and Peter McKay is like family to me. Pete's, you know, we've been overseas
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together in Afghanistan multiple times and he was kind of, you know, just gently encouraging me.
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And when this opportunity came up to run in my home riding of Central Nova, which has always been
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McKay country. I couldn't believe I, you know, initially I just, I just, my mouth hit my knees
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and to have this opportunity to step up and, and represent the people and the family, the friends
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and neighbors in Central Nova, you couldn't have given me a bigger honor. Let's talk about that
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because a lot of people that go into politics, you don't necessarily have to question their motives,
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but you have to at least wonder if they're doing it because they think it's the next rung for them
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in their lives. Whereas for you, I don't want to say it's a step down, but, but you have a lot that
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you'll be walking away from if you run. So why take the plunge and why do it now when your career is
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otherwise going in such great places? What I've witnessed happen with our country over the last
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four years is, is unacceptable to, to put a division of stake between the provinces to, to see what's
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happening, you know, with the complete, uh, ignorance and, and, and ignoring, if you will, Western Canada,
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um, to the entire Maritimes going red the lot in four years ago and still being ignored, uh, by the
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liberals. I, you know, I was an armchair quarterback for so long. I said, you know what, I'm going to step
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up. Pete said, if you want to serve your country in the biggest way you can step up. So I said, I'm doing
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it. And I know, I know I'm doing it for the right reasons. It's not for fame. It's not for fortune. It's
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not for a career in politics. I want to be the voice of the people of central Nova. They deserve
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that. They deserve truth and honesty and transparency. We deserve that as Canadians in our
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leadership. You know, the, the PMO, the prime minister's office, the most sacred of offices in
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Canada, he has our lives in his hand and to ignore the entire country, to just be the prime minister
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when he wants to pick and choose the provinces he wants to be the prime minister for, that's
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unacceptable. Um, you know, being a leader and after running a successful company for
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29 years in the, in the entertainment business globally, uh, with, with a lot of help from
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my wife, um, one thing I've learned is, you know, to be a leader, you have to deal with
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the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly, and you have to be able to bear the blunt of
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that and step up. And, and, uh, and that's not been done over the last four years at all
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in any capacity that I've witnessed with the liberals. And I just said, enough's enough.
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Um, I'm going to do this for the right reasons. Central Nova deserves to have a voice in Ottawa,
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not Ottawa having a voice in Central Nova. You've also spent a lot of time, obviously
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in Alberta, and I know you've traveled and I'm wondering if that experience of provinces
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being left behind is something where you see a parallel between the Nova Scotia experience
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and what you saw in Alberta as well when you lived there. Well, you mean being, being ignored?
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Yeah. Um, every Canadian has a voice and every Canadian deserves to have their voice heard
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no matter where you live, no matter what you call home or where you call home. Um, it's,
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it's a right that men and women have died to protect, to have democracy, to have freedom.
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Um, so I, I look at that and, and doesn't matter what province you live in or where you're from,
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you have a voice and you have a right to be heard and a say. What's the policy that George Canyon MP
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will champion? Something that you feel is needed. That's either not there or something that's there,
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but you feel you can be a better voice. We don't have enough time.
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Um, I get very passionate when it comes to people's lives. Let's just take seniors. For instance,
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my mom's a senior seniors, you know, all these promises came out in two 15 and I really do not
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like the whole concept of making a campaign promise and then completely ignoring it, uh, or not following
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through on it. You know, um, it's the one thing with the conservative platform, um, uh, this time
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around, I'm looking at the platform going, yeah, these are, these are realistic goals that we can
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achieve together, working together. Uh, seniors though, you know, my, like my mom said the other
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day, she said, you know, uh, dear, I get, I get my pension. My dad passed away when he's 57 from
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cancer. The government took part of that away because they felt she was making too much money
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at $1,200 a month. I mean, that's absolutely, that's horrific. And we need to, we need to work
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better and harder to be there for our seniors, to let them enjoy the golden years of their lives,
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that healthcare, be it a provincial matter. I'll say this again. It's everybody's matter. I use
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healthcare. You use healthcare. It doesn't matter if it's a province that's directing it, the federal
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government supplying funds. We need to come together as a community and work together to find solutions
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for these problems. Um, just throwing money at it and then saying, okay, you know, Nova Scotia
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province, the province, Nova Scotia, you deal with that. That to me is not acceptable.
