The Current - Live from St. John’s, a city where the people make the place

Episode Date: June 11, 2025

Matt Galloway visited St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador to talk about the hurdles the province faces, and the conditions there that have produced great artists of all kinds, from authors to comedians. In this special edition of The Current, Galloway heard from some of the people that make the city one of a kind in front of a live audience at The Majestic Theatre.Authors Michael Crummey and Holly Hogan, who are also a married couple, talk about competing for the same literary prizes and what it means to get “Newfoundland on paper.”CBC host Jane Adey explains what it’s like wrapping up the sixtieth season of the iconic show, Land and Sea – a program Newfoundlanders have fought to keep on air for decades.Premier John Hogan talks about taking on the job after the last premier suddenly stepped down, and why he believes that Newfoundland will endure through the tariff threat presented by U.S. president Donald Trump. And Hogan argues Newfoundland’s oil and gas sector has a place, even during a green transition.Opera singer Deantha Edmunds explains how the natural world inspires her music and the shock that came along with her recent Juno win. Comedians Matt Wright, Andy Jones, Bree Parsons discuss one of the province’s most famous exports — laughter. Plus, we’ll hear music from homegrown singer-songwriter Tim Baker — and the stories that inspire his songs.

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Find an agent today at Desjardins.com slash business coverage. This is a CBC podcast. Hello, I'm Matt Galloway and this is The Current Podcast. For the past year, the current has been traveling across this country. We started the season on the far west coast in Haida Gwaii. We have been in Surrey, Red Deer, Saskatoon, Windsor, Quebec City, Charlottetown, Halifax, the list goes on and on. We have seen a lot of this country, and yet I will regularly get letters.

They are polite, but they are firm. Matt, you say you're traveling across Canada. Canada does not end in Halifax. And you know, you know they're right and so hello St. John's. We are here on the eastern coast of this country to talk about what makes Newfoundland and Labrador such a special place and we have an all-star lineup and a packed house to help. Coming up, the brilliant award-winning authors Michael Crummey and Holly Hogan. Also tonight, some of the funniest people in a province full of comedy legends.

You know, there is nothing funny about the job that John Hogan has taken on. The new Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador will be here to talk about the challenge of governing in the era of Elbows Up and America First and why he wanted this job in the first place. And we have a soundtrack, a very special return home by the great singer-songwriter Tim Baker. You know, everywhere we have gone here, from up on Signal Hill to down on the rocks at Whitless Bay,

people have told us that it is the people who make this place. We have a room full of them here, the best kind of people. Live from the majestic theater in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, my name is Matt Galloway, and this is The Current. ["The Current"] ["The Current"]

["The Current"] ["The Current"] ["The Current"] ["The Current"] ["The Current"] How's everybody doing? I was at the rooms this morning and was instructed by a woman that I met there to mention the

weather. And she said a lot of people are going to be coming here over the course of the next few months. And she said you could say that the weather's not very good and maybe fewer people will come and we'll have more space to ourselves. But don't say that. Say the weather's been brilliant. And it has.

What a sunny, wonderful day today and yesterday. Lucky us. We have some amazing people to join us on stage. And I want to start with our musical guest. Everybody knows him. It's interesting. Somebody was saying earlier that this is a village. And you know everybody. Maybe you know their parents. You know their neighbours. You know their cousins. He is a singer-songwriter from right here in St. John's.

The lead singer for Hey Rosetta for many years has since put out four solo albums. The latest is Full Rainbow of Light and we feel extra lucky because he changed his travel plans to be with us here tonight before he heads out on tour this summer. Please if you would give a big hometown welcome to Tim Baker. Welcome home. Thank you. You have been away living in Berlin. That's right, yeah.

What is it like to be home? I mean, I spent a lot of time in my life leaving and coming back and I love coming back here so much. I feel so happy. I've been gone for five months. Honestly, yeah, if I was feeling any better, there'd be something wrong. What did you miss most about home when you were away? I mean, my family, I think probably the most,

all my friends, and there's little things, like it just feels different to be here. Everything, I don't know, everything sort of settles in its right place in your body. It's hard to explain. It's just, it's really nice to be here. Everything, I don't know, everything sort of settles in its right place in your body. It's hard to explain. It's just really nice to be home. People are happy that you're here. You heard the crowd as you stepped out.

They're delighted to hear. You're going to play a song for us. What are you going to play? I'm going to do a song from a few years ago called Songbirds. And I usually introduce it by saying, I wrote it when I left St. John's and moved to Toronto. Moving to a big city like Toronto, I felt like I was outgunned in the style department, we'll say. Everybody looks... They're all set up and they look so good and I didn't really worry about what I wore at all before. I didn't think it mattered that much but people are looking good up there and they don't really wear...

You look crisp now. You look good. Thank you. Everyone listening on radio, I look amazing. It's true. That's true. No, but I often say there's a song about wearing inappropriate winter wear because up there nobody wears a tuque, their pants are all super high, and I was taken aback by that,

so I wrote this song. It's about that and many other things. It's called Songbirds, yeah. Live at the Majestic Theater, it's Tim Baker. Like a fool in a foolish cult. Cool is cold, trying to be cool Just being cold I have seen the saddest thing Not you crying, but that you're hiding it from me

No, be free, just be as you like Sing like a bird, your soul in singing flight No, be free, but connected to the sky And sing like a bird and so in singing flight Singing la di di da da da di di da da da di di da La di di da da da di di da da da I saw you shrink back into your sleeves Back into your sleeves

I saw you shrink on to you disappeared for me What do you have from what has from What kind of callers we covered up and lost? Oh, be free, just be as you like And sing like a bird to the oncoming light Oh, be free But connected to the sky And sing like a bird It's all in singing flight Singing like di di dai dai dai

Di di dai dai dai di di da da da di di da da da di di da La di di da da da di di da da da Thank you. Thank you. Lucky us. Tim Baker. Thank you. He'll be back with more music later in the show. This is the current special live edition in St. John's, Newfoundland, and Labrador.

