Juno News - From Country Music to Politics： In Conversation with George Canyon

00:00:00.340 I'm sitting down in the New Glasgow, Nova Scotia campaign office of George Canyon's campaign,

00:00:06.280 the conservative candidate for the riding of Central Nova with none other than the man himself,

00:00:11.260 George Canyon. George, thanks for chatting with me and also thanks for having me here at your office.

00:00:15.800 Yeah, you've caught me at a very unique part of the day. I'm not usually in the office. I'm out

00:00:21.000 campaigning, so this is great. As a candidate should be. I want to start off with a brief story

00:00:26.920 for those tuning into this because you and I chatted a couple of times in your capacity as an

00:00:31.940 artist on red carpets at the Country Music Awards and there was one particular interview I did on

00:00:36.860 my show with you a couple of years back about, I think it was a single that you had just released

00:00:41.580 and we were chatting off air briefly and you had said, what do you want to talk about? And I

00:00:46.460 mentioned, well, the singles come out and we'll talk about your music. That's all boring. What's

00:00:50.580 actually going on that you want to talk about? And we ended up chatting briefly about politics.

00:00:54.500 So the idea that you're running now, it is not as out of nowhere for me and for people that know

00:01:00.620 you as it might be for some others. Yeah, you know, for 10 years, I've wanted to step up and

00:01:05.360 serve in this capacity and Peter McKay is like family to me. Pete's, you know, we've been overseas

00:01:10.540 together in Afghanistan multiple times and he was kind of, you know, just gently encouraging me.

00:01:17.180 And when this opportunity came up to run in my home riding of Central Nova, which has always been

00:01:23.160 McKay country. I couldn't believe I, you know, initially I just, I just, my mouth hit my knees

00:01:29.040 and to have this opportunity to step up and, and represent the people and the family, the friends

00:01:33.980 and neighbors in Central Nova, you couldn't have given me a bigger honor. Let's talk about that

00:01:39.460 because a lot of people that go into politics, you don't necessarily have to question their motives,

00:01:44.460 but you have to at least wonder if they're doing it because they think it's the next rung for them

00:01:49.520 in their lives. Whereas for you, I don't want to say it's a step down, but, but you have a lot that

00:01:54.420 you'll be walking away from if you run. So why take the plunge and why do it now when your career is

00:01:59.200 otherwise going in such great places? What I've witnessed happen with our country over the last

00:02:04.880 four years is, is unacceptable to, to put a division of stake between the provinces to, to see what's

00:02:12.400 happening, you know, with the complete, uh, ignorance and, and, and ignoring, if you will, Western Canada,

00:02:18.500 um, to the entire Maritimes going red the lot in four years ago and still being ignored, uh, by the

00:02:24.680 liberals. I, you know, I was an armchair quarterback for so long. I said, you know what, I'm going to step

00:02:28.700 up. Pete said, if you want to serve your country in the biggest way you can step up. So I said, I'm doing

00:02:33.180 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

00:02:37.540 not for a career in politics. I want to be the voice of the people of central Nova. They deserve

00:02:42.880 that. They deserve truth and honesty and transparency. We deserve that as Canadians in our

00:02:48.260 leadership. You know, the, the PMO, the prime minister's office, the most sacred of offices in

00:02:52.360 Canada, he has our lives in his hand and to ignore the entire country, to just be the prime minister

00:03:00.400 when he wants to pick and choose the provinces he wants to be the prime minister for, that's

00:03:04.660 unacceptable. Um, you know, being a leader and after running a successful company for

00:03:09.360 29 years in the, in the entertainment business globally, uh, with, with a lot of help from

00:03:13.640 my wife, um, one thing I've learned is, you know, to be a leader, you have to deal with 0.84

00:03:18.900 the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly, and you have to be able to bear the blunt of

00:03:23.740 that and step up. And, and, uh, and that's not been done over the last four years at all

00:03:28.760 in any capacity that I've witnessed with the liberals. And I just said, enough's enough.

00:03:33.580 Um, I'm going to do this for the right reasons. Central Nova deserves to have a voice in Ottawa,

00:03:38.960 not Ottawa having a voice in Central Nova. You've also spent a lot of time, obviously

00:03:44.280 in Alberta, and I know you've traveled and I'm wondering if that experience of provinces

00:03:49.440 being left behind is something where you see a parallel between the Nova Scotia experience

00:03:54.460 and what you saw in Alberta as well when you lived there. Well, you mean being, being ignored?

