Buffy Sainte-Marie asks 'Where are the women?' among 2016 Juno nominees
'What? All the other women who are making records, their records sucked?' asks legendary recording artist
Despite winning the Polaris Prize and earning three 2016 Juno nominations for her latest record, Power in the Blood, legendary artist Buffy Sainte-Marie is calling out the industry awards for what she says is a lack of female nominees.
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"Where are the women? Hello? There aren't a whole lot of women there," she said of the 2016 Junos.
"What? All the other women who are making records, their records sucked? What?" she asked.
"The industry awards aren't what the public thinks they are. They're kind of the record companies giving each other awards, and making great shows that everybody loves.
"I'm not putting it down at all, but you shouldn't expect it to be fair, or free of influence," she said.
For half a century, Sainte-Marie has written, sung, and spoken about controversial political and environmental issues.
That was certainly the case when she sat down with CBC's Rob Brown for an interview ahead of her Thursday performance in Calgary at JunoFest Indigenous Showcase.
After pointing to the lack of female Juno nominees, Sainte-Marie hurled sharp remarks at the oilsands industry, before expressing optimism about the future of Aboriginal reconciliation in Canada.
Watch the entire interview above.
With files from CBC News Calgary