Afternoon Pint
Afternoon Pint is a laid-back Canadian podcast hosted by Matt Conrad and Mike Tobin. Each week they meet at at a craft brewery, restaurant or pub with a surprise special guest.
They have been graced with appearances from some truly impressive entrepreneurs, athletes, authors, entertainers, politicians, professors, activists, paranormal investigators, journalists and more. Each week the show is a little different, kind of like meeting a new person at the pub for a first, second or third time.
Anything goes on the show but the aim of their program is to bring people together. Please join in for a fun and friendly pub based podcast that is all about a having a pint, making connections and sharing some good human spirit.
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Afternoon Pint
Jeff Douglas - How an ‘I Am Canadian,’ Beer Commercial Brought A Nation Together, Twice!
What happens when a single commercial catapults you into becoming a national symbol? Jeff Douglas, the face behind Molson's iconic "I Am Canadian" rant, sits down with us to explore his remarkable journey from reluctant beer spokesman to respected CBC broadcaster.
Douglas takes us behind the scenes of the legendary commercial that changed his life, revealing how his "wicked hockey haircut" and improvised "thank you" helped land him the role that would make his character Joe a household name across Canada. He shares the perfect storm of circumstances that made the commercial resonate so deeply – premiering during the 2001 Oscars immediately after Robin Williams performed "Blame Canada," at a time when Canadian-American relations were experiencing significant tension.
Twenty-five years later, Douglas collaborated with the original writer to create an updated version addressing recent "51st state" comments, proving that Canadian identity remains as relevant and worth protecting as ever. What began as a simple beer commercial became a cultural touchstone that continues to unite Canadians across political divides.
But Douglas's story extends far beyond his famous commercial persona. He shares how the unexpected opportunity opened doors to hosting history and documentary programs that allowed him to explore Canada and the world, connecting with diverse communities and perspectives. Now hosting CBC's Main Street in Nova Scotia, Douglas offers thoughtful reflections on media evolution, streaming services, and the future of Canadian content.
Throughout our conversation, Douglas's passion for Nova Scotia and Canada shines through as he expresses genuine optimism about the province's trajectory and the engagement of younger generations with global issues. His journey reminds us that sometimes the most meaningful paths emerge from opportunities we initially resist.
Grab a beer and join us for this engaging conversation about Canadian identity, media evolution, and finding purpose in unexpected places. And don't miss our signature "10 Questions" segment where Douglas reveals his stance on ketchup chips, his favorite Tragically Hip song, and shares his most valuable piece of advice: "Don't do anything just for the money."
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I'm going to give this 10 seconds. See if that goes away. It's still popping up. We're good though now.
Speaker 2:Okay, cool, okay one two, one two.
Speaker 1:Cheers, cheers.
Speaker 2:Cheers.
Speaker 1:Cheers.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the afternoon pint Well thank you so much, thank you so much. And we're here at the Garrison Tavern.
Speaker 3:I've never been there, my first time, oh, first time Very nice coming from work.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I thought it was going to be a half hour.
Speaker 3:It was like 10 minutes at 6 o'clock in Halifax, that's an hour and a half. We got a couple of good beers here, some seasonal beers too. Actually, we didn't talk about that, but you guys got the Hafe Weissens and I got the Dunkelweizen Nice, so some German-style beers, because it's Oktoberfest A little, oh, of course, and Matt and I dress very similar today.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I have to say Not on purpose, but we were with one of our heroes commercial heroes, we'll say- of past.
Speaker 3:You've got your the great Canadian Joe aka.
Speaker 2:Jeff Douglas, you've got your hoser jackets on.
Speaker 1:We do man.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely here's to Joe yeah, well, thank you and thanks for having me. I'm super excited to be here. What a great way, what a very civilized way to make a podcast, to make media.
Speaker 1:A Canadian way to make a podcast A very, very Canadian way.
Speaker 3:So, yeah, so people might remember you from the I Am Molson, I Am Canadian commercial way back in the day and we were talking about how iconic it was. You know, almost right up there with Heritage Minutes.
Speaker 2:So why don't you tell us a little bit about how that came to be, how you ended up as that guy? Well, I was, uh I was an actor in toronto and uh, you know, like most actors, when you're starting out, or uh, commercials are your bread and butter. And so I'd gone through that period and actually, at the point that this commercial had come up, I had a role on a Disney series and I remember my agent calling me and saying you know, chris Alexander, who's a casting director, he'd like to see you for this test, because it wasn't even a commercial, a test for a beer commercial. And I was like I don't want to, I think I'm done with commercials. I don't, you know, I'm not eager to go back to it.
Speaker 2:Commercials are. They're hard. There's a lot of pressure, things have to be tight, time-wise. There's a lot of reasons why, as an actor, it's a difficult thing to undertake, but Chris was a guy who sorry Craig Alexander sorry Craig, if you're listening was one of the first casting directors who ever opened the door to me when, I first arrived in Toronto so I was like, okay, well, I'll go in.
Speaker 2:And he had said, I think, you know, tell them to read it because it's not like other commercials, it's something different. It's kind of a script, it's kind of a monologue. And I read it and I was like, oh, it's fun. You know it's fun. It's like a list of things, but it looks like it could be fun and the beaver line is kind of fun.
Speaker 2:You know that was I think what stood out to me. The beaver is a proud and noble animal. So I went in and uh ended up, you know, booking this. Uh, what was at first a test, because most of it wasn't even sure that they were going to go with it. They thought it was maybe too on the nose and that canadians wouldn't respond to it. Uh, and then, so we did the test and then came around we're going to shoot the commercial and I remember during during the shoot it was talking, you know, because it was only me, unlike a lot of commercials which could be like a 22-hour shoot, this was like a very polite six or eight hours and multiple camera angles, but it's just me doing this speech in front of a green screen.
Speaker 2:All the background was added afterwards and so while they were moving, but back in the day it was film, so single camera, and every time they move the camera they've got to relight everything.
Speaker 2:So I'd have a lot of downtime and I had downtime with the people on a commercial shoot you have. So you'd have the agency, which is the commercial agency in this case it was ben simon, burn and darcy and then you would have the client, which in this case was Molson, and typically the actor would never, ever meet them. But because it was only me and we'd been through the test together, we'd already done it. They, you know, they have their sofas and stuff and they're sitting back and I'd go back and sit with them. And I remember at a certain point Laurie Estabrooks, who's a producer on the commercial, saying to me we, you know, because it's eight hours sitting, multiple conversations at one point, and it's so funny that I still have this mullet kicking around but, uh, I didn't during the shoot, but when I auditioned for it and did the test I had a wicked hockey haircut and she was like that was when you walked in.
Speaker 2:We all kind of looked at each other and went holy fuck, like that guy's a complete hoser that dude if he doesn't, if he doesn't shit the bed, that's our guy yeah and uh, when I did the audition and the other thing I had improv'd.
Speaker 2:At the end just a little thank you, because it's like the most canadian thing in the world polite, yeah, and that's it and so, uh, and they that is, I think, what how I ended up being the guy. And then, during the shoot, I, I the, the, the then vp of marketing at molson brett marchand, said what do you think, what do you think of the spot? And I'm like I have no, have no idea.
Speaker 2:I never, know, I never know about anything, and he was like we're going to ruin your life with this spot. Yeah, this is going to be it.
Speaker 3:Yeah, there'll be nothing else.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then I don't know how he knew Like I have no sense of those things and I know that Glenn, who did the Glenn Hunt who wrote the piece, like he didn't know, you know, he didn't know, but Brett Brett had a, I guess, an insight or an inkling about it. So, yeah, that's how I came to be involved in it. Amazing, that was just an audition.
Speaker 3:I'm pretty sure the bottles still say I am Canadian on the bottles? I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 2:I don't know. Yeah, I don't. It's been a while since I've bought most in Canadian.
Speaker 3:But I'm pretty sure they do still say it in small letters somewhere on their MP.
Speaker 1:I am Canadian. Yeah, it was iconic, right. Yeah, it's just yeah. What was it like the night you saw that appear on television?