We are at the Majestic Theatre. My name is Matt Galloway. With me on stage now, two great writers from a province known for producing great writers. Michael Crummey is freshly back from a whirlwind trip to Ireland. That's what happens when you win one of the world's richest literary awards.

His novel, The Adversary, is this year's winner of the Dublin Literary Award. Speaking of award-winning, Holly Hogan is also with us on stage, freshly back from a research expedition in the Labrador Sea. Her book, Message in a Bottle, you know Holly, won the 2023 Winterset Prize and reveals in shocking detail the impact of plastics in ocean's life. They are a power couple. Live here in St. John's. Please welcome Michael and Holly. Hello. Hello. Congratulations, Michael.

Can I just say that if this was the debaters, I'm glad it's not because I would have lost the debate. I don't have a bell or anything like that. Steve Patterson is much funnier. I'm not allowed to tell jokes either. Congratulations. When you win a big, big award like that? We announced that you won that on the radio, it came across the wires, breaking news. What happens? I mean, it came along at a really good time, because last year the adversary was nominated for the Winterset Award, and I lost to my wife.

Just making sure that I had the details correct there. And we've been lucky, really lucky to be able to do a bunch of events together. And they were starting to be advertised as an evening with one of Newfoundland's finest writers and her husband. So I feel like this is just right. This is trying to set the balance, reset the balance. What's the mood like in the house when Michael wins an award like this, Holly? It's fairly collegial.

I actually get to have lots of fun on stages like this with Michael that I might not be on otherwise, and encouraging the crowd to clap for me. When Holly got the contract to write that book, I was really excited for her. And I said, you're going to write a beautiful book and a really important book. But I said, my only reservation is knowing I'm going to have to watch you write it,

knowing that that was going to be fairly hellish. And it was. So she's not allowed to write anymore. No. That's it. So I put my foot down. And I always do as I'm told, as you can well imagine. I mean, you and I spoke when the adversary came out. We were in Newfoundland.

We were down overlooking the gross morn and Bon Bay and it was a beautiful day and sitting out there. Remind us, I mean, this is a book that is about this place, but it's also about something larger and maybe feels even more relevant now. What were you trying to get across in that book? This is a book that is about this place, but it's also about something larger than, and maybe feels even more relevant now. What were you trying to get across? Yeah.

I mean, I've always said that part of what I'm doing when I'm writing is trying to get Newfoundland on paper. But oddly, the last two books, The Adversary and The Innocence, they were about things that are wider than just this place, at least in my own head. And with the adversary, it was between the presidencies of Mr. Trump. And it did feel to me like we were moving globally towards a kind of insidious kleptocracy, away from democracy towards these kind of institutional kleptocracies. And it was a jump ball. I didn't know which way it was going to land.

And I was really interested in writing about what happens to people when that part of who we are ends up in positions of power. And how does that affect the community and how do people get drawn into the orbit of those types of people? And you know, judging by the book, nothing goes well. I will attest to that. Yeah.

I have to admit, at the time, I could not imagine that Trump would find his way back into the White House. That just seemed impossible to me. So I think we're in bigger trouble than I thought at the time. Holly, as a scientist, do you share the concerns that Michael has about what we're seeing unfold right now? I do, definitely. But my concern is climate change and oil and gas and the stories that were being fed to make oil and gas palatable in a time when there's no room for it. And so, you know, when you're told things like, we have low carbon hydrocarbons on our offshore,

it's completely false. There's no such thing as low carbon hydrocarbons. And you asked Charlene Johnson that very question, yes, on the show. I did. And I was very interested to hear her say that it's about extraction, and that's exactly what it is. So in future, there won't be any flaring in the offshore, which is excellent because flaring, if that had come into effect when hibernia was developed, that would have saved hundreds of thousands of seabirds from Burning to death, but it's way too little way too late

You know, but we're in this moment now where there is a push to build nation-building projects The premier is going to be here. He's somebody who wants to double oil and gas production in this province There are people who who are cheering this saying that this is, and maybe you heard that on our program, that this is going to be a lifeline for Newfoundland and Labrador. What would you say to him? I would say that we're being fed a story by our provincial government and by Energy NL that we have low carbon fossil fuels, petroleum. That's impossible.

A barrel of oil from Newfoundland has the same carbon footprint as from Alberta. It's just extracting it. And the extraction process is a tiny, tiny percentage. So if there's 30% of a tiny percentage saved, that doesn't make it green. If Bay to North goes ahead, projected 1 billion barrels, that's 430 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. So that's a carbon bomb. Why is our province fighting the carbon emissions set by the federal government if we're not planning on burning a whole lot of carbon? Michael, one of the things that's interesting about this is that

people will say that this will provide jobs that will will allow people to stay here and you've spent a lot of time writing about parts of this province that have faced You know the the cliff edge and people have been forced to move people have seen an economy disappear Do you worry about the future here and and how? That narrative around oil and gas perhaps shapes how people think about the future. Yeah. I mean, I think politics is necessarily short-sighted and we as humans tend only to look to our backyard and I think it's perfectly reasonable in a way for people to say well if this is going to give jobs to people in Newfoundland then we're for it. But that's ignoring the fact that we are looking at a climate future that is basically unlivable for human beings.

If we continue the way we're going, at some point we have to stop. But I also recognize how difficult to sell that is when that means for particular communities you will not have work. Or the work that will be available will be not as well paying, or that you will have to move to get it. So all of those things are in conflict. But you also have to move to participate in your own gas industry. You could live anywhere. Why do you choose to live here?

Why do you choose to live in Newfoundland and Alberta? Well, I have lived elsewhere. We both lived elsewhere. And I lived in Ontario for about 13 years. And, you know, I wasn't one of those Newfoundlanders just thinking, oh, I've got to get home. When I sold my first novel, it was enough money, looking back, that seems like a crazy thing to have done, but I quit my day job.

