CBC Will Air “Gord Downie’s Secret Path In Concert” On Sunday

On The 51st Anniversary Of Chanie Wenjack's Death

This Sunday, to commemorate the 51st anniversary of Chanie Wenjack’s death and pay tribute to Gord Downie, CBC will premiere Gord Downie’s Secret Path in Concert. The special will air at 9 p.m on the  CBC and will stream at cbc.ca/secretpath.

The concert was filmed at Roy Thomson Hall in October 21 of last year. More than 30 members of the Wenjack family were in attendance. The one-hour special also features Canadian musicians Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Kevin Hearn (Barenaked Ladies), Josh Finlayson (Skydiggers) Dave Hamelin (The Stills) and Charles Spearin (Broken Social Scene).

Secret Path is a multi-media project that was conceived by Gord Downie and his brother Mike. In addition to the animated film, the album and graphic novel by Jeff Lemire shines a light on a dark part of Canada’s history – the abuse of Indigenous children and families by the residential school system. Gord Downie originally wrote Secret Path as 10 poems inspired by the story of Chanie Wenjack, a 12-year-old boy who died of exposure on October 22, 1966 as he was attempting to walk home from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School near Kenora, Ont. to return to the family he was taken from over 600km away.

Image Courtesy of CBC