Speaker 2:Well, it, was interesting because it was during the Oscars in 2001,. Maybe 2001, maybe, and uh they. The commercial was not finished in time for them to secure a definite spot within the broadcast of the academy awards. But they go into a standby list. So what that entails is you pay your money and then you just hope that it goes long and that it goes long enough that wherever you are on the list you get played. Because once they go past the time and the guaranteed spots are played, then you end up with just a first come, first serve. First come, first serve. Robin Williams is hosting. He took it long, very long, and it did go long enough for the rant to get played, which was the name of the spot. And not only did he take it long enough, but as he was going into the commercial timeout, as I call it, like a hockey speak, but going into the commercial break, he performed Blame Canada from the South Park movie Classic.
Speaker 3:And it was just like Blame Canada.
Speaker 2:Big song and dance and then go to commercial and it's like cut to that microphone.
Speaker 3:And uh.
Speaker 2:Hey, I'm not. It's like you could never. You could never plan it and I think the couple of things, the viewership, is huge right.
Speaker 3:And back in that day and for people who are listening now.
Speaker 2:It was such a different world Like people, it would just be tens, it would be millions and millions of people, probably tens of millions of people, or whoever is in the house just well.
Speaker 1:The oscars was an event then it was an event, it's not as much.
Speaker 2:No, anymore not no, because you can watch it. You can watch it pulled apart on tiktok, on youtube, whatever, but it was just the broadcast. There was no social media, there was no virality, there were no alternative.
Speaker 2:People would do these appointment viewings. What are you doing? What are you doing? Sunday night, it's the Oscars, it's the Oscars and they would show up, so you would get millions and millions and millions of Canadians watching this. And not only that, but you would get almost every major media outlet would have people assigned to watch it yeah, that's right, because something happens right observe this moment, this weird, bizarre congruence of events yeah and go what the hell was that? Yeah, and who is joe canadian?
Speaker 3:and we would have seen it like a canada site because, like, although you know it's run by the same network, I mean, but a different network in canada, they would have a canadian distributor, so they would have had a distributor, just like we don't get the american super bowl commercials and things. They release most of them and they don't get ours, and so that was kind of behind the firewall, so to speak it was behind the paywall for can.
Speaker 2:It was very much a Canadian thing and I think there was also a lot happening at that time, you know, geopolitically.
Speaker 1:Like, as I look back, what was happening at that time?
Speaker 2:Well, there was yeah, it was right around the time of 9-11. And it would have been around the time. It was kind of the first fracture too, I think, and like Canadians would have always had, we've had generationally now an issue of same issue that like New Zealanders would have with Australians when they travel and it's like, oh, are you from Australia? And New Zealanders are like no no, I'm not I'm from. It's very different.
Speaker 3:It's.
Speaker 2:Canadians. We've always had that right. It's like we don't no offense to Americans, right, but it's like we're non-Americans Right, and we're different. We've got our own thing, yeah very much you know we want.
Speaker 2:there was that sort of sense of, I guess, an identity Canadians have always had. It's like no, we're not, we're someone different, you've got the wrong person, whatever the wrong country. But around that time it was right around the time and I can't remember the order of things, but there was something happening in the Canadian zeitgeist. Jean Chrétien would have been, he was prime minister. It was around the time of 9-11, it was around the time of the war on terror.
Speaker 2:Canada going into Afghanistan saying, yeah, we get this, this is legitimate, we see this. Your country was attacked and we have you know sort of good, conclusive lines of intelligence taking us into Afghanistan. We're with you there to Afghanistan, we're with you there. And then it was Iraq and the now infamous Colin Powell going into the UN and saying, definite WMDs, they have them. And the UN saying I'm not sure. And the coalition of the willing that the US set up and John Gretchen at the time saying we can't do Iraq.
Speaker 2:We're not comfortable with that. It doesn't. You haven't met the criteria, you haven't made the proof and the UN is not recognizing this as a legal and just action. So we're going to sit this one out. And that really turned like there was a lot of. We got a lot of flack in canada at that point from the states.
Speaker 3:Okay, and it was right, all this was happening and just yeah, just for the timeline, because I mean oscars is generally first quarter first quarter of the year. Um. So what would have happened is, uh, george bush would have had just been inaugurated, right? Which would have been. Um, you know, obviously at the time bush was actually a polarizing character which now thinks back. He's like barney the dinosaur now. But the.
Speaker 2:It was a contentious election, but remember there's like a recount, that's florida, the hanging chad and all this other stuff and everything.
Speaker 3:So it's like it it was. It was a contentious election. It was like who did really win? It was challenged, it was drawn out. Not that different than what we're seeing now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right.
Speaker 3:So it's so funny that you had that commercial and now we have part two, yeah, and we're seeing a lot of the same.
Speaker 2:So there was a lot, and I mean it was interesting that when now, 25 years later on, and there was kind of a resurgence around the time of the presidential election, the inauguration, and then the sort of economic strife, I guess, the trade war, for lack of a better term between Canada, the United States and Canada, the united states and everyone but canada specifically, and you know the president musing about you know a 51st state, and, uh, the, the, this was something, this piece of content, right, this, this commercial, was something that canadians started going back to and saying you know, we need something like this now.
Speaker 2:And I remember jack ben simon, who would have been, you know, one of need something like this now. And I remember Jack Ben Simon, who would have been, you know, one of the owners of the company who produced this, had said I don't know if it would work now Because at that point in 2000, 2001,. And one of the reasons they wrote it is that they knew at that point for people who would be in the target demographic for that ad, like 19,. Well, you know, I think, if we're speaking honestly, like probably 14 to 25, because I do I think they market young, right, they want habits Like they're not condoning anyone drinking under the legal age, but by the time you get to be 19, they want you to be thinking of Molson Canadian.
Speaker 3:They want you aware you're a teenager and they only want you to think If you're Canadian, you'll drink this.
Speaker 2:And they don't want us, they don't care about people. People who drink like six beers a week, they don't care. When you drink 60 beers a week, they want you. Then right, fair. But at that he, like Jackman Simon, when they did the research. He said at that point in time, when you looked at, what did young people in Canada take pride in, and it was, and what did they think of?
Speaker 3:when it came to yeah, beavers, beavers were like way up there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, in 2025, or maybe not 2025, but definitely 2024, like going into the last federal election here and maybe before the presidential election in the United States probably pride in Canadian identity was at the lowest it's been in a long long time.
Speaker 3:That's fair. That's very fair.
Speaker 1:A long long time that has changed you know a lot, so this year it's really hit a springboard.
Speaker 3:Right, it really has, yeah, which is awesome to see because, I agree, I think it was kind of a race to the bottom, uh, when it came to a federal election in 20, you know, in the in the third, fourth quarter of 2024 yeah, it was weird, yeah it was really.
Speaker 1:We were all just kind of giving up and like just don't forget first we, we weren't talking to each other, we weren't.
Speaker 2:Like it's so crazy, like I remember growing up it didn't matter, you know, like when I was a kid back in the day, like in the 80s and 90s in Canada, it didn't matter. It didn't matter if you were a liberal supporter or, at that point, a progressive conservatives, like no one cared yeah, it would kind of leave at the doorstep, almost like you might say something about your neighbor like oh, he's a liberal guy.
Speaker 1:Or but, then when they got into your home, they were treating you like family.
Speaker 2:We didn't, yeah, and it was like it was just, I don't know. It's like being the difference between being a, like a Leafs fan and a Habs fan. Do you think that's?
Speaker 3:changed a little bit now, though, with I mean, obviously it's changed. We've gotten a little bit more hostile, but do you think that it the reason why it's gotten a little bit that way is because we've seen Canada used to be kind of like, you know who's in the center and leans a little bit one way? Yeah and now we're a little bit more polarizing. We have flat earthers and anti-vaxxers and things like that that really I don't really felt were a thing yeah, 25 years ago.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah I, I don't I mean the pandemic. The pandemic was weird man and I you know I think when I, when, when I look back at the pandemic, it's like now I don't know if I've rinsed it from, I'm just like. I try to pretend it never happened. I try to pretend that you know, and we were super lucky here in Nova Scotia the way our pandemic went right.