00:04:00.700 Yeah. Um, every Canadian has a voice and every Canadian deserves to have their voice heard

00:04:08.680 no matter where you live, no matter what you call home or where you call home. Um, it's,

00:04:14.460 it's a right that men and women have died to protect, to have democracy, to have freedom.

00:04:20.120 Um, so I, I look at that and, and doesn't matter what province you live in or where you're from,

00:04:24.960 you have a voice and you have a right to be heard and a say. What's the policy that George Canyon MP

00:04:32.740 will champion? Something that you feel is needed. That's either not there or something that's there,

00:04:38.180 but you feel you can be a better voice. We don't have enough time.

00:04:41.100 Um, I get very passionate when it comes to people's lives. Let's just take seniors. For instance,

00:04:48.380 my mom's a senior seniors, you know, all these promises came out in two 15 and I really do not

00:04:54.720 like the whole concept of making a campaign promise and then completely ignoring it, uh, or not following

00:05:01.880 through on it. You know, um, it's the one thing with the conservative platform, um, uh, this time

00:05:07.300 around, I'm looking at the platform going, yeah, these are, these are realistic goals that we can

00:05:11.800 achieve together, working together. Uh, seniors though, you know, my, like my mom said the other

00:05:17.020 day, she said, you know, uh, dear, I get, I get my pension. My dad passed away when he's 57 from

00:05:22.460 cancer. The government took part of that away because they felt she was making too much money 0.58

00:05:26.800 at $1,200 a month. I mean, that's absolutely, that's horrific. And we need to, we need to work

00:05:32.100 better and harder to be there for our seniors, to let them enjoy the golden years of their lives,

00:05:38.040 that healthcare, be it a provincial matter. I'll say this again. It's everybody's matter. I use

00:05:43.480 healthcare. You use healthcare. It doesn't matter if it's a province that's directing it, the federal

00:05:48.300 government supplying funds. We need to come together as a community and work together to find solutions

00:05:53.260 for these problems. Um, just throwing money at it and then saying, okay, you know, Nova Scotia

00:05:58.080 province, the province, Nova Scotia, you deal with that. That to me is not acceptable.

00:06:01.960 We all need to be involved. We all need to be communicating and figuring that stuff out. And

00:06:06.440 then families, I had the most disturbing thing happened the other day. I was door knocking and I,

00:06:11.880 I met with a dad and he said, not even going to bother voting, not even going to bother. And I'm like,

00:06:17.660 really can, you know, I had a great conversation. Can you explain why? And he said, well, I'm very

00:06:21.680 disenchanted with the whole process. No matter what I vote for, I don't get any help. Um, I work my

00:06:28.200 tail off. My wife, wife works her tail off at the end of the month. We barely have enough to survive. 1.00

00:06:33.400 The cost of living keeps going up. And he, and he alluded to things like the carbon tax. I mean,

00:06:38.960 yeah, they don't pay it directly in Nova Scotia, but they do because we, we have, we, we have no

00:06:43.160 choice. We have to eat. We have home energy cause, you know, all these things. And he said, at the end

00:06:47.680 of the day, I don't have enough money left this year to put my son in hockey. And it just, it was

00:06:54.000 heartbreaking and we need to take better care of each other. And the government needs to be there

00:07:00.240 for the people, not the people there for the government. Something has gone terribly backwards,

00:07:05.320 especially over the last four years. And that has to stop.

00:07:10.300 You've had a, as an artist, a voice and you've been able to, I mean, basically say what you want.

00:07:16.080 Anyone who's ever interviewed, you know, is you never shy away from doing that. One question that I

00:07:20.740 have for you is you do feel like you're going to be shackled by having to work within the political

00:07:26.200 or governmental apparatus rather than being a guy on the road touring and doing interviews and doing

00:07:31.140 all the things you've been doing.

