The True Canadians Podcast
The True Canadians podcast is based the book of the same name, and refers to the fact that the Métis truly are people born of this land — well before Canada became a country of its own.
Host David Wylynko is a media consultant, writer, and former journalist. He grew up in the Winnipeg suburb of Fort Garry, not far from the actual Fort Garry, where the Métis first set up a provisional government in 1869, and he’s had a lifelong fascination with the Métis. While he and his co-author, Patricia Russell, a Métis writer and former CBC journalist, were touring the country to promote the book, they discovered that readers wanted to know more about the people, places, events, and milestones featured in the pages of The True Canadians. A podcast seemed to be the best way to share what they learned. So they invited some of the personalities they wrote about, and some new voices, to tell more of their stories.Each episode digs deeper into the important roles the Métis have played — and are continuing to play — in the evolution of Canada. Listeners will get to know the leaders, the artists, and the executives who are defining what it means to be Métis in the twenty-first century, and hear about the ongoing campaigns to win recognition, forge a stronger sense of community, and advance genuine reconciliation with other Canadians.
Original music for the podcast was composed and performed by Metis fiddler Alex Kusturok. Each episode begins with the words of the late Métis leader Jim Sinclair, delivered at the closing of the 1987 Meech Lake negotiations in Ottawa.The podcast is available on most podcasting platforms, including:
Latest episode
Into the Big Leagues
Celebrated Métis lawyer and author Jean Teillet never expected to be arguing a case about “a moose in Sault Ste. Marie” in the highest court in the land. But when the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in the Powley Case that the Métis had a right to hunt, Teillet realized it was an enormous victory. The case, which put the Métis into what Teillet described as the legal “big leagues,” became renowned for recognizing the rights enshrined in section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. Charged with illegal hunting in 1993, the case of Steve Powley and his son Roddy laid the groundwork for subsequent rulings and negotiations that acknowledged Métis rights.
Many years later, after numerous other victories in court, Teillet took on perhaps an even greater challenge: chronicling the storied saga of the Métis in a “popular history.” Released in 2019, The Northwest is Our Mother quickly became the go-to book about the Métis and was a prime source of information for The True Canadians. Teillet explains to host David Wylynko that even though the Métis continue to face an uphill battle – typically negotiating through the Liberals and litigating through the Conservatives – she has a strong belief that a roadmap for the future of Canada is being laid, with the Métis figuring prominently in its design. Working since her retirement as an artist, Teillet tells listeners the reasons for her eternal optimism.
Notes
- A review of The Northwest is Our Mother
- The True Canadians website
- Intro and outro music by Métis musician Alex Kusturok
- Opening quote from an address by Métis leader Jim Sinclair during the 1987 Canadian constitutional talks
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Podcast host David Wylynko and his co-author, Patricia Russell.