And I realized I could move home at that point, because I could write from anywhere. And I bought a house. But I'd been away long enough that I wasn't sure if I would feel like this was my place anymore. But after about six months, I remember thinking, what the hell was I doing up there all that time?

I was perfectly happy, but I didn't belong there the way that I belong here. There was a sense of just a shared culture and a shared sense of what it is to be with people and to live in a community that I realized I will never belong anywhere the way that I belong in this place. Holly, what makes you feel like you belong here? I lived in BC for about five years and I felt like I was living in someone else's beautiful postcard and like, you know, I'd wait at a bus stop and here you just chat casually with strangers. And I started to talk to this guy and he was like trying to melt into the side of the bus

stop. And I thought, oh, he thinks I'm slightly off. I felt culturally isolated. I felt like an alien. And you don't feel like that here? No, not at all. Not at all. In fact, when I lived in BC, so I moved to Galeano Island, which is a small community,

beautiful place, and there's a few Newfoundlanders there and we seem to gravitate toward each other because we know what the rules are, which is there are no rules. And I was singing with this woman and she said, don't ever drop in. This wasn't a Newfoundlander, she was from BC, but she knew I was from Newfoundland, so she was like, don't ever drop in unannounced, okay? Like, you know, just call ahead. She was terrified that I was just gonna show up on her doorstep sometime.

I think you're welcome to drop in any time. We're glad you dropped in here. Thank you very much both for being here. Thank you so much. Michael Prumme and Holly Hogan. Michael's latest novel is the adversary, this year's winner of the Dublin Literary Prize, Holly Hogan, the author of Message in a Bottle, Osen Dispatches from a Sea Bird Biologist. Joining me now on stage, somebody who knows, I think it's fair to say, every corner of

Newfoundland and Labrador. She is the host of CBC's Land and Sea, one of the longest running television shows in the world. Just wrapped up their 60th 6-0 season. Say hello to Jane Aidy. Jane, hi. Hi. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having us.

How would you describe Land and Sea for somebody who's never seen this program before? Well, I start out by telling people that it's a cultural icon, that everybody anywhere in Newfoundland and Labrador, if you say land and sea, they know what it is. I also describe it as a warm blanket. It's a show that's comforting to a lot of people.

We drive into a small place in a white CBC vehicle, and inevitably someone will come over to you and say, what are you fellas doing here? They're worried, they're concerned that something has happened in their community, the news is here. And then we say, we're here doing a line and see. And their faces light up and they tell everybody in the store, they're here doing a line and see.

And then they invite us into their homes and they want to chat with us and they want to feed us cookies and tea. They love us and we love them. It's love fest. Which is why all hell broke out when in its infinite wisdom the CBC tried to cancel this program in 1990. And there were protests, people may not understand this, there were protests, protests that in part were led by the then host of the program.

That's right, Bill Kelly, yes. Who said that victory is very sweet when the CBC backed off and kept the program on the air. It was a different time, he said. But what does that tell you? I mean, there is a real affection for that sort of storytelling that people want to see and hear themselves and See those stories told and that's just it. We are Reflecting ourselves to each other in this show and I think Newfoundlanders and Labradorians have a really strong culture of storytelling

They're simple stories. They're about what people in this province value. They're about family. They're about community. They're about creativity. They're about hard work. And I don't think that's any different today than it was in 1964 when it began. Long may it run. I was going to get you in trouble and say, is there a favorite? I mean, if someone's coming here and they'd never been to Newfoundland and the Labrador

before, where would you send them? Where is the place that you would send them? We're here in St. John's, so maybe it's St. John's, but I said I was gonna get you in trouble. How am I gonna pick? Look, I have to say, there are so many beautiful places in this province, but Labrador is an incredibly special place for me.

And that's why I tell people that. And it's because so few Newfoundlanders, believe it or not, have been to Labrador. It's spectacular. And the people are amazing, interesting, fearless people living in some of the most challenging environments in this country. So yeah, Labrador.

But I love Newfoundland, too. Well said. That's a good answer. Thank you, Jane. Thank you very much. Jane Eyde is the host of CBC's Land and Sea. Going into its 61st season in the fall, you can catch up on episodes from its 60-year run on CBC Gem and CBC YouTube's feed. At Desjardins Insurance, we know that when you own a nail salon, everything needs to

be perfect, from tip to toe. That's why our agents go the extra mile to understand your business and provide tailored solutions for all its unique needs. You put your heart into your company, so we put our heart into making sure it's protected. Get insurance that's really big on care. Find an agent today at Desjardins.com slash business coverage. We're all looking for great places to visit in Canada.

One of my favorites is the Stratford Festival. The theater is truly of the highest caliber and there's so much selection. They have 11 large-scale shows on stage and trust me, whatever is on when you're there will be exceptional. People always think Shakespeare when they think of Stratford, but it's so much more. Broadway musicals, family shows, classic comedy and drama. Whether it's Robert LaPage's Macbeth or Donna Fiora's Annie, you will be blown away. It's the perfect Canadian getaway. To quote William Shatner, who got his start in

Stratford, every Canadian should make the pilgrimage to Stratford. Start your next adventure at StratfordFestival.ca. Coming up, my conversation with DeAntha Edmonds. You just want a Juneau for classical composition. She's also going to sing for us. She has some voice. Trust me, this is going to knock you out. And this is a city and a province that is known for creating very, very funny people. Living legend Andy Jones will be here along with rising stars Matt Wright and Brie Parsons. But first, we're joined once again by our musical guest, Tim Baker. Hello, Tim. Hello, Matt. We are blessed to have you

and blessed because you are going to play a brand new song for us, a song just released in the last day. It was released this morning actually. Tell us a little bit about it. Sure, I wrote this song in the fall there in late October. I was living in Berlin and the days were getting darker and colder and we're getting closer to a certain election. And I try to be chill. I do. But there's only so much you can hear about. You seem like a man with your finger on the pulse. It's crazy right now.