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We all need to be involved. We all need to be communicating and figuring that stuff out. And
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then families, I had the most disturbing thing happened the other day. I was door knocking and I,
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I met with a dad and he said, not even going to bother voting, not even going to bother. And I'm like,
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really can, you know, I had a great conversation. Can you explain why? And he said, well, I'm very
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disenchanted with the whole process. No matter what I vote for, I don't get any help. Um, I work my
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tail off. My wife, wife works her tail off at the end of the month. We barely have enough to survive.
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The cost of living keeps going up. And he, and he alluded to things like the carbon tax. I mean,
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yeah, they don't pay it directly in Nova Scotia, but they do because we, we have, we, we have no
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choice. We have to eat. We have home energy cause, you know, all these things. And he said, at the end
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of the day, I don't have enough money left this year to put my son in hockey. And it just, it was
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heartbreaking and we need to take better care of each other. And the government needs to be there
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for the people, not the people there for the government. Something has gone terribly backwards,
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especially over the last four years. And that has to stop.
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You've had a, as an artist, a voice and you've been able to, I mean, basically say what you want.
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Anyone who's ever interviewed, you know, is you never shy away from doing that. One question that I
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have for you is you do feel like you're going to be shackled by having to work within the political
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or governmental apparatus rather than being a guy on the road touring and doing interviews and doing
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No, uh, I wear my heart in my sleeve. I'll wear it the same way in the house. I'll wear it the same
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way on the street. And I think we really need to bring politics back to that. Uh, when I was a young
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man, dad took me and introduced me to Elmer McKay. And he said, this is our MP and his job is to be
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the voice of your mom and I in Ottawa. And ever since then, it's always stuck with me that we
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need to bring politics back to the true definition of a politician should be the voice of the people,
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especially the people that voted you to be there, to be their representative. And, uh, that's what
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I'll do. And I, I've told people at the doors, it's hard to shut me up. I will, I will ring my voice
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to the rafters until we're heard. And the people of central Nova are heard and, and, and are getting what
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they deserve. One thing I've always loved about country music, and certainly this is embodied in
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your music is that it's the one genre that ultimately hinges back on values in a way that
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other genres don't and values in politics. I don't think most people would argue are synonymous. In
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fact, some people might say they're antithetical, you know, what are, what are you going to do as a,
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as a family man, as a person that has a moral compass to stay different than what you've described
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in this conversation to this point, which is politicians that say one thing and then they get
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consumed by the trappings of the system and they're no longer able to be that person they were
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going in. That was asked to me of the doors, you know, and especially by veterans. I've dealt with a
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lot of veterans over the last four weeks. I think that one of the biggest blessings I've had is a 29
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year career, um, globally in, in the entertainment business. So I'm, I'm drawing on that grounding.
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I've, you know, when I was first in the business, y'all have, you have pipe dreams of this and that,
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and it goes to your head and you're like, Oh, I'm a rock star. But you quickly realize luck.
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Thanks. Thankfully for my wife and the grace of God, um, humility is, is a vital part. And my dad
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always raised me, mom and dad to be a man of character and integrity. Now that doesn't mean
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you're not making mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, but it means if you make a mistake,
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you stand up and you claim it, you say, that is my error. I'm not going to do,
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I'm going to fix that error. And then you provide the punishment on yourself more so than anybody
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else could. And I look at that and I carried that through my entire life and, and stepping up into
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this capacity. I'm the same man, hearts on the sleeve and it will remain that way.
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One thing I noticed is that you've still got a tour dates lined up, I think for December. Now,
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will you, will, will you be doing that as an MP? And I, and I guess there's a more serious
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question there. And that is this something you can fully commit to?
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Yes. And I'm fully committed. My priority, uh, priority list has changed. I've always lived my
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life by my priority list, my faith, my family, my music. And I've now changed that to my faith,
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my family, central Nova, the people of central Nova. And then my music, I'll still play music.
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I'm still going to write music and record music. Of course I am. It's in my heart. It's,
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it's the gift God has given me. I'm not going to stop that. I just won't be able to tour as much.
