Juno News - March 25, 2024


This is NOT Canadian music

Topics
Canadian music at Juno Award
Hosted by
Harrison Faulkner
Mentioned
Karan Aujla Juno Award Junos Sarah Weeknd Pascal Saint-Ange Gordon Lightfoot Justin Trudeau Anita Landback Justin Bieber Elliot Page Stan Rogers Tate McRae Ellen Page Drake
Why Canada shouldn’t turn its back on Israel Liberals have spent $42 million on gun ＂buyback＂ without getting a single gun

Episode Stats


Length

11 minutes

Words per minute

170.44

Word count

1,927

Sentence count

118

Harmful content

Misogyny

5

sentences flagged

Hate speech

6

sentences flagged


Summary

Summaries generated with gmurro/bart-large-finetuned-filtered-spotify-podcast-summ .

The Juno Awards are an opportunity to highlight and celebrate Canadian music, but what we saw at the Juno Awards last night was a political display. We saw an attempt to dilute Canadian culture with disastrous American-imported race and gender politics, drag queens, leftist political activism, and a celebration of foreign music and foreign culture.

Transcript

Transcript generated with Whisper (turbo).
Misogyny classifications generated with MilaNLProc/bert-base-uncased-ear-misogyny .
Hate speech classifications generated with facebook/roberta-hate-speech-dynabench-r4-target .
Topics generated with Qwen2.5-3B-Instruct.
Hosts, guests, and mentioned names generated with spaCy (en_core_web_sm), reconciled against Wikidata.
00:00:00.000 Well, I was one of 50 Canadians last night to watch the Juno Awards so you don't have to.
00:00:10.600 And let's just say that we are in desperate need of some rather uncomfortable conversations
00:00:14.740 over what Canadian culture and Canadian content is, and more importantly, what Canadian culture
00:00:20.480 is not. The Juno Awards, as you all know, is an opportunity to highlight and celebrate Canadian
00:00:25.760 musicians. It should be a display of nationalism and a celebration of the great Canadian musical
00:00:30.820 talent across our country, of which there is plenty. But that's not what we saw last night.
00:00:35.200 Instead, what we saw was a political display. The Junos last night was an effort to dilute
00:00:40.400 Canadian culture with disastrous American-imported race and gender politics, drag queens, leftist 0.99
00:00:46.860 political activism, and a celebration of foreign music and foreign culture. Are we really willing
00:00:52.400 to dilute Canadian culture to the Marxist and post-national ideas of the Liberal Party of
00:00:57.020 Canada? And are we willing to reject the idea of protecting Canadian content and allow Canadian
00:01:01.800 artists to be swallowed up by American behemoths like what we see from the majority of the
00:01:06.000 conservative establishment in our country? And are those not simply just two sides of the same
00:01:10.640 American coin? Or is there not a more nuanced position that we can take in this country?
00:01:16.000 What about nationalism? You see, the Juno Awards last night gave us an opportunity to have that
00:01:20.900 conversation. So let's do it. Before we get into it, though, drop a like in the video,
00:01:24.580 help us out by subscribing to the True North YouTube channel, and the common question for
00:01:28.140 the episode is this. What makes Canadian music Canadian? Let me know your answer in the comments
00:01:34.640 below, and let's get into it. Well, when I was watching the Juno Awards last night, I couldn't
00:01:39.120 help but notice that the real stars of Canadian music couldn't be bothered to show up. No Drake,
00:01:44.660 no Weeknd, no Justin Bieber, that sort of thing. In fact, the winner of Artist of the Year
00:01:49.660 and Single of the Year, Tate McRae, also couldn't be bothered to show up. If the Juno Awards was all
00:01:55.180 about celebrating the best of Canadian music, you would think that the best Canadian musicians
00:01:59.620 would show up and would be celebrated. But they weren't. Instead, what we saw last night were some
00:02:05.120 very interesting and questionable things that were right on brand with Justin Trudeau's
00:02:10.020 post-national gender ideology and critical race theory worldview. The awards began with a performance
00:02:15.640 by Canadian music star and host Nelly Furtado, who of course had to be joined on stage by a dancing 0.52
00:02:21.080 drag queen. We couldn't celebrate one of Nelly Furtado's hits without having a gender ideology 0.97
00:02:26.220 display on stage, could we? There were also several references to critical race theory, like the idea
00:02:31.580 that black artists in Canada aren't afforded the same opportunities as everyone else. Yeah, how exactly
