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'You felt closer to him': CBC's Steve Patterson shares memories of Gord Downie

Steve Patterson, host of CBC's The Debaters, told Daybreak Alberta about some of his encounters with Gord Downie of The Tragically Hip.

Patterson says Downie helped bring 'this entire country together… like no other person really ever has'

Ryan Rumbolt · CBC News ·
Host of CBC's The Debaters Steve Patterson, left, says one song by Gord Downie, right, and The Tragically Hip has become a staple at weddings in his social circle. (CBC)

This past week was a difficult one for admirers of The Tragically Hip and the band's frontman, Gord Downie, who died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer.

Like many Canadians, Steve Patterson, comedian and host of CBC's The Debaters, is a fan.

Patterson had the chance to meet Downie a few times over the years and said Downie helped bring "this entire country together… like no other person really ever has."

"It's amazing to me how personally it effects people and it takes me personally back to seeing them in their career on Canada Day," Patterson told Daybreak Alberta. "I don't think there's a musical experience that you can equate [with] pure Canadiana," 

"Because [the band members] were so close, you felt closer to him, I think. I've met members of the band, there's not an ounce of airs about them and they're just gracious people."

Music with a message

Gord Downie performs as part of his Secret Path concert. The record tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, who died in 1966 escaping a residential school. (Chris Young/Canadian press)

This past July, Patterson and Downie were both part of We Day celebrations, a movement that gives youth tools to create change in their communities.

Downie performed music from his solo record Secret Path — which tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a boy who died in 1966 escaping a residential school.

Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde holds an emotional Gord Downie as he given an aboriginal name during a ceremony honouring Downie at the AFN Special Chiefs assembly in Gatineau, Que., Tuesday, December 6, 2016. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

"And he was frail backstage but the love that everyone felt seeing him — everyone backstage, everyone in the audience — it's something I've never seen before, personally," said Patterson.

Can't break with tradition 

For Patterson, one song by The Tragically Hip has even become part of a wedding tradition in his social circle.

Steve Patterson, host of CBC's The Debaters, says Gord Downie, pictured here, 'brought this entire country together...like no other person really ever has.'

"We play the song New Orleans is Sinking, we jump up and down in a circle like only poor-dancing Caucasians can, we lift up the groom and lift up the bride… we parade the bride and groom around the room to the entire New Orleans is Sinking song, bouncing them up in the air," he said.

In this May 5, 2017 file photo, lead singer of The Tragically Hip Gord Downie salutes fans during the first half of Game 3 of an NBA basketball second-round playoff series between the Toronto Raptors and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Toronto. The widely revered lead singer died Tuesday night, Oct. 17, 2017. He was 53. (Frank Gunn/Canadian Press)

"I'm sure that's not the original intent of the song, but for us, that's what it was. It's just such a rocking song and to us it means joy even though the song is probably not intended for that."​

Patterson will be hosting a sold-out taping of The Debaters in Edmonton on Oct. 25.

With files from Daybreak Alberta

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