Speaker 2:It was like us in New Zealand, again us in New Zealand, but it I do think that like mandates, whether it was vaccine mandates or mask mandates, like it was just for some folks that really drove a wedge between people, like when they at what point does personal freedom end and you know, collective responsibility begin, and and it's just, everyone has a kind of a different breaking point yep, so absolutely man this is getting deep. This is like a deep Tuesday afternoon.
Speaker 1:I want to reel it back a bit. I mean really I mean.
Speaker 2:So I want to go back to Joe Canadian. Yeah, let's go back to Joe.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Okay. So you've done this commercial. It's changed your life.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Right, yeah, and I mean obviously overnight everyone yeah, right, yeah, and I mean obviously overnight everyone's talking about Canadian Joe. You're an actor and I'm sure as an actor, you probably wanted to, you know, move your career in other ways. Yeah, did this become like a really challenging thing to deal with?
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's a good question Trying to get into soap opera or whatever. Well, you know what I actually had an offer from a soap opera based on, you know, coming out of the commercial, which I turned down. Yeah, yeah, it was soap opera. Actors, I think work, it's too hard, it's a daily.
Speaker 3:It's a daily thing. It's a lot of work.
Speaker 1:For like 50 years. Yeah, you can do it for a long time no-transcript.
Speaker 2:What I want to be known for interesting thing is, though, that doing it, um, and then the things that happened subsequent to it, it did change my life. I mean it. It. It gave me an opportunity. It honestly gave me an opportunity to see the country. I had never really been anywhere, you know, like I was living in Toronto at the time, I'd never been been. I think I'd been out West by that. Yeah, I'd been out West because I'd done a theater show out West, but there were huge swaths of this country that I'd never seen. Yeah, and definitely after that commercial yeah, you toured Mosul was just sending me like they go everywhere and do the thing, do the thing, and I met a lot of people and I drank a shit ton of beers with canadians across the country yeah, that sounds like my dream it uh right
Speaker 2:so this is like yeah, as an actor, whatever, I was 28, 29 at the time. Yeah, if someone had said, this is going to be your thing, like as an actor, this is going to be zenith, I would have been like that. That is like a worst case scenario. That is the worst thing that could do to me as a human being. It was the best thing that happened to me.
Speaker 2:It's just different ideas about what's important, I guess, and stuff as time goes by, looking back and the truth is like I met amazing people and we talk about. You know how different maybe the country is today politically and at a kind of uh, a higher level when we're in the bubble of our social media and you know, like our whatever x-rage or whatever it is. But I know I have a hundred percent faith that if that same thing happened today and whatever organization was like let's go, we're going out again, right, and I was drinking beer with canadians it'd be the same as it was then yeah, I don't think I don't think that we are as divided as people would like us to believe we are.
Speaker 2:I think okay. Yeah, you look at the mirror of social media too.
Speaker 1:I think it wedges that divide even more than it would actually be.
Speaker 3:I agree with that 100% Because I mean you think, about it we all go to office together.
Speaker 1:There's lots of people. I don't know their political views.
Speaker 2:It doesn't matter when you're sitting down in this format and if, like you, think about it like man, you guys sit here and drink beer with people all day, every day. Right, that's your job. It doesn't matter who's sitting in this seat, right, because?
Speaker 1:once you get-. I wish that was our job, this is our hobby. We engineered this excuse just to get away for a beer on a Tuesday evening. It's very smart. It's very smart. This is a side hustle. This is good, it's a great side hustle.
Speaker 3:But it in this forum right, people are going to be good. Oh, for sure, because I do believe that people are good. Oh, yeah, at the end of the day, right? Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:It's hard to look someone in the eye and like tell them the horrible things that you say to people online, yeah right you would never, like, that's what I always say that you know, like, when people are giving you the finger in their car yes, they're never going to do that to you at the superstore. Do you know, like, when your cart? If you cut someone off the cart they're not going to do is?
Speaker 2:we are biologically programmed to work as a crew to work as a unit, love it the problem with social media, I think, is that we forget that that's a human being on the other end of it just a name, right right, it's just a name and a digital presence, just an enemy, just like.
Speaker 1:Might as well be ai, right yeah so so you did eventually get back into acting quite a bit. You did some roles. You did matt. He did a movie that we both saw. Can you guess we wasn't? We had, uh, director barry dunn on this show oh, oh, the madones, oh my god, yeah a little.
Speaker 2:Uh, yeah, barry, yeah, barry was. I had like a two-day little cameo on that. It was the first bit of acting I did since I moved back to I know I haven't done much right like it's a very different gig for me here in nova scotia, but man barry made a good looking movie did you get any?
Speaker 3:see any of it?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, they made a really good, a really good looking nice guy.
Speaker 3:Great movie, yeah, good movie. I mean like the cast was great, like yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:So we and I did do, yeah, I did commercial saving hope, saving hope.
Speaker 2:I did a couple of shows for like disney, for discovery, kids did a lot of that kind of market stuff I did a show called uh, the famous jet jackson ran oh as uh, but I know that, yeah, back in it was that was shooting at the time, that this is why I didn't want to do the I am canadian commercial, because I had this role on uh, on a series, um and yeah, and I did make my living, continue to make my living as an actor for years after it, right, and I just like I wasn't just that good at it.
Speaker 3:No, you know what I mean. I don't know, I wouldn't say that yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, I certainly wasn't that good at auditioning what you were really good at is.
Speaker 1:you were a really good host right off the bat, Like when you started doing stuff like the show on the History Channel where you were kind of explaining the relevance of the canoe. I did a lot of that, yeah. So that was yeah. What was that show called?
Speaker 2:Things that Move. I did Things that Move Ancestors in the Attic, working. Over Time, did some stuff for National Geographic International out of Washington DC and then some stuff out of the? U the UK as well for National Geographic and the BBC. So I did probably close to a decade of that kind of stuff that was amazing. That was an amazing experience, yeah because it was all like uh, location shoots.
Speaker 3:Yeah, meeting cool people doing cool shit like I again something I would dream of I had.
Speaker 2:I've had these moments, you know, like these moments in my life. I remember doing this little four-part series for bbc by this, with this company I think it's called 360 productions. They were based in in the uk, in london and in dairy uh ireland northern ireland and we were doing this little mashup of history shows that involved a lot of CGI and then actuality. As we said, I go around to these places. One of the shows we did was on Nostradamus. It was Nostradamus.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah.
Speaker 2:Nostradamus and I got a chance to go to Nostradamus' house I think it was Aix-en-Provence, it was definitely in Provence's south and go up to the room where he actually did the thing and it's like all would be behind the velvet rope right, and so the access during those shows was crazy and you could go in Obviously not the same table, but the same place and Nostradamus used to have a to have a table like the kind of the size of these things, with this copper bowl on it you fill with water. He'd put his face down over it and you know, like almost when you're trying to squeeze zits and you, you do the steam and you're like put, and he would do that and then he'd get his vision. So I would get to go and be like put my face in Nostradamus's bowl, do all this cool stuff it's getting baked.
Speaker 3:That's it exactly. Yeah, who knows?
Speaker 2:who knows what was in the water exactly, yeah, just made up his own yeah, some very cool experiences, that's awesome.
Speaker 3:I will say, though I know he must have hung out.
Speaker 2:I know who you must have hung out with mostly, since you called it dairy yeah, oh yes, oh yeah, no, no, well, I, yeah, I did make the mistake on another show before working with this crew who were based in london and dairy, uh, on on a history television shoot, speaking and of all people, speaking to three nuns in belfast and saying, well, after we leave here, we're going to londonderry to check the archives for and this nun just said my child, it is dairy. Yes, there is no london in northern ireland. And she was like you'll do well to remember that when you go up there.
Speaker 2:And I was like okay, yeah, cool town though eh a very cool yeah, yeah, a very, very, very cool town. Yeah, the whole six counties, yeah, are incredible and tragic and hyped up, and that's I mean. If you want to drink beers with people and get like a proper, proper rage on, then, yeah, northern Ireland is the place to be.
Speaker 1:I didn't do Northern Ireland, I was just there, I only did Southern Ireland? I've never been to the Republic. Oh yeah, no, it was amazing yeah.