00:02:36.740 did that work out for Drake and the Weeknd? And then of course, we had to have another display from a
00:02:41.500 drag queen and two-spirit indigenous person. Now, none of this made any sense because what
00:02:55.300 followed was actually a really great display from an indigenous music group that had nothing to do
00:02:59.480 with two-spiritedness or drag queens or LGBT whatever. But a drag queen who calls himself 0.85
00:03:05.820 Anita Landback, which seems disrespectful to First Nations people, in my opinion, had to first 1.00
00:03:10.940 make it all about himself. He had to first talk about his own two-spiritedness before he could
00:03:16.100 allow an actually solid and good indigenous music group to perform on stage. Now, before we get into
00:03:22.120 the most crucial part of the show, that being what makes Canadian content Canadian, I also wanted to
00:03:27.920 highlight this. Canadian pop duo Tegan and Sarah were honored for an award last night for their LGBT
00:03:33.740 foundation. Of course, the award was presented to them by the once great Canadian actress Ellen Page,
00:03:39.080 who now goes by Elliot Page. Before she could give the award to Tegan and Sarah,
00:03:44.240 she first had to mention that transgender people in Canada were being erased, unlike her, of course.
00:03:50.560 We are at a time in history where the rights of 2SLGBTQ plus people are being revoked, 0.99
00:03:57.980 restricted, and eliminated throughout the world and the effects of which are devastating.
00:04:04.720 Now, when Tegan and Sarah received their award, they immediately went on the attack against the
00:04:09.800 Alberta government for their policies, apparently targeting transgender children.
00:04:14.200 Threats like the Alberta government's attempt to prevent trans youth from accessing vital care.
00:04:25.560 These attacks are harmful because they are directed at the kids who need our support the most.
00:04:32.180 What a celebration of Canadian culture, right? Well, all of this now brings us to a performance by
00:04:37.640 Punjabi musician Karan Aujla. You see, Karan Aujla managed to take home a Juno Award last night.
00:04:46.000 He managed to win the Juno TikTok Fan Choice Award.
00:04:49.840 And the award for TikTok Juno Fan Choice goes to...
00:04:55.300 Karan Aujla!
00:05:03.660 Now, I had never heard of Karan Aujla. Punjabi music isn't really my thing, I have to say.
00:05:09.040 But he managed to beat out The Weeknd for this award, which I found to be quite surprising.
00:05:13.700 Karan Aujla's music is performed entirely in the Punjabi language.
00:05:18.480 And you see, Karan is not a Canadian.
00:05:21.700 He wasn't born in Canada, according to his Wikipedia page.
00:05:24.720 And in fact, he's not even a Canadian citizen.
00:05:26.900 He is a permanent resident here in this country, and he's a citizen of India.
00:05:30.680 So, why exactly did Karan Aujla perform at the Juno Awards?
00:05:35.060 And why did he manage to win a Juno Award from an actual Canadian?
00:05:39.280 Now, if you're not a Canadian citizen, how exactly is your music Canadian?
00:05:43.060 But even furthermore, this brings us back to the common question of the episode, which is...
00:05:48.620 What makes Canadian music Canadian?
00:05:51.540 You see, there are legal definitions for what the government determines to be Canadian content.
00:05:55.740 But I think, as a culture, as a country, we all know what makes Canadian music Canadian.
00:06:01.380 Punjabi music isn't Canadian music.
00:06:03.700 It's Indian music.
00:06:05.000 And it's not racist to say that, or insensitive to say that either.
00:06:08.000 Because at a certain point, we have to have a conversation about what all of this means.
00:06:13.280 Now, I want to take a step back even further to discuss why we protect Canadian content in our country.
00:06:18.920 We live to the north of a cultural behemoth, the United States.
00:06:22.900 An empire that can, and that does, swallow up Canadian culture, and instead replace it with American culture.
00:06:30.140 American news, American politics, American music, American movies.
00:06:33.600 Now, the old Tory way of thinking was that we needed to protect Canadian industry.
00:06:39.600 We needed to protect Canadian culture.
00:06:41.660 And we needed to make sure that Canadians could identify what makes something Canadian.
00:06:47.160 So that we could have something for ourselves.
00:06:48.600 So that we could celebrate our great country and our great talent.
00:06:51.780 But when we take celebrations of Canadian culture and Canadian identity,
00:06:55.980 and instead inject that with American imported race and gender politics, 0.99
00:06:59.560 that is exactly the same thing that we have been trying to defend our country against.