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Of course, you know, I may do the odd date here and there because it's fun to do. And it's not
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like I'm going to be 24 seven with my head down. Um, but, but my father taught me, and I'm sure as
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a lot of, a lot of Canadians listening, you have to be a person of character and your handshake is
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your word. And when all this came to pass, I told the party, I have to keep my commitments. I've kept
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the two week commitment coming into the election. Was it hard to do? Yes. Did I have to burn the
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candle at both ends and get two hours sleep a night? That was how it worked. I flew back and
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forth to the County, uh, to central Nova. I made sure I was here when I could be. And then I have
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a Christmas tour only in the Maritimes, which kind of would be perfect. Uh, I have 12 shows that were
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on the books a year ago. And, uh, I have to keep those commitments and I will. Um, it just means you
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have to work harder, but I tell you what, I'm no stranger to hard work. I'm, I'm willing to,
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to sleep to four hours a night, whatever I can get to continue to work. And while we do those shows,
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be them very close to the Christmas holiday anyway. Uh, so that's just means I'm working on
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my holiday. Um, but I will still keep that commitment and, uh, and 110% committed to being
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the member of parliament for central Nova. We've seen in this election, and I know you're a talk
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radio junkie. I know you've covered politics before and talked about it and loved it.
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It's a very polarized race. I mean, we see a lot of animosity, a lot of hatred, a lot of
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incivility. Get me started. Well, but I guess there is a question in this and that have you
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found that you've had pushback from some of your fans now that you've picked a side and they might
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not all be on that side? Well, you know, it is interesting. Um, I've met with a few fans who are
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like, yeah, we love your music. We have all your records, but tell me what it is and why you're,
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you're doing this and what qualifies you. Uh, it's, it's fantastic. Uh, you know, being back home
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in central Nova, the honesty, um, just, just, I just love that because it's how we solve problems.
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If, if you're, if you're across the table and you're trying to negotiate a deal, but, but the
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person you're negotiating with isn't being truthful and up forward. Well, you don't know what deal you're
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negotiating, but here in central Nova, it is full on. I get it. I get the, the truth unfiltered
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and we get to talk about it and come to conclusions and, and solve problems. And so when it comes to,
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uh, you know, the doors, they might be fans, but no, I have to earn their vote. And that's,
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But, but even looking at, you know, your career in music, which you may go back to in four years,
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eight years, you may go back to it in three weeks. We don't know. I'm not trying to be pessimistic,
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but have you experienced negativity from your fans because you're saying now I'm a conservative?
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Oh yeah. Even when I talked about, um, even just talked about being involved a few years back,
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um, I experienced negativity from fans because, you know, everybody, everybody has a side. It's,
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you know, it's a lot more serious than sports, but everybody has a side in hockey. You know,
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you're a Montreal fan, you're a Toronto fan of that, that rivalry. Of course it is a lot more,
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uh, more serious and way more at stake, but everybody has a, has an opinion. And, um,
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once again, that's the, that's the beauty of living in the greatest country of the world.
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You get to have that opinion. You get to voice that opinion freely and, and safely,
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uh, God willing without prejudice or ignorance, but that exists. I'm witnessing that for sure. And,
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uh, yeah. And, and I, I hope at the end of the day, if they're a fan of mine and they're a liberal
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that they know, you know, um, I'm a Canadian like them, I care, I care enough to step up to serve.
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Um, but I, but I also make music to hopefully bring people together and unite people. I've been
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blessed to do that for 29 years, no matter what your beliefs are or what party you support. At the
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end of the day, I've watched all the parties come together when, when music was involved and just
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I want to talk very briefly about the family factor here, because when I came into your
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campaign office this morning, one of the first people I met was your uncle. Uh, you've talked
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about your mom and, and earlier we were chatting about your grandmother, you said, so you, you've
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had a family affair in, in this. And I'm wondering how that has helped you in your career thus far,
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but more importantly, how it'll help you in politics, because we know that Ottawa is a very dangerous
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place for families. We hear all the stories about all these family breakups there. And, and I'm not
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suggesting anything by that, but how do you keep your family together and how does the family support
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The family's incredible and it's always been incredible. Growing up here in Central Nova, I took
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it for granted as we all do. And then you, you, you leave and you go out to work and, um, family, my faith
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and my family have always been the top of my priority list and living my life that way, um, really has been
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so beneficial because I've been able to really fall back a lot on my family and really count on my
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faith. And it, uh, I can't imagine my life, where I'd be in my life without my family. Um, being,
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being in the music business, of course, you're away so much, but, but family are always so forgiving
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that you're, you're not able to be there for everything. I missed, I missed my son, Cale's first
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day at Dr. W, uh, a elementary out in Riverton. I wasn't there for that, for that very first day.