Speaker 3:I spent a month in both back in 2008. The whole month of May I did both.
Speaker 2:What were you doing?
Speaker 3:Vacation I had. We had three generations of friends and family and I, like my grandparents my parents, and then people my age and everything I basically just talking to, said I'd like to come visit over someday and they just said. One of them said I have a vacation home. It's yours If you want to come and visit.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I bought a plane ticket, went, spent the whole month there and only had to feed myself and drink lots of Guinness. I had a place to stay. It was fantastic.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, it's a it's. I've had a weird and wonderful life.
Speaker 1:That's for sure. To me it sounds like the commercial worked out, man.
Speaker 2:It all worked out. How many times have people come up to you on?
Speaker 3:the sidewalk and be like man, do the thing.
Speaker 2:You know, it's very interesting that even back in the day there is now 25 years between that face and this face, so it's very different. No one makes that mistake anymore, but even back in the day it would, unless I was wearing like a shirt, like you guys are wearing. It didn't yeah didn't didn't happen, although I will say that in the past year or so it's happened more than it has happened. Yeah, in in well quarter century.
Speaker 1:Well, the 2025 update was fantastic. You did a great job. Yeah, well, thank you, that was uh, glenn glenn hunt again.
Speaker 2:Uh, glenn, when you know, and it, uh, it came about pretty organically. Glenn had been retired, glenn was someone who had done, had had incredible success in advertising and then had a almost like a crisis of conscience at a certain point, you know, and he thought he Glenn very much.
Speaker 2:He came into contact with Buddhism and then very much, like you know, engaged with that and it's changed his life. It's changed how he looks at how he interacts with the world. It's changed his life. It's changed how he looks at how he interacts with the world and at a certain point, like he had told me, when I because I had reached out to him and said, hey, do you think maybe this is the right context for us to revisit? Do you think, is this, could we do something for the country right now? Could we do something?
Speaker 2:And he was like I remember when I first contacted him to say do you want to do something? He was like oh, dude, I'm retired. I hung up my shingle, you know I had this crisis of conscience and I thought why am I using my talents, my creative talents, to separate people from their money? And so he said I don't do that anymore. I've been working in communication and you know identity, things like this. And he had said to me at that point, like, who is the client on this? Which is, you know?
Speaker 2:sort of and I said Canada.
Speaker 3:And he's like okay okay, I could do it for that.
Speaker 2:And he said and what's the what like, what's the mission, what do you think? And, uh, I had said, I said I think and we started the conversations even before the 51st state thing came out, because it was the 25th anniversary I, I, I wanted to do something, because I said maybe it just gives people something to agree about. Do you know what I mean?
Speaker 2:like just give something, people, something fun to agree about. And at that point he was like yeah, because he felt he really felt the division in the country too, and uh, then, you know, then the 51st state thing came on and and and he was like this is. I think what we have to this is the elephant in the room.
Speaker 3:We got to kind of after we were talking about how that kind of like you know 2024, we morale low and everything. I think, the fact that the Edmonton Oilers had, you know, played in you know series. Yeah, they really went deep runs two years in a row. I think that also was something like people felt something there where the country was kind of united.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:When it? Yeah, when it was divided.
Speaker 2:So I think, hopping on that at the right time, people were wanting unity. Yeah well, you know, that's the thing. That is the thing that I think that people don't like to feel. You know what, whatever your relationship is, whether it's a friend or you know a partner, your family, whatever like friction, man, division, doesn't feel good no, and it doesn't feel good at a personal level, doesn't feel good at a community level, doesn't feel good.
Speaker 2:No, and it doesn't feel good at a personal level, it doesn't feel good at a community level, it doesn't feel good at a national level. And I think that people, whatever we disagree about, I think that people were didn't like feeling like that, you know, and so I certainly didn't like feeling like that. So that is all we wanted to do with, uh, like with that, with that piece, you know you're not gonna solve anything, no, no, it's just you but it helped.
Speaker 2:I think you knocked it out of the park. Give people something to you know, something to share.
Speaker 3:That wasn't shitty news it's a moment to you know. Just forget that. You know we were not all getting along yeah, yeah, or that you know what it's.
Speaker 2:Even it's okay to not get along and then just to go even, even smaller.
Speaker 1:You just did one for our province like a month. Yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, I am the grand marshal, yeah, that's right, yeah, I mean, that's my hometown, trow's my hometown. I grew up out there and so having a big event like the stampede up in trow, like any chance for me to go home Truro, was really good to me and it'll always be my home. So I was like, oh yeah, I'm keen to be included in anything that's happening up in Truro. And then when they were you know, they were like ah, can we do something for this?
Speaker 2:I was like, yeah, yeah sure, why not? Why not do it?
Speaker 1:And it was like it was such a simple shoot and I wish I could remember who wrote that. Was that you or was that somebody? It was kind of no, it was like uh, the folks from the stampede.
Speaker 2:And then we sort of sat around and jammed it out quickly. They had some stuff, I had some stuff, and then, you know, we just kind of mashed it together.
Speaker 2:And then there were like these three young guys and I'll have to get you guys the name of the production company because it's worth mentioning them, it's worth giving them a shout out and I can't remember the name right now, but these three young guys came in and they're super, super casual, set up the green screen, they have their lights, they're like watching, you know, watching the videos, the original things. They're like yeah, we got this 90 minutes. We sit down, they're like move the camera and they're like, yo, what, like what other camera positions? I'm like I'll put the camera, go down here, maybe if you can walk across like this, and then within two weeks they created that thing, done, I mean, it looks so close to the original.
Speaker 1:They did a good job yeah.
Speaker 3:It's definitely a production company to look for. Very cool, very cool. Yeah, lettuce on your donairs.
Speaker 1:Lettuce on the donairs no lettuce.
Speaker 2:That one just stuck in my head. No lettuce. Yeah, I think it's very divisive as well. Right, it's one of those things.
Speaker 3:Well, we're right next door to King of Donair. King of Donair next door and they constantly go hard in the paint on the. No lettuce on Donair.
Speaker 1:Oh, do they. Yeah, if you follow their socials.
Speaker 3:Their socials is one of the owners actually runs their socials, which is Nikki Nahas and yeah.
Speaker 1:Not a fan of lettuce. I'm not either. I don't think you should be.
Speaker 2:I think it's a Nova Scotia, Edmonton thing, right Like? I think that that's the division. Wasn't there a big bidding on a Donair costume at a certain point, between who was it? There was a Halifax Donair company.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Or store and I mean they've expanded and everything there. But I think I'm fuzzy in the details.
Speaker 1:There was just one of the many cultural divides across this vast and great nation A deep question now, kind of related to the acting gig If there's a Canadian you'd like to explore, if you've got to just do a movie and do any kind of show, would there be any kind of iconic Canadian in your life that you would have said I would love to have made a movie of that guy or told that person's story? Anything like that, and if it's no, that's fine right.
Speaker 2:No, that's something I feel like I should have an answer to. No, do you know who I've always been drawn to, and it's like for nefarious reasons, but okay, the mad trapper of rat river. Do you know the mad trapper of rat river?
Speaker 1:you gotta tell me this tale man. No one knows who he was.
Speaker 2:Like no one knows who he was. He was um, it was him no one, it was me.
Speaker 2:It was me uh no, it was some guy. They think he might have been swedish, but he came to the north, you know, he went up there and uh, I can't remember what the dispute was, but he, he, charles bronson. They did a movie about him at charles bronson, I think played him in back in the day and this guy, like the rcmp, went out to get him and shot up his place. Like he had this little cabin and like I don't know how many guys showed up and shot the shit out of his cabin and he had dug a hole in the middle. It was a dirt floor. You know he got away. He led them on this massive. Anyway, it's just a mystery because no one knows who he is.
Speaker 2:So that's who comes off like off the top of my head, honestly.
Speaker 1:I think that would be a good one.
Speaker 2:The Mad Trapper of Rat River. I see a miniseries, that's it.