00:07:32.420 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

00:07:36.880 way on the street. And I think we really need to bring politics back to that. Uh, when I was a young

00:07:41.840 man, dad took me and introduced me to Elmer McKay. And he said, this is our MP and his job is to be

00:07:47.580 the voice of your mom and I in Ottawa. And ever since then, it's always stuck with me that we

00:07:52.700 need to bring politics back to the true definition of a politician should be the voice of the people,

00:07:58.300 especially the people that voted you to be there, to be their representative. And, uh, that's what

00:08:04.000 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

00:08:10.300 to the rafters until we're heard. And the people of central Nova are heard and, and, and are getting what

00:08:15.540 they deserve. One thing I've always loved about country music, and certainly this is embodied in

00:08:20.820 your music is that it's the one genre that ultimately hinges back on values in a way that

00:08:26.360 other genres don't and values in politics. I don't think most people would argue are synonymous. In

00:08:31.860 fact, some people might say they're antithetical, you know, what are, what are you going to do as a,

00:08:36.280 as a family man, as a person that has a moral compass to stay different than what you've described

00:08:41.880 in this conversation to this point, which is politicians that say one thing and then they get

00:08:46.560 consumed by the trappings of the system and they're no longer able to be that person they were

00:08:50.780 going in. That was asked to me of the doors, you know, and especially by veterans. I've dealt with a

00:08:55.320 lot of veterans over the last four weeks. I think that one of the biggest blessings I've had is a 29

00:09:02.020 year career, um, globally in, in the entertainment business. So I'm, I'm drawing on that grounding.

00:09:08.080 I've, you know, when I was first in the business, y'all have, you have pipe dreams of this and that,

00:09:12.400 and it goes to your head and you're like, Oh, I'm a rock star. But you quickly realize luck.

00:09:17.000 Thanks. Thankfully for my wife and the grace of God, um, humility is, is a vital part. And my dad

00:09:22.480 always raised me, mom and dad to be a man of character and integrity. Now that doesn't mean

00:09:26.460 you're not making mistakes. Everybody makes mistakes, but it means if you make a mistake,

00:09:30.620 you stand up and you claim it, you say, that is my error. I'm not going to do,

00:09:35.900 I'm going to fix that error. And then you provide the punishment on yourself more so than anybody

00:09:40.240 else could. And I look at that and I carried that through my entire life and, and stepping up into

00:09:46.460 this capacity. I'm the same man, hearts on the sleeve and it will remain that way.

00:09:52.400 One thing I noticed is that you've still got a tour dates lined up, I think for December. Now,

00:09:57.640 will you, will, will you be doing that as an MP? And I, and I guess there's a more serious

00:10:02.160 question there. And that is this something you can fully commit to?

00:10:06.020 Yes. And I'm fully committed. My priority, uh, priority list has changed. I've always lived my

00:10:10.020 life by my priority list, my faith, my family, my music. And I've now changed that to my faith,

00:10:15.960 my family, central Nova, the people of central Nova. And then my music, I'll still play music.

00:10:21.080 I'm still going to write music and record music. Of course I am. It's in my heart. It's,

00:10:24.720 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.

00:10:29.720 Of course, you know, I may do the odd date here and there because it's fun to do. And it's not

00:10:34.160 like I'm going to be 24 seven with my head down. Um, but, but my father taught me, and I'm sure as

00:10:39.700 a lot of, a lot of Canadians listening, you have to be a person of character and your handshake is

00:10:47.160 your word. And when all this came to pass, I told the party, I have to keep my commitments. I've kept

00:10:53.640 the two week commitment coming into the election. Was it hard to do? Yes. Did I have to burn the

00:10:58.800 candle at both ends and get two hours sleep a night? That was how it worked. I flew back and

00:11:02.920 forth to the County, uh, to central Nova. I made sure I was here when I could be. And then I have

00:11:08.620 a Christmas tour only in the Maritimes, which kind of would be perfect. Uh, I have 12 shows that were

00:11:15.640 on the books a year ago. And, uh, I have to keep those commitments and I will. Um, it just means you

00:11:21.940 have to work harder, but I tell you what, I'm no stranger to hard work. I'm, I'm willing to,

00:11:26.280 to sleep to four hours a night, whatever I can get to continue to work. And while we do those shows,

00:11:32.320 be them very close to the Christmas holiday anyway. Uh, so that's just means I'm working on

00:11:37.080 my holiday. Um, but I will still keep that commitment and, uh, and 110% committed to being

00:11:44.860 the member of parliament for central Nova. We've seen in this election, and I know you're a talk

00:11:49.840 radio junkie. I know you've covered politics before and talked about it and loved it.