That's a word for it. There's a lot going on. So this song sort of fell out, and it's just a song about these times. And I was going to put it on a record, but it felt like it had a bit of a shelf life, because it is of the moment, so I thought I would release it now. Right on. Let's have a listen. Live on The Current at the Majestic Theatre in St. John's. This is Tim Baker and Giant Eye. Like the eyelids of a giant eye I was in sight, looking on like I'm seeing nothing the whole time All the unhoused put their hands to their mouths

Knowing all too well how luck runs out But we just stayed home, auto-playing our shows They're all set at the end of the world While out on the gulf, the winds are picking up Soon to bring the future home to us Well, either you always knew, and now you told your soul's too cruel Well, somehow you're blindsided by a widely cited truth, but now you know The world is changing

It's all changing How about you? The clouds closed over the country Like the hammer of an angry god All the honest leaders leave us, and the rest want to deceive us And they'll try their level best to shut us up And all our rock stars, in their automatic cars Are just busy trying to get the Bluetooth on

to get the Bluetooth on. While out on the hill in a last minute bill we sold out music for a song. It made sense to make the trade, yeah in the end we'll all get played. Take the rhythm for the algorithm's artificial pay Yeah, now you know the world is changing It's all changing How about you? It's all changing

When the clouds closed over the city All the storefronts and the bars were boarded up. Is it still disaster season or are they simply out of business? There are so many likely reasons we can't know. But no one's coming out to shout or march around too distracted for the action that your parents sang about

Oh, everyone's stressed Just paying off debts To that uncanny valley out west Well, either you never knew Or you thought you'd sneak on through. Like your daddy said, keep at it, the conditions will improve. But now you know, the world is changing. It's all changing. How About if you really knew Would it be time to change your tune Oh, your melody was sweet

But underneath the chords have moved Oh, now you know The world is changing It's all changing about you it's all changing so what you gonna do it's all changing about you Thanks for your music. That's something else. Tim Baker. It's a brand new song called Giant Eye.

There are two lines I wanted to ask you about. All the best leaders leave us and the rest want to deceive us. But the other one is all the rock stars and their automatic cars are just trying to get the Bluetooth on. Is it a protest song? Are you calling people out? I guess I am. I mean, somebody's got to get called out.

You know, it's off the rails, so, you know. I mean, what do you see as your role as a musician in this moment? If the moment to you is pointy enough that, as you said, the song just kind of fell out, what's your role? I don't think it fell out because I'm a musician. I don't think that's part of it. I think it just fell out because of what's going in. I'm looking at that New York Times, looking at that CBC.

And there comes a point, and this is what the song really gets at, the way things are has fundamentally shifted so much that you can't just keep doing the same thing or thinking the same things or saying the same things. There's a point at which you have to change your tune. Are you surprised that more people haven't changed their tune? You talk about the 60s, people are saying in many ways some of these moments are reflective of what we saw back then, but you had musicians who were standing up and singing and calling

people out. There isn't as much of that now, perhaps. I mean, I guess it depends what your Instagram feed is. There seems like there's a lot, and then still not enough. Yeah, I think being a musician these days is pretty precarious. The way that music is being rewarded and the way that you're trying to make a living is becoming increasingly difficult

and it feels like there's less opportunity to put yourself at risk, I guess, in some ways. And is it risky to say things like you just said in a song like that? Yeah, I don't know. I guess I'll find out it came out today We're saying you've been away living in Berlin and we're burying the lead here. You just got married. I did. Yeah, congratulations When you are away and you're talking a little bit about about missing this place and loving this place

We're trying to kind of wrap our heads around as a nation, what is so special about this place? How would you explain that to people who aren't from here, who've never been here? Yeah, I try to explain it a lot. I'm trying to get my wife to come here and move here with me. I try to explain to her almost daily what it's like, and I'm trying not to oversell it, but it's hard.

You know, the weather's bad, I say that every day. So the weather's really, you're really gonna hate it. She's from Turkey. It's beautiful every day. But there's, there's so much else there, you know, that she grew up in Istanbul and now we, you know, we're in Berlin. Big cities. And you take it for granted when you grow up here that people are just kind of like best kind, funny, good people that you want to be with. And there's good people, of course, all throughout the world. But there's also a lot of like pretentious, like salesmen that aren't very funny, you know, like they're everywhere. And it's especially good to be here, I think.

But then again, I'm from here So I would think that it fits me. Well, hopefully if it's her we'll see come on bus You're gonna play another song for us yes, tell us what you're gonna play I'm gonna play a song I figured This is what you were after, you know trying to figure out what what this place is all about So this is a song about st. John's I often I often introduce it saying it's about music as a raincoat. It's about how we hide from the weather, but we get through it singing together and making music. It's a song called Spirits.

["Spirits"] Slide like a spirit down the same old road You've been haunting these hills since the morning you were born And the cracks in the pavement are the cracks in your heart You go over the same old faults every time you walk to the bar And you're wet when you get there, whether rain or tears or sweat And the wind shaking the pain is the same as in your chest It's, it's the same out there As it is in here It's the same out there

As it is in here Why should it be different? Should it be anything but that? Should we open our mouths and spit out California sand? No, we sing what we're given into a piece of SIP-PA We sing gray foggy day, we sing no change in me Yeah, but it's arm and arm and arm and aren't they loud enough to stun? They loud enough to stun

Hearing them all, heathen along Into the one same song Oh, is it the same out there Is it the same over there as it is in here? Is it the same over there as it is down here? Pull your cloak around me now Pull your cloak around me now Pull me close and keep the cold night out Only near to me, so you're near to me now Once so strange you're to me but now there's a song in my mouth La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la And you slide like a spirit out to the icy steps Feel the night on your face, the mist on your lips You pull the cloak around you And you listen to the wind And you hum the refrain As you take the hill again

That's fantastic. It is Tim Baker, everyone. I just wish people who are listening could have seen the audience where there's all these people with their eyes closed, swaying back and forth as he's saying, that's what makes this place special. This is an amazing place, as Tim was saying, but there is a lot to celebrate. There's also a lot to think about. This province has some big problems, including a tariff threat from the United States, a healthcare system that is stressed, to put it mildly, a big hole in a provincial budget. Joining me now to talk about some

of the wicked challenges this place faces is the Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, John Hogan. Good to have you here. Thank you. Your predecessor, Andrew Fury, left the job in part because of the demands and the headaches that Donald Trump, he thought, was going to present. Why did you want this job? Look, I've said to people when I ran for politics in 2021, mostly at Andrew Fury's encouraging and he's been a great Premier and a great leader for this province, you don't really plan for these things.