Speaker 3:Mad Trapper of Rat River, I mean, and kind of to follow up on that too a little bit is like would you do that as like an actual series, or is that something like, given that you have so much hosting credits now and everything, is that something like maybe like documentaries?
Speaker 2:Probably a documentary now. Yeah, or maybe like documentary. Probably a documentary. Yeah, because I mean we're both.
Speaker 1:I don't, we're both. Yeah, lead with the movie.
Speaker 3:Yeah documentaries are like yeah are, I think, at the all-time popular at this point yeah, netflix is pumping them out like crazy. Yeah, that one that just came out that everyone's talking about would have that woman catfished her own daughter yes, that like talk about the most hated woman on the internet, the, the girl who was not the other night.
Speaker 2:I just got the tail end. No, no, no. The Philly's Karen, oh, the Philly's Karen, that's a tie right now. Yeah, I don't know, philly's Karen, and Catfish and your Own Daughter, those are very they're neck and neck, yeah, exactly hey man, like really great canadian documentaries. Oh come, no, we're the, we're the like the parents of that, of that art form.
Speaker 3:I know, I know what you're saying but I don't feel like we give like as a, as a population, we don't give it enough credit. They don't get enough money behind it. Netflix is pumping them out.
Speaker 2:Well, yeah, there's not enough no, there's not enough money, probably behind any media anywhere in canada, right and that has been kind of a perennial issue, but it's also Canadians have a very different way of doing it, like it's um I worked for when I was in all that history television stuff worked for these uh, really, really uh. A documentary company up in Toronto, doc production company called primitive entertainment. They have a ton of integrity and I remember like talking to them around the time that bullying for Columbine came out and uh, fahrenheit nine, nine, 11.
Speaker 2:Yep Right, uh, michael Moore and I'm like wow, what about these Michael Moore documentaries and they were having big theatrical releases and I thought, oh, these guys are going to love it. And they were like we hate that guy, we hate that because it was like not Too sensational.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And well, I think the Canadian documentary is still very much like, it's not. I think that when things are entertainment focused, you know like if you're because it's kind of like infotainment right, and you're kind of balancing this tension between information and and entertainment and I think that that certainly a lot of documentary is evolving always right it's the relationship between the creator and the co-collaborator.
Speaker 2:I don't even think I'll call them I don't think they call them a doc subject anymore, right it? It's always evolving More human, now more. But I still think that like that sensational type of documentary which we all gravitate toward because they're more entertaining.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 2:Maybe you know like the people who are producing the real, solid Canadian documentarians are like. I'm not sure that's documentary. I mean, I don't know, that could also be my.
Speaker 3:It's a style. It's a style, I get it. I mean I like it. I like both honestly, but I like true crime documentary too yeah.
Speaker 1:I don't. That's all questionable, you don't, huh?
Speaker 2:No, my wife loves those. I do not like them.
Speaker 3:My wife wants me to watch them so much with her and I'm just like you know what? They're an hour and a half long, or sometimes they're like four or six parts and I'm like, just tell me who did it. Do it in 20 minutes read, read the rolling stone.
Speaker 1:We'll be done with it in 20 minutes if you do a space. I don't. I don't like the cliffhanger thing, yeah anything with.
Speaker 3:Like you give me science documentaries or sports documentaries sports and science, the two them. I'll watch a hundred episodes.
Speaker 1:The thought that we watch something that withholds information from us that they know they have for like eight episodes just kills me right there. I just don't want the information and I do think that that might be the issue.
Speaker 2:You know that where it's like, documentarians would be like ah like it's.
Speaker 1:This is all marketing. Let's get the. Let's understand what's going on here understand what's going on here.
Speaker 2:I I like yeah, I don't know. I don't know what it is about true crime.
Speaker 3:That I, oh it's very popular.
Speaker 1:A lot of people we're in the minority yeah, it is the only two people, but it is like kind of a it.
Speaker 2:For a lot of people it's a guilty pleasure yeah, um, I don't know because oftentimes you know they're not although true crime has gotten better too.
Speaker 1:From an entertainment perspective, and you might not be aware of this, I just finished the new dexter.
Speaker 2:Dexter came oh, yeah, yeah, and did a resurrection. Yes, yeah, fan, amazing, it was a master class.
Speaker 1:It was the best writing and the funnest thing I've seen in years amazing.
Speaker 3:I loved it. See, I'm like I've been, I'm hesitant because I feel dexter should have ended after season four oh, yeah, yeah, so they're already.
Speaker 1:There's some rough spots, but yeah, come back man. Yeah, I'm good, holy. I love Dexter. First four seasons, one to four. It has Peter Dinklage as the big bad guy in this one, right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, the bad guy. I think you're loose with the term big there, but yeah.
Speaker 1:Oh jeez.
Speaker 2:It is. I hear you there if you're. You know season four, not necessarily with Dexter, but I have a real appreciation for Netflix in general, netflix specifically as a streaming service that has given us all-.
Speaker 3:They're kings, they are the king.
Speaker 2:And has given us access to media from other parts of the world. That's cool. It's not something I grew up with, right and I remember just like now, like having access, to you know shows that are out of, whether it's Squid Game.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Speaker 2:Out of out of Asia, out of Scandinavia, you know, and and I love the fact that a lot of those great for me, nordic Noir was kind of the you know that was like you. Probably not for you, cause it's a little bit true crimey but more like thriller-ish. But they, they will do the thing where it's like.
Speaker 1:No, it's six episodes yeah, and it's done, story's done. I love that, doesn't matter how good it is my favorite.
Speaker 2:We're not bringing it back. Yeah right, it's like we're not going to do a second season because it's done no, there's something I love about.
Speaker 3:Like we have a story to tell, we're going to tell it.
Speaker 2:End of story yeah, doesn't matter how much money it made. If it made a lot of money, let's do another story american horror story was like.
Speaker 3:That's what I kind of one of the unique things I liked about it. They kept doing it like but it was a different story. It's like we're gonna write a story, we're gonna end the story.
Speaker 2:Yes, draw it out, yeah it'll be a franchise, yeah, but not, it's not gonna be. Oh, we're gonna bring these characters back from the dead, right, whatever to milk it again. No offense, yeah. No offense. No, it was yeah no, exactly.
Speaker 3:So I mean, but yeah, I don't know if you saw recently, but I saw this recently like netflix is king, but uh, because they they rated the top 10 most watched shows in 2024 slash 25 yeah yeah, um of the 10 it was something like six were from netflix.
Speaker 1:Oh gosh really.
Speaker 3:And then there was the number three was actually CBS. So they were saying like network TV isn't as dead as people think it is. So I mean there was like it was like six Netflix shows, and then it was like two networks, two other networks. I think, and then two, maybe even three other networks and one other streaming.
Speaker 1:What were the CBS shows? Do you remember the CSI kind of shows?
Speaker 3:streaming. What were the cbs shows you remember, like csi kind of shows, or can you remember ah?
Speaker 3:it wasn't a, it wasn't like a csi show, no, but I can't remember what it is, but it wasn't like that type of like franchise thing, but it was really interesting to see because they actually charted it out and I was. And they're like network network tv isn't dead but obviously it's spread out. But what we have seen is netflix is, netflix is king and they're putting out the biggest shows and and I don't know what that is. Maybe it's just because they were kind of the first right, so it's everyone's comfort zone kind of thing, right, and everyone's like another one, another one, but I mean they put out some good shows, not that others don't. Other ones put out some great shows, but yeah, how many subscriptions do you guys have?
Speaker 2:Three, I usually rotate between three to five. Three I got three.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's amazing.
Speaker 2:Like I'm, I'm pretty cheap when it comes to subscriptions, I, but I get tempted because I do find on Netflix that it's kind of feast or famine. Did you guys ever? Find that that there'll be points where it's like, oh my God, like what a, what a wealth of choice, yes, and then it's like other times, I'm like really Like what is happening here now Like how many times can I watch Queen of the South?
Speaker 3:I'm also super annoyed that they're pulling Brooklyn Nine-Nine. That's like one of my comfort shows.
Speaker 2:Oh really, they're pulling that.