00:11:53.500 It's a very polarized race. I mean, we see a lot of animosity, a lot of hatred, a lot of

00:11:58.480 incivility. Get me started. Well, but I guess there is a question in this and that have you

00:12:04.460 found that you've had pushback from some of your fans now that you've picked a side and they might

00:12:09.600 not all be on that side? Well, you know, it is interesting. Um, I've met with a few fans who are

00:12:14.540 like, yeah, we love your music. We have all your records, but tell me what it is and why you're,

00:12:21.840 you're doing this and what qualifies you. Uh, it's, it's fantastic. Uh, you know, being back home

00:12:27.960 in central Nova, the honesty, um, just, just, I just love that because it's how we solve problems.

00:12:34.740 If, if you're, if you're across the table and you're trying to negotiate a deal, but, but the

00:12:38.820 person you're negotiating with isn't being truthful and up forward. Well, you don't know what deal you're

00:12:43.340 negotiating, but here in central Nova, it is full on. I get it. I get the, the truth unfiltered

00:12:50.540 and we get to talk about it and come to conclusions and, and solve problems. And so when it comes to,

00:12:56.840 uh, you know, the doors, they might be fans, but no, I have to earn their vote. And that's,

00:13:01.640 that's how it should be. That's democracy.

00:13:04.560 But, but even looking at, you know, your career in music, which you may go back to in four years,

00:13:09.340 eight years, you may go back to it in three weeks. We don't know. I'm not trying to be pessimistic,

00:13:14.420 but have you experienced negativity from your fans because you're saying now I'm a conservative?

00:13:22.300 Oh yeah. Even when I talked about, um, even just talked about being involved a few years back,

00:13:28.740 um, I experienced negativity from fans because, you know, everybody, everybody has a side. It's,

00:13:35.220 you know, it's a lot more serious than sports, but everybody has a side in hockey. You know,

00:13:38.900 you're a Montreal fan, you're a Toronto fan of that, that rivalry. Of course it is a lot more,

00:13:42.940 uh, more serious and way more at stake, but everybody has a, has an opinion. And, um,

00:13:47.760 once again, that's the, that's the beauty of living in the greatest country of the world.

00:13:51.120 You get to have that opinion. You get to voice that opinion freely and, and safely,

00:13:56.000 uh, God willing without prejudice or ignorance, but that exists. I'm witnessing that for sure. And,

00:14:01.640 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

00:14:08.160 that they know, you know, um, I'm a Canadian like them, I care, I care enough to step up to serve.

00:14:14.840 Um, but I, but I also make music to hopefully bring people together and unite people. I've been

00:14:20.380 blessed to do that for 29 years, no matter what your beliefs are or what party you support. At the

00:14:26.920 end of the day, I've watched all the parties come together when, when music was involved and just

00:14:31.400 celebrate.

00:14:31.840 I want to talk very briefly about the family factor here, because when I came into your

00:14:37.320 campaign office this morning, one of the first people I met was your uncle. Uh, you've talked

00:14:41.080 about your mom and, and earlier we were chatting about your grandmother, you said, so you, you've

00:14:45.860 had a family affair in, in this. And I'm wondering how that has helped you in your career thus far,

00:14:54.080 but more importantly, how it'll help you in politics, because we know that Ottawa is a very dangerous

00:14:59.340 place for families. We hear all the stories about all these family breakups there. And, and I'm not

00:15:03.900 suggesting anything by that, but how do you keep your family together and how does the family support

00:15:09.420 you?

00:15:10.000 The family's incredible and it's always been incredible. Growing up here in Central Nova, I took

00:15:13.760 it for granted as we all do. And then you, you, you leave and you go out to work and, um, family, my faith

00:15:20.420 and my family have always been the top of my priority list and living my life that way, um, really has been

00:15:25.800 so beneficial because I've been able to really fall back a lot on my family and really count on my

00:15:31.240 faith. And it, uh, I can't imagine my life, where I'd be in my life without my family. Um, being,

00:15:39.180 being in the music business, of course, you're away so much, but, but family are always so forgiving

00:15:44.780 that you're, you're not able to be there for everything. I missed, I missed my son, Cale's first

00:15:50.620 day at Dr. W, uh, a elementary out in Riverton. I wasn't there for that, for that very first day.

00:15:57.280 And, uh, I missed his first day learning how to ride a bicycle and, you know, these things that

00:16:02.700 I've sacrificed, but that also my, my family have sacrificed me not being there, but they're,

00:16:07.560 they've stood behind me and now going into this, this arena, um, they know how much I want to serve.

00:16:14.080 They know it's always been in me to serve and they've stepped up behind me to, to support that.