I certainly didn't plan for this, but an opportunity presented itself and a vacuum existed. And having talked to my caucus colleagues, cabinet colleagues, my family and friends, yeah, it's a difficult job, but it was one that I thought I was up to and one I could do and one I felt that certainly the province right now, all the things you mentioned and then some, the list continues, needed leadership and I was more than happy to put my name forward and step into that leadership role. Have the headaches inspired by actions from south of the border started yet or are you anticipating them?

You know, when we first heard about the Donald Trump tariffs, I think there was a very big sense of panic in the country and uncertainty and how are we going to deal with this. And really what I've seen over the last month since I've been Premier, which includes meeting with all the Premiers across the country and the Prime Minister, is a tremendous sense of unity. We had a First Minister's meeting just last week and people were saying it's the biggest First Minister's meeting, the most important First Minister's meeting since the early 1990s when we talked about Meach Lake. And Meach Lake was a discussion about who we are as a country and what do we look like as a country.

Do you think that's what's happening now that we're talking about who we are as a country? Absolutely. So here we are, you know, 30, 40 years later, talking about the same thing. In a different format, we were talking about our constitution and what it means on paper to be Canadian, and now I think we're talking about it, what it means to be Canadian in terms of how we look

at ourselves and how we get together to take on a task like Donald Trump and tariffs. And I can tell you, being around the table, there was a sense from 13 premiers and one prime minister that everybody was on the same page. And what an incredible thing to see. All different political stripes. And everybody to be on the same page at the same time at this point in Canadian history, it's incredible and it's a great opportunity for us as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians

as well. At that meeting, those premiers and territorial leaders were pitching what the Prime Minister was looking for, nation building projects. And you have pitched a couple of things, hydro project on the Churchill River and Bay to Nord, new offshore oil development. Why are those in the national interest, do you think? So provinces looked at how provinces can work together, and there's no better example of Newfoundland and Labrador working with its neighbour, Quebec,

to really define what is nation building. Because, there's some giggles in the crowd, for 60-plus years we have not worked very well with Quebec, and Quebec has not worked very well with us. And we can point fingers and blame each other, but really that is all in the past right now. And at these First Ministers' meeting, my seat was directly across from Premier Legault, and more than once, on all kinds of issues, by the way, we would look at each other and

look for approval from each other to say, are we in agreement on this? I mean, again, the country is together, and now Newfoundland and Labrador and Quebec are together as well. Great opportunity. Yeah, it's worth a round of applause, because people never thought that was going to happen. Absolutely. Let me ask you about Beta Nord. The company responsible says that we aren't certain

whether we can make it work. If somebody said to me, we aren't certain whether we can make it work, I'd be worried. How worried are you? It's not the time to worry, it's the time to work with Equinor and it's the time to work with our trades individuals and groups throughout the province. They don't know if it's going to work. They

don't know. They don't know. We met with them last week and they have options and things to look at about how to make it work. They're not saying we can't make it work. They need to you know look at their numbers and figures and work with groups here in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador to see how it can work. And we want them to make it work and we want it to succeed not for them but to succeed for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Do you think this project will happen? I always am optimistic that projects are going to happen and I think to be pessimistic at this point in time

really would just be sort of saying we're not going to work to get it done. We are going to work to get it done and I think we have to be optimistic as a government and as a province for projects like that. Should it happen? We just had Holly Holm here talking about the risk of doubling down on fossil fuels. You want to double oil and gas production. We have parts of this country that are on fire right now. The smoke has drifted as far as Russia and Italy. The last time we were here as a program, we were speaking to folks in Port-au-Basque whose houses were swept into the sea because of a storm that people couldn't have possibly

imagined. Do you worry about that? Do you worry about doubling oil and gas production at a time when parts of this country, as I say, are on fire? Yep, absolutely. So parts of the country were on fire. I've been on frame here for about five weeks, and we've had two forest fires here,

one in Adams Cove and one in Churchill Falls. Over the past four years, since I've been Minister of Public Safety, we've had wildfires again in Churchill Falls last summer and Grand Falls and of course, the storm you mentioned in Port Basque. So what do we do about that? Do we just turn off the oil gas projects

and walk away from it? Well, I can tell you that the rest of the world is continuing with their oil development and the responsible thing to do right now is to look to renewable projects in the future, try to get to net zero as soon as possible and the provinces and the Prime Minister committed to a 2050 net zero plan after we met about our nation building projects.

And at the same time, I know there's conversations about what it means to be a low emission oil project, but the fact is, Beta Nord, when it's all said and done, will emit less carbon into the atmosphere and less emissions than other projects. And then people will go off and burn it and create carbon. Absolutely. So the oil is, she said, a barrel of oil is a barrel of oil. And that's true. But getting it out of the ground into the barrel

is more carbon friendly than other projects. So the whole world is going to continue to use oil. And the best thing to do is transition to a green economy. 98% of Newfoundland and Labrador's grid is electric, and it is green. But at the same time, use oil that is more green than others throughout the world. So the idea of doubling down on that in this moment doesn't give you pause? Absolutely.