00:07:03.900 Is Canadian music really just music that is sung by someone who happens to live in Canada at the time,
00:07:08.120 but has no real affinity for Canada, and is not a citizen of Canada?
00:07:11.800 Is there no importance that we place on our national languages, in our music?
00:07:16.320 Is Karan Ajla's Punjabi music, as Canadian, as Stan Rogers and Gordon Lightfoot, as the Rush and the Guess Who,
00:07:24.600 are we really going to put them in the same Canadian music category?
00:07:27.500 Or are we willing to say that actually, no, Karan Ajla's music is not Canadian music.
00:07:31.420 It's not Canadian content.
00:07:32.560 I'm sure his music is very good, and listened to by Indian Canadians and the Indian diaspora in our country.
00:07:39.680 As I'm sure Indians in India listen to his music.
00:07:41.960 But just because you live in Canada, that doesn't mean that your music is Canadian.
00:07:45.780 If you're not even a citizen of Canada, how can you win a Juno award?
00:07:50.040 Now, I don't listen to Punjabi music.
00:07:51.820 I'm not critiquing Punjabi music, or the Canadians who do listen to Punjabi music.
00:07:56.120 There are obviously many.
00:07:57.080 But Karan Ajla is not a Canadian.
00:08:00.860 A permanent resident who lives in Canada is not a Canadian. 0.70
00:08:04.200 His music, which is not sung in English, French, or an indigenous language, is not Canadian music.
00:08:10.760 And I think Juno awards should be going to Canadian citizens.
00:08:14.080 Pretending that Karan Ajla's music, his Punjabi music, is the same as any other Canadian music,
00:08:21.080 is more of the same post-national ideology.
00:08:24.040 Punjabi culture is not Canadian culture.
00:08:26.320 And again, it's not racist to point that out.
00:08:28.860 Now, the very reason why we protect Canadian music and Canadian content in our country
00:08:32.720 is to protect our identity, is to give Canadians a shared cultural identity that we can all experience as Canadians.
00:08:41.880 If American music isn't Canadian music, well, then how is Karan Ajla's Punjabi music Canadian?
00:08:48.100 And I would also say that Canadian citizens can make music that is not Canadian music.
00:08:52.300 Because, as I said before, one of the most important parts of Canadian music, in my opinion,
00:08:56.660 is that it is performed in English, French, or an indigenous language.
00:09:00.240 Look, this may be uncomfortable for some. I get that.
00:09:04.440 But at a certain point, we have to be willing to have these conversations.
00:09:08.820 We have to be willing to admit that something which we all know not to be Canadian is not Canadian.
00:09:13.860 If we do have any interest in protecting Canadian music, Canadian art, and Canadian culture,
00:09:18.260 we have to know what is Canadian and what is not Canadian.
00:09:21.720 Now, that is the grounding idea behind what the Liberal government loves so much about protecting CanCon.
00:09:27.120 So, all I'm saying is that it's time to have this conversation.
00:09:31.200 Now, of course, to top it all off at the Junos, we had Heritage Minister Pascal Saint-Ange,
00:09:36.760 when giving away the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award,
00:09:40.120 deliver basically a political speech on stage and explain to the country,
00:09:44.600 or the few who were watching the Junos last night,
00:09:46.880 what the government is doing to fund more Canadian music, Canadian artists.
00:09:50.460 Our music scene brings us together and reflects who we are, diverse, vibrant, and unique.
00:09:57.720 And to help even more Canadian artists break through,
00:10:01.180 I announce today that we are renewing and boosting the Canada Music Fund.
00:10:09.800 Our music is amazing and we need to support it.
00:10:13.740 Look, a true celebration of Canadian music would have had the best Canadian artists performing.
00:10:19.440 Canadians last night could have been reminded about how some of the best musicians in the world,
00:10:23.900 some of the most important and powerful musicians in the world who dominate global charts,
00:10:27.900 come from Canada, are products of the great true north.
00:10:31.680 But instead, we got drag queens, political speeches, leftist activism,
00:10:37.520 critical race theory, and of course, a celebration of foreign music and foreign culture.
00:10:43.860 All right, everyone, that's going to do it for us today on the show.
00:10:46.000 Thank you so much for tuning in.
00:10:47.480 My name is Harrison Faulkner and this is Radio.
00:10:50.180 I'm Eric Stroud.
00:11:03.560 We had to do it for our international interviews.
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