Speaker 1:Pulling it. It's just somebody else. It'll pop up on another channel. It'll pop up on something else but one I don't even know If they pull. The Office I might actually like might be my drawing yeah, I think the office is now in disney plus, is it not? So it's pop up, maybe it is.
Speaker 3:It's all over the place either way, it's on, it's everywhere I mean same how I met your mother how I met your mother went from netflix disney plus, so I mean I have disney plus and and prime if you ever try apple tv, though, man like they, they put us really.
Speaker 2:I guess they do, huh yeah disney plus looks good, yeah, at times, but again it kind of there'll be shows where I'm like, yes, okay, I'm going to go to Disney Plus and then it's like oh, okay, now it's, you know, so they have.
Speaker 1:I think they all go through this we put them seasonal, we do Crave for half of the year, and then we get Apple for half of the year and then we see everything.
Speaker 2:That's a lot of organization, though, because if you forget to kill those subscriptions, you end up with like $300 a month of subscriptions. It's usually a month overlap, but it's not that too bad.
Speaker 1:I'll always have.
Speaker 3:Netflix and Disney Plus and Prime One Prime, because it's a Prime account and my wife loves Amazon. And yeah, I mean Disney, I have a kid.
Speaker 3:I mean, I love Marvel, I love Star Wars. That's not going anywhere. Netflix again, I think it's a comfort. I've had it since 2000 and whatever 2011 or something like that but it's one of those things I don't think it's going to go anywhere. But I'll tell you one that fits right into that show that's been maybe going. Some may say it's going too long, but I think they're clever. They're not doing 20-some-odd episodes every year, they're doing eight and that's.
Speaker 1:it's always sunny in philadelphia yeah, I just watched the new. Just it's so good they're fantastic, so good they do eight episodes per season have you ever watched that?
Speaker 2:you know I have. Yeah, it's been a long time since I've seen it. I loved it. Uh, I think I I might have started watching it like pre-streaming services oh yeah yeah yeah, yeah, and it was I just remember thinking what is this show? My mind was blown Like it's so absurd, and so it was kind of like, oh my God, Jason Bateman Arrested.
Speaker 1:Development, arrested Development, oh, arrested Development, it was like Arrested Development was kind of the same.
Speaker 2:I was like what is this reality? What is this amazing reality.
Speaker 1:And Sun it's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is the same kind of. They're still writing excellent episodes, Amazing. I think they've done some of their best work in this season.
Speaker 2:Dan and Vito are still there, everybody's still on board.
Speaker 1:Keep going. It's a great show, man Stay weird.
Speaker 3:It's like season 16 or something like that Amazing. But because they only do eight.
Speaker 2:they can bang out, People go away and do it and it's really great, honestly, yeah, but yeah, the uh.
Speaker 3:So I mean, I don't know, that's some of the stuff I guess with the canadian tv versus american tv, which is pretty different, like yeah we've talked about this a couple times before. I mean, I like, I like, uh, some of my favorite shows are are like we have some great canadian content yep, and we've talked about this with Jonathan Torrens about Corner Gas. Mr D Kim's Convenience are like three of shows that I yeah.
Speaker 2:North of North. There's some good stuff now, right, Like Reservation Dogs. There is a great show coming out. I think that different voices, different perspectives have been really good for Canadian content. But yeah, I mean the money. The truth is there's a lot of great Canadian content out there. It's just oftentimes it's made by Canadians who are living in the United States, Right, Because they've gone there, they got scoped or you know, like scoped and then scooped. And why would you not go to the States if you're going to make like 10, 12 times the?
Speaker 3:money right Right.
Speaker 2:And if you're you know, yeah, I mean the funding models. Everything's very different here.
Speaker 3:How do you think we kind of turn that around a little bit? I know we can't compete with the united states because there's just so much money there and so many people and everything I mean short of, uh, just asking california to join us. They would, they would in a moment, I think well, do you know what's interesting, isn't it?
Speaker 2:because, uh, like, I even remember, I remember a time back in like when I was a little kid, when, like, this kind of conversation would be happening around Canadian music. It was around the time that CanCon regulations came in and started saying, okay, every fourth song or whatever on the radio has to be and no one, the Canadian music industry right now is I would hold it up against any country, certainly in the English world. So it's there, the talent is there and the proof that we can stand up and and do it, given it doesn't happen overnight things, you know, because there's a lot of different network, I mean, there's networks and systems that need to be put in place and people who need to be trained up and skilled and stuff like this. But, like, the talent, talent's there. Maybe this is it, maybe maybe this is the time.
Speaker 3:Yeah, right yeah, just I'd, yeah, I'd like to see us kind of, really kind of support our own really kind of. It's great to see some things like uh uh simu, like he was yep yep, he kind of going from kim's convenience, you know relatively unknown to being, you know, part of the marvel cinematic universe right. So that's. That's a pretty cool thing to see. I want to see that. At the same time, I want to us to create our own mega it'd be great if he didn't have to leave, right, yeah it'd be great if he didn't have to leave to do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, um, who knows everything's changing? Jeff, yeah, we appreciate that you're still in halifax. Uh, I think that's a fantastic. Yeah, no, I came back to. Yeah, no, I came back to Halifax, are you?
Speaker 2:kidding. I've seen I went to the mountaintop and then I realized actually you liked it here more.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, oh, we love having you, man. So thank you so much. I want to ask just about your show, now that you've been doing yeah.
Speaker 2:How long have you been doing Main Street? It would have been six years in June.
Speaker 1:And that's three hours a day. Is it three to six? It is indeed Monday to Friday.
Speaker 2:Yep, it is 3.04.30 to 5.59.10 specifically, and if our folks wanted to listen to that show listening.
Speaker 1:What channel is it? What frequency it is On the FM dial?
Speaker 2:If you're listening to it, it depends where you are on the mainland of Nova Scotia, but it's CBC Radio 1. Yeah, you can also find it digitally, like we. Also, you can find there's ways to listen to CBC online. So if you're listening to this podcast, if you're in Nova Scotia and who's living in Australia, people listen to us down there online. I don't know what time of day or what day of the week, like you're, it's going to be difficult.
Speaker 1:but you can find it online. I kind of got you know, doing a little bit of research before we sat down here today and I was looking like I was really impressed by the diversity of guests and topics you cover on CBC Main Street. It's pretty cool.
Speaker 2:Well, we, I mean, that's Nova Scotia, right.
Speaker 3:Like that is.
Speaker 2:that's what this province is in 2025. And, like I have never had pride of place like I do for Nova Scotia and I've always been proud to be in Nova Scotia, but I have so much belief in this place right now, like in what what it's going to be in five, 10, 15 years. Like I do, I honestly feel like this is just gonna like. The future is ours, you know for nova scotia.
Speaker 2:I, I feel that and uh, there there is. Since I came back here and started doing this show, um, I feel personally I've been really embraced by a lot of different people in a lot of different communities. Uh, they've really trusted me personally and trusted our show more broadly and are coming to us with you know what's happening in their communities, with their thoughts, whatever. So the so people are writing into you yeah, yeah we're kind of there.
Speaker 2:I think that I would say that I am I'm the beneficiary of a lot, of, a lot of generosity on the behalf of a lot of awesome world issues though, like you had, like one on like universal basic income, like I mean that wasn't too long ago.
Speaker 1:Yeah and uh, you've had lots of real global issues on this.
Speaker 2:It's a little because these are, yeah, I think well, because these are things that I think nova scotians are thinking about too. So it's like what? What are nova scotians thinking about? You know israel, gaza, what are they thinking about? You know what is happening in in the united states or in the eu, or you know, like today in nepal, like what, what? These are things that people care about, they think about and and have opinions on right and and, and. I think how we think about things and how we can take in information and work through it, digest it wherever the context is. Whatever the context is, it informs how we interact with each other.
Speaker 3:You know, so there's yeah. Do you feel Nova Scotians are more globally informed now than they've ever been?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think so. I I mean, I think we all have access to more yeah, we media, um informed, is it really difficult? And the reason I hesitate is I think they have access to more information from all different parts of the world. Uh, whether they're informed or misinformed or disinformed. Sometimes I wonder about that, you know.
