Grant Lawrence: Made in Canada
As our national sovereignty is tested, I interview the most Canadian guy I know
I’ll never forget Grant Lawrence, wearing his custom CBC Cowichan sweater in the middle of a scorching summer, cracking canoe jokes while introducing The Weakerthans from a folk festival stage in the Prairies. It was the most Canadian moment I’ve experienced since my dad put us kids in a K-Tel Krazy Karpet commercial (no joke, though we didn’t make the cut).
Grant Lawrence — author, broadcaster, musician — has made a career out of being genuinely from here. Whether championing Canadian bands for a living, fronting The Smugglers, or publishing books about Desolation Sound, goaltending, and moose — the guy is a conduit for Canuck culture. He continues that comically sincere storytelling tradition of Stephen Leacock and Stuart McLean, and his touring shows always sell out, attended earnestly by the same kind of small town eccentrics he writes about.
I worked with Grant for years, traveling to music festivals to spotlight Canadian indie bands, and to run amok with our bizarro video baby, R3TV, the CBC’s very first visual podcast. One of my favourite things on earth is laugh-crying together over the most inane ideas.
So it was a no-brainer — as we currently stand up to dopey threats from dopey presidents about becoming the 51st state — to interview Grant about being a bulletproof Canadian to the core.
Jordan: Right now there’s a lot of blather and bullying toward Canada…us being insignificant and absorbable. Something I never thought we’d ever hear, even from the mouths of morons…
Grant: I think one of the interesting ironies of all the bluffing, and essentially the harassment, is that it has brought a lot of Canada together. We were a more divisive country since the pandemic, with such a stark divide in values and in understanding of one another. So, as someone who tries to see all the different angles and the positives, it's just interesting to see that our unity takes an outside threat.
I’m lucky. I've been to all the Canadian provinces and territories, and I’ve also been to all 50 U.S. states. And to say that Canada should be another one is just so ridiculously absurd, since we're the second largest land mass and the second largest country in the world. But you know, we’ve got a lot of valuable things up here, all the fresh water and a lot of [whispers] oil, and being the gateway to the north and everything. So you can see why we're so desirable.
Jordan: Tell me why no one can just “become Canadian” overnight. And, beside more telltale traits like playing hockey, drinking beer, and loving the outdoors — what makes you irrefutably Canadian?
Grant: Well, the CBC has been this thread throughout my whole life. And my Canadian identity began, like a lot of kids, through television. Our TVs had, like, two Canadian channels, and then a bunch of border channels where we’d be constantly advertised to. Growing up on the West Coast, we had this innate, drilled-in knowledge of all the counties in Washington state, because that's where Les Schwab Tires and other stores were. It was totally foreign to us. We knew it was there, but we also knew we were Canadian. So then we’d switch to the Canadian channels, which would be less obnoxious and less in-your-face, and see Mr. Dressup — this calm, zen dude teaching us how to receive pairs of scissors by passing them handle-forward. And he had this bizarre…possibly the first non-binary-slash-transgender puppet, Casey, and a mute dog. Years later, I actually had the opportunity to talk to the puppeteer, Judith Lawrence (no relation), who lives on Hornby Island now. And I asked about that, and she confirmed that she designed Casey to be non gender specific! Talk about being way ahead of her time, by like, 50 years.
But the thing that really did it for me was The Beachcombers, which was an incredibly multicultural show, you know. I just love the premise of the show, and I often like to try to imagine the pitch meeting where it's like, “Okay, here's my idea: a Greek guy and his first nations buddy collect logs.” And they're like, “Okay, let's green light that, and let's have it last for 20 years!” And what a lot of people don't realize is that the Beachcombers was The Dukes of Hazzard on water. They did crazy stunts with boats that no show does, and we did it in our waters with aluminum boats and a really multicultural cast. Also, the great thing about the Beachcombers was that it was one of the first times Canadians had seen the First Nations community, not only in a positive light, but in an equal light. So Jesse didn't work for Nick. They were partners. And so that was important for young people to see.
Jordan: Long before you were spinning Canadian indie rock on CBC, your band, The Smugglers, made being Canadian an indie rock thing…
Grant: Yeah. When we were teenagers, Seattle was becoming the most exciting music scene in the entire world — and it was only three hours to the south! So our band focused on going to Seattle, Bellingham, Olympia and then further and further into the States. And we realized that being Canadian was a hook. It separated us, because most Canadian bands just ping-ponged between Halifax and Victoria for their touring. In the States, our Canadianness became a major part of our identity. And some club or record label nicknamed us “The Canadian Ambassadors of Rock ‘N Roll” and it stuck. I mean, we had Canadian flags on the side of the tour van and the whole deal. It was a major point of pride. And people would always say “oh yeah, you’re those crazy rock ‘n rollers from Canada, right?” And then, of course, I end up at the CBC, which kind of closes the loop on my entire life of just being this Canadian, this proud Canadian person, where it's not only been my life, it's been my career and livelihood.
Jordan: Yeah, and your natural habitat isn’t something dumb like the Tim Horton’s drive thru…I always picture you in some metal boat navigating obscure West Coast islands.
Grant: That is where I am most at home, what you just described. Metal boat, Desolation Sound, the mountains, the ocean. That is absolutely where I am at my happiest with my family. My daughter always asks me what my favourite colour is, and I say “blue, because of the sky, then green, for the juxtaposition of the trees with the sky and the ocean.”
Jordan: And no one can take that away.
Grant: No one.
Grant Lawrence - the true Captain Canada! Love it! 🇨🇦
Every Canadian should read this to give their pride a boost. And every American should read this to understand why we are !