00:16:19.100 And my wife, uh, Jennifer and I made this decision together. I would not have made this decision

00:16:24.080 without her 110% support. And she did. Which is crazier, the touring schedule or the campaign

00:16:31.340 schedule? Oh, the campaign schedule. That's a, that's not even on the same page. Um, most nights

00:16:40.180 I might sleep four or five hours and then, uh, it's not just about, you know, I love getting out to

00:16:45.440 getting out and talking to people. I love that. That's the best, best part, but it's, it's the,

00:16:49.100 the reading of policy and the understanding of, of, uh, the, the, the platform, the conservative

00:16:54.340 platform and what we're doing and where we also need still work on things and understanding what

00:16:59.780 the liberals have not done over the last four years and the effects that have had the domino

00:17:04.980 effect that that's really that I'm, that I'm getting to witness. There's so many little

00:17:08.540 integral pieces to this, um, without this team in this office and in Antigonish, uh, and all the

00:17:15.100 volunteers that are out there right now, putting up signs and knocking on doors. Uh, this is a we

00:17:19.620 effort, not an I effort. It never, I don't believe it ever would be, uh, an I effort. It's a we

00:17:25.660 effort. And, uh, man, I tell you, I, I, I might be working hard, but they're working harder.

00:17:31.980 You know, I had a radio show in which you'd talk to a lot of people at once. And then I

00:17:36.160 ran as a candidate myself in which you have to deal with those one-on-one interactions,

00:17:40.340 thousands and thousands of them. And, and you on a much bigger scale, you've, you know,

00:17:44.780 toured and you've performed in arenas, but at the door, it's you and the voter. And it's that

00:17:48.980 one-on-one interaction. And you said earlier, I mean, you've got to earn their vote. And I'm

00:17:52.200 wondering if you can share the most maybe humbling or maybe just memorable experience that you've

00:17:58.320 encountered at the door, apart from the one you mentioned earlier. I can give you a negative one

00:18:02.200 and I can give you a positive one. Which one would you like first? Let's do negative first and

00:18:07.200 then we'll land on a positive. Well, here's the one thing I've always done in my business. I've

00:18:11.540 been very blessed to be able to put myself in someone else's shoes. And also because I'm an

00:18:16.620 artist, maybe it's because I'm an artist, imagine what their life might be like or what might have

00:18:21.560 happened to them five minutes before the door was knocked on. And, uh, the other day I knocked on a

00:18:28.460 door and the elderly gentleman said, get the beep back on your horse and go back to Alberta because

00:18:35.460 he had received misinformation that I was from Alberta. He did, you know, he didn't know that

00:18:41.720 he was just told and he believed what he was told. Um, and a lot of it has to do with social media and

00:18:47.520 the lies that are, that are out there that I was born and raised in Alberta. And I said, you know,

00:18:52.740 no, sir, a hundred percent born and raised right here in Pictou County, Foxbrook road played, played

00:18:57.820 hockey in Westville, went to school, West Pictou district high, went to St. Francis Xavier and

00:19:02.520 Anaganish, you know, all these things. And, and so it wasn't a, it wasn't a negative yes, but you know,

00:19:08.840 you, you're able to talk through that. And most people actually give you the time to listen. And then,

00:19:15.400 you know, I, the other day I had a lady, I went in and it was humbling experience. I, I took my hat

00:19:20.640 off and I went to the house and she said, uh, she said, now, what are you doing, dear? And I said, well,

00:19:27.200 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,

00:19:32.540 well, I don't know who you are. Tell me about yourself. And it was just so humbling. You know,

00:19:35.940 I'm like, this is great, you know, to get to, to sit down and talk to somebody and she doesn't know

00:19:40.560 who I am from Adam, not, you know, not at all. And to have that conversation and to learn, you know,

00:19:46.540 that she was, um, dying from cancer and, uh, she made a joke and I, I kind of smiled with her and she

00:19:53.760 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

00:19:58.120 lighthearted about it. And it really, it was a humbling experience for me because it put everything

00:20:01.960 in perspective at the end of the day. Well, I know you've got many more of those interactions,

00:20:08.180 not just over the next three weeks, but I think today as well. So I want to thank you very much

00:20:12.220 for taking the time out and best of luck in the campaign. Thank you. And thanks for coming in to

00:20:16.020 see you guys.

00:20:16.360 See you guys.

Juno News - October 03, 2019

From Country Music to Politics： In Conversation with George Canyon

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