Speaker 3:But I guess you know what. I probably worded that a little wrong, incorrectly, because what I'm thinking is growing up here, and the great thing is I have a wife who's not from here, so it's helped me, uh, with some perspective. My wife's from quebec and they are country, country. Yeah, sure, they think that too uh, but they're they're a province that thinks that, um, like they protest everything, they they're on they're engaged they are so engaged and what I've come to realize through my wife is we aren't no but I feel like not like quebec, but I feel like we're becoming more in the last few years.
Speaker 3:I feel it, whether for reasons while I agree with or don't agree with I feel like we're aware of this, like things that are happening in the world, and I feel like we're voicing our opinion more than we've ever have before.
Speaker 1:I don't even know if I agree with that. I don't think we're paying enough attention to the world. I I feel like there's too many people that are actually just watching it through their own window and not seeing the bigger picture. Well, we see the world.
Speaker 2:There's so many ways to see the world right, and that is— I agree. I agree with both of you. Who do you agree?
Speaker 1:with Tell us who's right. Who's right?
Speaker 2:Because I do think— If you—me, if in doubt me, I'm right.
Speaker 2:That's what I tell my team on Main Street and they never believe that and it's never true. But I would say that, yeah, I think that we're very isolated and maybe siloed, like we are all falling into our own echo chambers. It's a lot easier to sit around and read shit that we agree with and stuff we disagree with. Easier to sit around and read shit that we agree with and stuff we disagree with. Um, it takes a lot more mental energy. A lot of us are tired, so we will tend to go like I can't, I'm not gonna think through this other person's point of view, like fuck that, I'm just gonna read this thing that I like, right. But I do also think that and I don't know if it is a geographical thing or a generational thing I think that younger millennia you guys, are probably millennials, are you?
Speaker 2:we are yeah, I'm gen x. We were pretty disengaged. I think we were pretty. You know, we um we just kind of kept shit to ourself and uh went on like we're just going to keep on keeping on.
Speaker 2:You know like we and and I think that a lot of us were pretty, uh, nihilistic in that we thought well, you know, we were like cold war, we grew up in the cold war and the threat of like this sort of the you know the dawn of the threat, although it seems to be coming back of nuclear annihilation.
Speaker 2:And we're like well, it's going to be what it's going to fucking be. So, what does it matter what I think about it? They're going to do what they're going to do. But I think all y'all maybe the younger millennials, but definitely Gen Z like they're not having it, and I think that that is it that they're like nope, like they're not having it. Yeah, and I think that that is it, that they're like nope. And I think that younger people feel that the folks who are in whether it's a legislative position or high corporate positions, whatever it is that they're not thinking of them, the younger generation, that they're not listening to them, and so they're like well, you know what, we're going to make it impossible for you not to listen to us. Yeah, and so I do think that there's a generational thing and I think that they, you know, like it, like they might save us in the end they might save.
Speaker 2:I think that they're activated in a way that is going to be really, really useful, and I think they're aware of things that I was never aware of at that age and that they're enraged by things that I should have been enraged at by that age, that I was, to a certain extent, that I was ignorant of. They don't believe and this is a double-edged sword and I kind of mourn for them a little bit, because it's hard when you're young to not have things that you can just believe in, yeah, but they seem to be informed and kind of savvy and street smart in a way I wasn't and skeptical, which is a good thing. Cynical, which I'm not convinced, is a good thing. Necessarily Suspicious, which is definitely not a good thing, but I think that where they're skeptical and where they demand answers and demand action, it's whatever. I mean we live in a democracy their voice does matter, and whether you're 16 and you're not allowed to go and fill in a ballot or not, do you think they should be?
Speaker 2:yeah, yeah, I actually agree yeah, I think so, I think so, I think that, I think that for me, when I think of you, know what, what, what magic happens at 18 that turns you into someone who now can make that decision, at least for voting right.
Speaker 3:I can understand we have things for, like, cannabis usage and alcohol usage. Sure, no, and I mean those are. Yeah, that's brain development and all that stuff. There's a lot there.
Speaker 2:But as far as voting, I think that maybe if you could vote at 16, maybe at 36, you'd be more engaged, right do you know and if? You were voting while you were still in school and if, if school systems, really when I was in school, you still took, we took civics. I don't know if you guys had civics we had civics and it was like you'd study government, what's responsible government, what's this, what's that? We were kind of educated about it.
Speaker 2:Still do that junior high yeah, oh, do they yeah it didn't mean I wasn't necessarily ambivalent, but I mean, yeah, I think they should. I, because I think that decisions are being made, like right now. We've, you know, got a government and I just had chris d'entremont, who's a conservative mp from acadianapolis, on today talking about bill c5, and you know, I mean we're at this weird point as a country right now where it's sink or swim, like things with the United States are not the way they've always been.
Speaker 2:They're not the way for anyone in the world with the United States, the way they've always been, and I think that everyone's like we can't end up in these codependent relationships. It's not good for any nation, it's not good for any economy, and you know, know, the government is doing what the government does, which is make decisions, and you know, thankfully they're making decisions. Uh, right now they're all they seem to be bound to improving the economy and creating resilience in the economy, which I think, in the short term, is super key and we have to. But I haven't heard anything about the climate, right? You know what I mean. Like I haven't heard anything about the climate, right? Do you know what?
Speaker 3:I mean Like I haven't heard anything about when they talk about.
Speaker 2:Yeah, talk about an energy superpower from coast to coast to coast. We're not hearing it federally at least we are hearing it provincially. Yeah, but these are decisions that like, if you're 16 now. We've seen this here in Nova Scotia, like look at this summer, right, drought, we're the. We've seen this here in nova scotia, like look at this summer, right drought, right, widespread drought like, climate change isn't waiting for anyone and I mean I'll be gone before it really gets bad.
Speaker 2:But yeah, if I was 16 I would want to have a, say, a hundred percent I would want to have, and I think they should, because it's and I don't have kids. But you know, know, if I was watching someone else, I'll tell you this If I was sitting in the backseat of a car and someone was driving like an idiot, I'd want to be able to at least have a chance of grabbing the real the wheel, you know what I mean. Like it's or or getting my foot on the brake Right.
Speaker 3:So given, given the fact I have a question for you, given the fact that you're the media, and you kind of touched on it. That's why it triggered me to ask this question who's your favorite person to read that you disagree with?
Speaker 1:Oof man?
Speaker 3:that's a hard question, I know but, I figured I'd throw it out there, because you kind of mentioned about echo chambers. It's easier to read your own stuff, right?
Speaker 2:Yeah, that is interesting. You complete the fifth at any time no, no, I'm just trying to think who like, who I try to listen to and who I try to hear, and I'm blanking on a name right now a radio host. Oh my god, I'll come back to him. Um, I do like I subscribe to every political party's communication like I get. I get all their stuff.
Speaker 2:They're the same and I also yeah, and I I honestly try to engage with people who See on policy and stuff. I wouldn't really I don't disagree with anyone because when I would disagree with people is, like right now, the issue that I have with some people in the media would be tone.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like how they, if they're vitriolic, like if they're stoking anger, if they're stoking, you know, rage and and I don't have much time for that when it comes to points of view, I, they interest me right Like it interests me and as long as someone can be, the only answer that I ever want and this is for any level of politician or anyone right is why, and not I don't ask a question to people, which is sometimes and I kind of recoil when I hear it from some of my other counterparts in the media, where it's like an accusation with a question mark at the end of it, like I don't know.
Speaker 2:I genuinely generally try to ask a question that I am curious about and oftentimes it's like hey, man, like you guys got elected or not, but you're standing for office, I mean, you know, anyone that I'm talking to would have been elected. Whether they form government or opposition, they're elected. And it's like you've taken this stance on this particular issue. The only question I want and I don't want you to get pissed off about it, I don't want you to get pissy about it is why, what's your thinking? Why does that work and why is your way the way we should go and why not the other way? And if you can answer that, I'm like pretty keen to hear that, because I think that the more ideas we have, the better, as long as they're ideas and they're legitimate ideas.
Speaker 2:And not just someone being contrarian. So I think that's my long roundabout way of dodging the question you did a great job.