I'm not an individual who makes decisions without hearing from all sides. So look, we need to work together with all groups and be as responsible as possible. I know you talked about things like jobs in Newfoundland and Labrador and the economy. So my focus is to be as green as possible and to work towards a greener future, but at the same time, protecting the economy here. And you can do that all of that? We can do both. We can always do more than one thing at a time.

As leaders, as premiers, as ministers, there's a lot on everybody's plate. Can I ask you about this moment that we're in right now? You talked earlier about people pulling together in that meeting. We've been speaking with people who are coming here this summer because they're not traveling to the States. They cannot wait to explore their country. How do you see this moment? As I said, the initial reactions to the tariffs was a bit of fear

and a lot of uncertainty, and in a very short time, the provinces come together and the countries come together. And how can you not be optimistic about that? And you talk about people coming here. I was in the district of Fairfield yesterday. People from Manitoba were here vacationing, couldn't wait to smiles off their face. People from Quebec couldn't be happier talking about things

like the Church of Falls deal. So, you know, we are so lucky here in this province. I wish I was talented and as articulate as people like Michael Crummy and Tim Baker to write and sing about how great it is to be a Newfoundlander and Labradorian. But... APPLAUSE and Tim Baker to write and sing about how great it is to be a Newfoundlander and Labradorian. But I know that all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians feel it in their hearts and in their souls about what it's like to be from this place. And even though maybe I can't always explain it and people can't explain it, we all know

that feeling, right? And we talked about people, why do you want to come home? And it's just this place just takes hold of you, takes hold of your soul, and you want to be here. And I know Tim talked about weathering the storms and we kind of hunker down and get past it. I mean we've done that as Newfoundlanders and Labradorians for hundreds of years. Things like Beaumont Hamel, Ocean Ranger disaster, Cod moratorium and economic conditions. I mean we've faced it all head on and hunker down and sucked it up and we were still here.

It's a good sales pitch as well for the province which it should be from the Premier. One of the things you said in your victory speech was that you talked about your kids generation. I mean you came back right you were one of those people who came back that you hoped that your kids and their generation would be able to see their and achieve their potential in this province. What would that look like to you? All you can do is really create opportunities for future generations.

Not everybody is gonna stay. There's things to see in the world. There's places to live, maybe Berlin. You can be all over the place. But if at least when they grow up and they say, there's something here for me, I can make that decision as a Newfoundlander and Labradorian to stay and contribute to that province. I think that's our job to do as politicians.

I wish you the best of luck and I'm really glad to have the chance to talk to you. Thanks for being here. You too. Thanks very much. It's really good to have you here. It's Sean Hogan. He is the new Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador. Some crowd. I cannot wait for you to meet our next guest. I had the chance to talk to her about a year and a half ago when she was appointed to the Order of Canada for her contributions as this country's first in-opera singer.

She has just won a Juno for Classical Composition of the Year for her original song, Ong Malukisa. It is on her album, A Likeness. It was recorded with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra. Please welcome to the stage of the Majestic Theatre, Deanna Edmonds. Congratulations on the Juno. Nakomik, thank you so much. I was watching your victory speech and you had this glow about you. You seemed, what did it mean to you to win this?

You were going to levitate off the stage, you're so happy. That's how I felt. It's not something I ever thought would happen. Why? Because I never saw myself as a composer. When I was a young child I was always writing stories and making up plays with my friends and writing songs, but as I studied classical voice more and more as a teenager and and onwards, I just never thought about writing music, and it wasn't something I planned.

And it's just about 10 years, not even 10 years ago, when I started writing and composing and really feeling this joy to be putting that out into the world. If somebody had said to me, you know, earlier in my life, 20, 30 years ago, oh you're going to win the Juno for classical composition of the Arabian leg, you must be speaking of another De'anth'a. Turns out they weren't, they're talking about you. Music always comes from somewhere. Where does it come from for you? What is the point of inspiration? What are you grabbing? This is a really interesting question because when I write, I am truly writing for myself. A lot of the times I'm saying these things to myself or I'm thinking about what it is I want to put out there into the world what it is I want people to think about

What means a lot to me that's where my writing comes from things that affect me and things that I want to See in the world When I spoke with you as I said like a year and a half ago one of the things that you talked about was The joy that singing with your daughter, performing with your daughter, gave you. Tell me a little bit about that, even just now talking about it. Like again, there's a big ear-to-ear smile. Annabelle is 14 years old and she, I like to tell people, and I know it sounds like a big joke, ha ha ha, but it's true. She is the real singer in the family. She truly, she is a gift and she has a gift. You know, I was Miss DeAntha for 30 years. I was primarily a music teacher.

And I love that. That means a lot to me to teach and to connect with youth and to encourage and support them. So when she was born, I was back to teaching 35, 40 kids a week. She was five weeks old. The students started coming in and out of the house. And so she grew up with that. And just it was natural to her, well, Mommy, when am I going to have my lesson? When am I going to sing?

You're going to perform for us. And you're going to perform this piece that won the Juno. Can you just introduce it? Absolutely. It's actually a song cycle called Anmalukissa, which is inuktitut for round or rings and each of the songs in the cycle was inspired by something different. So the first piece that you're going to hear, the first movement, which was

So the first piece that you're going to hear, the first movement, which was orchestrated by Bill Brennan, who is an amazing person and musician. Yes. This one is about the rings that tell the age of a tree. The second movement is about the spiral of the snow blocks that form the igloo. When you get inside the igloo and you look up, you see the spiral. And the third movement is about concentric sound waves, and the last movement of it is about the ripples that happen on the water when something is dropped onto the water and then it just expands. And these rings that I wrote about

basically speak to how we are all related, how we relate to one another and to the earth and how the decisions and the energy that we put out, the decisions we make and the energy we put out into the world absolutely ripples and reverberates and echoes and will for eons. Let's listen. I love your voice.

