The Current for January 1, 2019
Today on The Current: why one man returned home to Canada after U.S. President Donald Trump's election; the surprising and contradictory story behind the composer of Canada's national anthem; and retired NHL goaltender Curtis Joseph opens up about how his difficult childhood shaped the man he's become.
Today on The Current:
- The Canadian anthem is known far and wide, but what about the man behind it? Longtime music journalist Robert Harris tells us about the life of Calixa Lavallée, a French Canadian musician who Harris says spent 10 years of his life in blackface as a minstrel. Turns out, he Lavallée didn't believe in the founding of Canada either.
- In 2016, Don Sawyer had lived in Alabama for three years. But the night U.S. President Donald Trump was elected, he decided he was leaving America to return home to Canada. We talk to Sawyer about why he made the decision, and what's changed since he settled in St. Catharines, Ont.
- We revisit our conversation with retired NHL goaltender Curtis Joseph — perhaps best known as Cujo — who opens up about his difficult childhood, being adopted, and how it shaped his life.