Speaker 1:Yeah, thank you, and I could have heard that for a few more minutes, so you hit a lot of good points, though I think. So, you do good points for honest answers.
Speaker 3:It was good bullshit, Good BS. So it is what it is. Sometimes you don't have a. You know, this is my favorite person to listen to. Yeah, Charles Adler.
Speaker 2:Charles Adler is the person I was thinking of. Who was. So Charles Adler is someone who I would say that probably politically he and I would be on personally, like on opposite sides of many issues Maybe not opposite side, but we would have differing points of view on many issues. Right, as a broadcaster I had because I don't think charles is making media anymore but immense respect for how he did what he did and and the way he treated guests and the way he could lay out ideas, the way way he could challenge guests, stuff like that. So Adler would be someone. But then there's a lot of folks like I mean I work for CBC, it would be. I think you know it's accurate to say that it's like left of center. You know, as a whole I think it's centrist but left of center, which makes us look very left as certain segments of Canada drift right.
Speaker 2:I guess drift right if you're looking at the camera this way. But, that being said, being inside the CBC, I also see like how much journalistic standards and this I would like to touch on for your listeners, who maybe are not CBC listeners and I want to say this that I am not an employee of the CBC, I'm a contractor. I work for the CBC. Public broadcaster is important. I would say that we do not work for the government.
Speaker 2:We are not, you know we work at very much arm's length from the government. Uh, we are funded by taxpayer money. You are our boss, not the government. It is the taxpayers of canada and certainly the journalistic arms within the cbc are governed and the folks at the very top take journalistic standards and procedures. The jsp it's called very, very seriously and a case in point is that the remake of that I am canadian thing that I released in in in march. I got in quite a bit of trouble for releasing that.
Speaker 1:Why was that?
Speaker 2:Because I stated an opinion that we are not the 51st anything, and I stated it as my name is Jeff. So my bosses at CBC were like you can't do that. You must be objective on everything, so I can tell you from someone inside the machine amazing that they do. They take it very, very seriously, almost to a fault at times but it's interesting because trust is very important to them.
Speaker 3:That's interesting because, like some people like can share their opinion on cbc.
Speaker 2:There's editorial type of content they'd be different, right, so there are. They are not someone who falls within any reporter, though yeah, okay should be leaving it up to a guest to state the opinions I, yeah, that I should. Yeah, I got in a lot of trouble from that and I I kind of co-opted the point, I think, on the charles adler thing, but I did want to.
Speaker 1:I did want to say that I think there's everyone to give you a pass on. It was just not to be the 51st state I think. I think that's a pass, that was something everybody agreed with pretty much, and I honestly think Not everybody, but most.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think, 92% of Canadians.
Speaker 1:I think was the number at the time. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:But the CBC's point was we speak for all of them. That's right.
Speaker 3:That's for the 92%.
Speaker 1:I understand. I mean that's a tough thing to do sometimes, but they got to do that. Yeah, you have to do that for everyone.
Speaker 2:It was something that I was like okay, this is yeah, okay, learn, learn, you know like lesson learned and yeah so we're not getting in trouble with the CBC buddy, I'll tell you that right now.
Speaker 1:yeah, they'll never take us, not after this. They'll never take us anyway. I'm very opinionated, yeah, and I'm also very much like against the 51st state.
Speaker 2:Just don't say it. Just don't say it Cool, you can be it, but don't say it.
Speaker 1:We're going over a bit here, so we do this with every one of our guests Okay. It's called 10 questions.
Speaker 2:Okay, this is a fun rapid fire round.
Speaker 1:Matt and I are going to preface this and we're going to pretend like we didn't just talk for an hour. Okay, we just throw this up as a. Youtube short or whatever.
Speaker 2:Alright, let's do it.
Speaker 1:I'm messing up. I'm ready. My face keeps changing. Welcome to 10 questions, thank you. Who is here with us today? Jeff Douglas, okay, question number one Poutine or dinner? Oh gosh. Poutine or doner Doner, all right.
Speaker 3:Question number two who is one of your favorite voices in Canadian broadcasting?
Speaker 2:Portia Clark.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, perfect answer. If Tim Hortons made a Jeff Douglas donut, what style and flavor would it be?
Speaker 2:Maple and chocolate chips.
Speaker 3:Oh all right. Question number four Name the significance of this line from this classic Canadian Heritage Minute. Dr Penfield, I can smell burnt toast.
Speaker 2:Brain surgery in Miguel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Smell Burnt Toast. Brain Surgery in McGill yeah, yeah, yeah. Neuroscience in McGill yeah.
Speaker 3:Wilder Penfield, correct yeah.
Speaker 1:What's one of your favorite tragically hip songs? Oh my God.
Speaker 2:No Well it's so hard, blow it High Dope.
Speaker 3:Blow it High Dope.
Speaker 2:Canadian National Anthem is what I call it.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 2:Question number six is ketchup potato chips your thoughts. No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, but no, no, oh, don't air potato chips maybe. Yes, all dressed. Yeah, okay, ketchup.
Speaker 1:No, I'm sorry, canada, I've never been proud of that, yeah which animal would win a fight A Canadian beaver or an American eagle Beaver?
Speaker 3:There we go. Yes, yeah, question number eight. What's your number? One way to relax Sauna, oh, okay.
Speaker 1:Very nice.
Speaker 2:Yep, we have a sauna. It's like my one favorite luxury at home. We had a sauna put in Amazing Sauna. There you go and donair Sauna the same time.
Speaker 3:Sauna donair Sounds terrible and the tragically happy.
Speaker 1:Question number nine what is one Canadian band or artist you think more people should know about?
Speaker 2:Strange Plants out of Halifax.
Speaker 3:Strange Plants. Do you know Strange Plants?
Speaker 2:No Go home, check them out. Strange Plants out of Halifax Strange plants. Do you know strange plants? No, go home, check them out. Strange plants.
Speaker 3:I don't know I will. I'll listen to them on the way home. Strange plants Question number 10. So this is the last question. It's the one we've asked every single one. This is our last call.
Speaker 1:No, no, no. The last call is the last call.
Speaker 3:This is just, and so what is what reason? Do you think? Well, what is reason why?
Speaker 1:What is the?
Speaker 3:reason you think why Canadians, even though even through difficult times, are so great at sticking together.
Speaker 1:So we can rephrase that why don't you do a redo on that question? I'm going to do a redo on that question. We'll just go, we'll cut it. What is?
Speaker 3:the reason you think that Canadians, even though even through difficult times, are so great at sticking together think that Canadians, even through difficult times, are so great at sticking together.
Speaker 2:I think that Canada is a series. Even the big cities are like small towns and we're all two generations away from being on the farm. And on the farm you got to stick together to get through the winter.
Speaker 1:Okay, Amazing answer. Okay. So what's going on? Where can people hear you?
Speaker 2:I'm very super nervous man Like, this whole 10 questions thing is that's it, you killed it. Man, very nerve wracking Heart part's over Jesus.
Speaker 3:Heart part's over.
Speaker 1:So where can people hear your band Aside from CBC Main Street?
Speaker 2:You can't hear us on CBC Main Street no Again with the journalistic, the radio or the fact that I'm in a band or that I'm even a person. Follow Jeff Douglas on Instagram. Yeah.
Speaker 1:That's it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, Height requirements the name of the band You're going to be playing at the Shore Club on October 25th and the iconic Shore Club.
Speaker 3:Awesome. Yeah, yeah, you're rocking the shirt. That's great. Oh, that's true. Yeah, very cool. Yeah, cool, yeah, almost as if we planned that short, almost yeah all right, so last call last, here we go, last call so this is the question that we've asked every single person on our guests in 2025. So what is one piece of advice that you were given that you would like to share with us and our listeners?
Speaker 2:don't do anything, just for the money okay, all I like that.
Speaker 1:There you go.
Speaker 3:Well, carpe diem Well we certainly don't do this for the money.
Speaker 1:No we don't.
Speaker 3:No, we definitely don't.
Speaker 2:We did it for the beer. Cheers to you, jeff, cheers, cheers. Great chatting with you, my friend. Great chatting with you too.
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