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And, uh, I missed his first day learning how to ride a bicycle and, you know, these things that
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I've sacrificed, but that also my, my family have sacrificed me not being there, but they're,
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they've stood behind me and now going into this, this arena, um, they know how much I want to serve.
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They know it's always been in me to serve and they've stepped up behind me to, to support that.
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And my wife, uh, Jennifer and I made this decision together. I would not have made this decision
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without her 110% support. And she did. Which is crazier, the touring schedule or the campaign
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schedule? Oh, the campaign schedule. That's a, that's not even on the same page. Um, most nights
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I might sleep four or five hours and then, uh, it's not just about, you know, I love getting out to
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getting out and talking to people. I love that. That's the best, best part, but it's, it's the,
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the reading of policy and the understanding of, of, uh, the, the, the platform, the conservative
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platform and what we're doing and where we also need still work on things and understanding what
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the liberals have not done over the last four years and the effects that have had the domino
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effect that that's really that I'm, that I'm getting to witness. There's so many little
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integral pieces to this, um, without this team in this office and in Antigonish, uh, and all the
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volunteers that are out there right now, putting up signs and knocking on doors. Uh, this is a we
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effort, not an I effort. It never, I don't believe it ever would be, uh, an I effort. It's a we
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effort. And, uh, man, I tell you, I, I, I might be working hard, but they're working harder.
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You know, I had a radio show in which you'd talk to a lot of people at once. And then I
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ran as a candidate myself in which you have to deal with those one-on-one interactions,
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thousands and thousands of them. And, and you on a much bigger scale, you've, you know,
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toured and you've performed in arenas, but at the door, it's you and the voter. And it's that
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one-on-one interaction. And you said earlier, I mean, you've got to earn their vote. And I'm
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wondering if you can share the most maybe humbling or maybe just memorable experience that you've
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encountered at the door, apart from the one you mentioned earlier. I can give you a negative one
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and I can give you a positive one. Which one would you like first? Let's do negative first and
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then we'll land on a positive. Well, here's the one thing I've always done in my business. I've
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been very blessed to be able to put myself in someone else's shoes. And also because I'm an
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artist, maybe it's because I'm an artist, imagine what their life might be like or what might have
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happened to them five minutes before the door was knocked on. And, uh, the other day I knocked on a
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door and the elderly gentleman said, get the beep back on your horse and go back to Alberta because
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he had received misinformation that I was from Alberta. He did, you know, he didn't know that
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he was just told and he believed what he was told. Um, and a lot of it has to do with social media and
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the lies that are, that are out there that I was born and raised in Alberta. And I said, you know,
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no, sir, a hundred percent born and raised right here in Pictou County, Foxbrook road played, played
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hockey in Westville, went to school, West Pictou district high, went to St. Francis Xavier and
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Anaganish, you know, all these things. And, and so it wasn't a, it wasn't a negative yes, but you know,
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you, you're able to talk through that. And most people actually give you the time to listen. And then,
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you know, I, the other day I had a lady, I went in and it was humbling experience. I, I took my hat
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off and I went to the house and she said, uh, she said, now, what are you doing, dear? And I said, well,
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ma'am, I'm, I'm George Canyon. And you know, I'm, I'm here to see you. I'm running for government. She said,
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well, I don't know who you are. Tell me about yourself. And it was just so humbling. You know,
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I'm like, this is great, you know, to get to, to sit down and talk to somebody and she doesn't know
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who I am from Adam, not, you know, not at all. And to have that conversation and to learn, you know,
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that she was, um, dying from cancer and, uh, she made a joke and I, I kind of smiled with her and she
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said, well, I don't know if I'll make her to the election, but I'll try, you know, but she was just so
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lighthearted about it. And it really, it was a humbling experience for me because it put everything
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in perspective at the end of the day. Well, I know you've got many more of those interactions,
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not just over the next three weeks, but I think today as well. So I want to thank you very much
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for taking the time out and best of luck in the campaign. Thank you. And thanks for coming in to