I can't wait to hear this live, if you would. Performing her Juno award-winning composition live on the stage at the Majestic Theatre. This is DeAntha Edmonds with Leslie Hewlett on keyboard. I'm gonna be a good boy. Rings within the gnawed trunk ever measuring time, steadfast roots but constant looping at its core, telling the age of a tree, only after it has expired. Bows murmuring. Respect reciprocity. Remember how life circles. Ang malukisa. I'm looking for a place to sleep.

I'm looking for a place to sleep. I'm looking for in the nuke. It's revealing, storytelling. Storytelling The trees shaped by stars As are we light incarnate in O what a night. Thank you very much. That's incredible. DeAntha Edmonds and Leslie Hewlett on Cubie-Oard, live at the Majestic Theatre in St. John's, Newfoundland.

This is a special edition of The Current. My name is Matt Galloway. We are here in St. John's. You know, along with the standards, oil, fish, music, one of Newfoundland and Labrador's most celebrated exports has got to be comedy. This place is bursting with funny people. We are thrilled to have three of the funniest people in town. With us on one stage, Matt Wright, stand-up comedian, grew up in Gander.

His special Matt Wright Live at the Majestic was recorded right here at this very venue. Bree Parsons is a stand-up from St. John's. Has been on The Debaters, played in the Winnipeg Comedy Festival. Also with us, Andy Jones, a legend known of course for his work with the legendary sketch group, Codco, member of the Order of Canada, and many other awards as well. Welcome everyone, thank you for being here. Thank you.

Thank you. How does it happen, Andy, that so many funny people come from one small community? I don't know. That's the question that people always ask. You guys may know the answer. I taught school on the southern shore in 71, 72. Every kid in that school knew Ray Guy, the Newfoundland writer. Everybody in that school read his columns every week. He was such a witty,

funny, funny guy. And eventually, he literally laughed Joey Smallwood out of office. All those kids, Ray Guy was their biggest cultural hero, I think. Humour is important to us, more important than anyone else, I think, in the country. For some reason or other, it's a big part of our cultural heritage. And people look to comedians in a deeper way, I think, here than anywhere else. Bree?

Trauma bond from living in a place like this. And we ask ourselves every winter why we still live here, and then the summer comes, and we remember we're happy. And you know. Is that it, Matt? People are bound by terrible things and we remember we're happy and you know. Is that it? People are bound by terrible things and have to find some way out. I honestly have no idea. I'm terrified right now. This is the hardest prelude I have ever had for a comedy show of my life. The weather is gonna kill us. If it doesn't, Donald Trump will kill us first. A generation of Newfoundlanders died at Beaumont Hamel. Are you ready to laugh?

Michael used six words I had never heard before. Yeah, I'm so scared for the questions you're gonna ask us. I don't have any of that information. Just going through the notes now, just wait. Tell me about starting CodCo and what, at that time, what was the initial idea? This is back in a time when people perhaps were looking for something but didn't have what they were looking for and you were able to provide it on stage then on TV.

What were people, what was the idea? I don't know if we ever actually had an idea, but we all wanted to do comedy, I think because we watched comedy. But I think that also was an interesting time because this is the time of the Newfie joke and we started out too, right? We all wanted to do comedy, I think, because we watched comedy. But I think that also it was an interesting time because this is the time of the Newfie joke, and we started out too, right? So all of a sudden we just become Canadians, we were part of that first generation,

and then up there were mocking us. And they were telling us that we were the poor cousins who were living off the allergists and the kindness of Canada. So we had kind of a mission, was to prove that that wasn't true, that they had gotten a good deal, and and that they gotten some good stuff from us and here it is it's our comedy basically I think. Why do you think it clicked with people? It was just one of those combinations of people you know everybody was funny he was in the company I mean the funniest people I've ever worked with except for these guys. And, you know, we all had a common view of the world, I think.

And we, like everybody knew from then, we really felt like family so much. And so we had that, you know, which was a bad thing sometimes because we fought terribly. But generally speaking, we had a common view. And we were just, all we wanted to do was do sketch comedy and all we wanted to do was make people laugh. That's it. And it worked. Bre, did you, I mean,

and you mentioned the stereotypes, the ideas that people had about Newfoundlanders at that point. Is that over and done with now, do you think? Or do you ever encounter any of that from outside of this province? I don't experience it other than the fact that people want me to play up a Newfoundland accent, play up the Newfoundland role in TV and in comedy, when in fact I'm trying to

make something more accessible and make it my own. And it's almost like they're craving that now. So you guys took the brunt of what it would be like to experience that for the first time. And then by the time it got to me, you had made these trails for us so that we didn't actually have to go through any of that. Thank you. Thank you.

Yes. We had no idea. We were doing that. But what did you say, Breed, that you don't lean into that in your work, that you're trying to do something that's more, not as specific, but more universal, is it? You know, I just wanna just do something that's mine,

and yeah, I've been fortunate in that, and I'm grateful. But you are quintessentially Newfoundland to me. Yeah. Your persona is Newfoundland, I think, definitely. Well, you can't take it out of it, but. Well, yes, it's already there. I think sometimes people want you to force it more

than you kind of need to. It's like, I already am from here. I hope. Like, I do shows in Ontario. And people would be like, oh, you're from Newfoundland. I thought you would be like, finish your sentence. Go ahead. I don't know what you're expecting from me here.

But I don't know. I can't represent a province at once. There's 500,000 people here with a million personalities. I cannot... I only became self-aware when I was 26 years old, so I certainly can't speak for a whole province, but... For you, I mean, the reason that you're doing this in part was because somebody told you that you couldn't do it?

Is this right? I didn't think I was on the record when I said that. But there are some... At the very least, you backed your way into this. Yes, I do comedy for spite. That is true. Many moons ago, I was dating a comic who told me I could never do what he did, so I did it.

S? You hosted the event at the SketchFest when Andy was honoured as a festival ambassador, given a lifetime achievement award as well. What was that like? This is last month. What did that mean to you? He's so wholesome and so humble. You know? You never heard that before, wholesome.

He acts like he has nothing to say. You know, he couldn't possibly, he couldn't take the microphone, he can't make a speech, and then 45 minutes later, you're deep into the depths of what it was to start comedy here in Newfoundland We appreciate it. We love it, but it is just it's so amazing to be I mean as I said there's a long list we could go on and on and on about all the things you've won

But when you're recognized by your own people by people here. What does that mean? Oh, that's great You know like I always said getting we got an degrees from Memorial University that's the best thing we ever got. Yeah. You know I think my mother, God rest her soul, she didn't live to see the day. My God, to get a PhD for nothing! Oh my god that was the best. No question about it, yeah. We've been asking people, Matt, what it is that they love about this place. For you, what's the thing that you would tell

somebody else in this country about what makes this place and this town so special? August. August. August. August. August. August.

August. August. Best August in the world. Don't come in February, I have nothing good to say. If you did this interview in May, it might not even be that good, but right now I'm loving it. I don't know, I don't, as far as work goes, I don't know, underrated leisure place. I think we were like, oh, we're talking to get more jobs. Let's get less jobs. Just hang out for a minute You know my god what a place to hang out people I was like, oh you live in you live in st. Josie's a good for your comedy career

Like yeah, man, Lorne Michaels lives next to me. Like I don't know. My wife is here. She's nice Bree what keeps you here? I think for so long I was the anywhere but here Girl, I was a flight attendant for seven years, always trying to kind of run away. And I ended up back here each and every time. A chosen family, for sure. And then like artistically, I feel as if I've been to many other places trying to fight my life for five minutes of stage time. And it's really nice to be in a place like this where I've been able to grow and actually

been able to get the opportunities that I have and, you know, sitting on a stage here with you guys and, you know, it feels special. Yeah, I think in terms of like being a comedian, you just kind of have to be on the run constantly. So I think it's a nice place to learn and to grow, but man, it's also just a nice place to come back to. Kick back with your buds. Yeah, you got to, at a certain point, you have to rest, and I truly think there's no better place for that.

That's almost heartfelt. Very nice. Last word to you, Andy. What is it about this place that is... It's hard to say, but I always think that nobody in the world talks to you the way Newfoundlanders do. That dialogue that you can have with total strangers. You know, like you go into a store and you say, can I have a pack of gum please?

And the person says, yeah, if I could get there. You say, well, what's wrong? Well, my back. And the next thing you know, you're half an hour about their back, right? Even if you call the operator, you're on the phone the old days. People would talk to you on the phone about how they got to work that day and stuff. That, that, and people have their internal dialogue outside.

I don't think, I don't know, there's any place in the world, at least in the Western world. So Canadians, if you're lonely, Newfoundland, this is the list of issues. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Anyone will chat with you. You're wonderful, all three of you. I just try to stay out of the way and let you three talk to each other. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having us. of you. I just try to stay out of the way and let you three talk to each other. Thanks for being here. Thanks for having us.

Thank you. Not right. Ray Parsons and Andy Jones, some of the funniest people in this fine town of ours. Thank you. This is a special edition of The Current, live from the Majestic Theater in St. John's. My name's Matt Galloway.

We have had a great night and we're gonna wrap it up with one more song. Please welcome back to the stage, Tim Baker. Tell us what you're gonna play. We're gonna continue the theme of the evening. This is a song... I know when I lived up in Toronto I ended up writing so many songs about Newfoundland. And this is another one of those. I mean, I guess it's about Newfoundland. In a way it's just about me. And it just happens to be that I'm from here. And so it's about my people and my places and how I always end up coming back.

It's called All Hands. Late at night in my troubled mind I go back to those summer times A boy in bed, all the windows wide You can hear the hot rods running from the light Going from the light into the dark That's all I wanted in my cousin's car Listen to the wind and to the lead guitars Feel the reckless running of your heart Now is there corner, does it all remain? Can I go back and have it all again?

Now I know where I'm going I'm going back behind the river I'm going back behind the rain No matter where you're headed You only end up where you've been Mm, wise to come, I cannot say But the mainland calls to take me away You can take my life, but when I die,

I'm only going back to those valley black nights. Going from the light into the dark, I won't be scared. I will not come apart, I'll feel the wind And the rain, pile in the backseat with all of my friends All hands are with me and it's like a dream Lovers in kin, they all come back to me And we're somehow 17 And we're drinking on the beach

And the bays are full of fish And the bays and fires live We are in the way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, way, Just now we know it, where we're going We're going back behind the river We're going back behind the rain No matter where you're headed You only end up where you've been I was tearing out her sweater I was crying on a chair I was crying on a chair All the while she's singing Baby you'll be back again

Baby you'll get to do a radio program and Tim Baker will play that song for you live on the stage. That is a gem. Thank you. Thank you very much. That does it for The Current from St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador. I want to thank our incredible guests and to everybody here at the Majestic Theatre for coming out and making us feel so welcome. You're amazing. We want to thank the amazing team at CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. This would not have been possible without them.

There is a huge team of people who make programs like this possible. We want to thank our producer Julie Chrysler, our director Joanna Draghici, technical producer Gary Francis, music engineer Mark Strong, network producer Mary Catherine McIntosh, senior producer Cathy Simon, the executive producer of The Current is Lara O'Brien. It has been the experience of a lifetime to travel across this country and talk to people and hear stories and ask questions and get them to play music and get them to reveal themselves. We talk about this idea of Canada and Canadians explaining themselves to each other. We started this season off on Haida Gwaii in British Columbia.

We have been criss-crossing the country, going to big places and small places and getting people to tell us their stories and showing them with the rest of this country. To me, that's Public Broadcasting 101. It is the honor of a lifetime to do this and I couldn't be happier to wrap it up here in St. John's this season. If you want us to come to your community next, where should we go? Write us. Our email address is thecurrent at cbc.ca. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for being here and thanks for listening to The Current. We'll see you soon. Thank you all. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.