Obit

Wednesday May 3, 2023

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday May 3, 2023

Gordon Lightfoot (November 17, 1938 – May 1, 2023)

Gordon Lightfoot was more than just a singer-songwriter; he was a cultural icon whose music helped shape Canadian identity and inspired audiences worldwide. His unique blend of folk, country, and pop music, combined with his gift for storytelling, captured the hearts of millions and cemented his place in music history. Lightfoot’s impact on Canadian culture is undeniable.

News: Canadian folk music icon Gordon Lightfoot dead at 84  

August 24, 2013

Through his music, he celebrated the natural beauty of Canada, weaving stories of the land, its people, and its history. Songs like “Canadian Railroad Trilogy” and “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” became anthems of Canadian identity and pride, reflecting the spirit and resilience of the country and its people. Beyond Canadian borders, Lightfoot’s music resonated with audiences worldwide. His songs spoke to universal themes of love, loss, and the human experience, making him one of the most respected and admired singer-songwriters of his time.

However, Lightfoot was not immune to criticism. Some felt that his work could be repetitive, maudlin, sentimental, and nostalgic, and did not appeal to younger, more diverse audiences. Critics often pointed out that Lightfoot’s music seemed to rely on similar themes and motifs, and his ballads could come across as sentimental and overly nostalgic. Some argued that he struggled to adapt to changing musical tastes and remained firmly rooted in the folk and country traditions of the past. Additionally, Lightfoot’s music was often associated with an older, more conservative demographic, and it did not always resonate with younger, more diverse audiences.

Despite these criticisms, Lightfoot remained a beloved and influential figure in Canadian music. His impact on Canadian culture cannot be overstated, and his ability to capture the essence of the Canadian landscape and spirit continues to inspire generations of musicians and fans. He was a symbol of Canadian culture and a role model for aspiring musicians, inspiring generations of Canadian artists who followed in his footsteps and contributed to the country’s rich musical heritage.

News: Anne Murray, Jim Cuddy and Prime Minister Trudeau remember a quintessential Canadian, Gordon Lightfoot  

March 8, 2013

In a time when Canadian culture was often overshadowed by its larger neighbor to the south, Lightfoot’s music helped put Canada on the map. He showed the world that Canada was more than just a cold and distant land, but a place of beauty, creativity, and resilience. Ultimately, while Lightfoot’s music may not have been to everyone’s taste, it remains a testament to his enduring talent and the power of music to unite and inspire. His passing is a great loss to the music world, but his music will continue to be celebrated and enjoyed for years to come. (AI)

 

Thursday September 15, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 15, 2022

Canada’s federal holiday to mourn the Queen leaves a patchwork of confusion

September 9, 2022

On Canada’s east and west coasts, schools and government offices will be closed on the day of Queen Elizabeth II’s state funeral. But in the two most populous provinces, employees will be at work – unless they are federal employees. Banks and other federal industries, however, have been given the option to close – or to remain open.

On Tuesday, the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, declared 19 September a federal holiday. But the ensuing chaos of determining who qualifies for the holiday has left workers confused across the country.

The prairie province of Saskatchewan will remain open for businesses. In neighbouring Manitoba, only government employees will have the day off. But in Prince Edward Island on the Atlantic coast, a full statutory holiday has been declared, with provincial authorities ordering businesses to close or pay their employees time and a half.

“Declaring an opportunity for Canadians to mourn on Monday is going to be important,” said Trudeau, during a cabinet retreat in the province of New Brunswick – which will close schools and government offices. “For our part we will letting federal employees know that Monday will be a day of mourning where they will not work.”

June 9, 2022

In Canada, nearly 90% of workers fall under provincial jurisdiction, and in not declaring the holiday a general holiday, the federal government has left a patchwork of confusion.

Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador have opted to give workers a public holiday.

Quebec, which has long been skeptical of the monarchy, was the first to rule out a public holiday after Trudeau’s announcement.

Ontario, Canada’s most populous province, said workers would not get a holiday – but could instead observe a “moment of silence”.

“This will give all Ontarians an opportunity to reflect on the remarkable life of Queen Elizabeth II and her unrelenting commitment to service and duty,” the premier, Doug Ford, said in a statement.

The British Columbia premier, John Horgan, said in a statement he would “follow the lead of the federal government and join with other provinces in observing the national day of mourning” – referring to four other provinces that took a similar approach.

June 27, 2017

On Wednesday, Toronto’s transit commission announced it too would pay tribute to the late queen on Monday by pausing all service for 96 seconds.

The commission said the stoppage of subways, buses and streetcars would be part of the city’s “coordinated tribute” to Elizabeth and that service would “resume immediately” after the brief period of silence.

Small business advocacy groups had been critical of a possible national holiday, arguing the announcement left little time to prepare, arguing a stoppage of work could cost the country billions.

And in British Columbia, the teacher’s union said the timing was poor, given an upcoming holiday at the end of September as teachers work to get students settled back in school.

“It’s very unusual to have a part-holiday that only really applies to public sector workers,” Bruce Hallsor of the Monarchist League of Canada told CTV News. “She was everybody’s Queen – she wasn’t only the Queen of public sector workers.”

Only one province, Alberta, has not yet announced whether it will make the state funeral a public holiday. (The Guardian) 

 

Thursday September 9, 2022

Elizabeth was our Queen, too

The death of Queen Elizabeth at her Scottish residence of Balmoral Castle on Thursday has plunged the United Kingdom into mourning. Union flags at official buildings were immediately lowered to half-mast. Political foes suddenly spoke as one to extol her 70 unbroken years of service to their country in what was rightly celebrated earlier this year as the longest reign in British history. And a nation in which most citizens could not remember a time before Elizabeth sat on the throne was left pondering what the future — under King Charles, her oldest son — now holds.

June 10, 2022

But the passing of Elizabeth at the age of 96 was also immediately felt — and deeply so — on this side of the Atlantic by many, many Canadians. She was our Queen, too, and has reminded us of that over and over again ever since ascending the throne and becoming our head of state in 1952. The bond she forged with Canadians was more than ceremonial and more than symbolic; it was visceral, based on mutual respect, admiration and, quite arguably, love. And that was never because of the bejeweled headpiece known as the crown. It was because of the woman who wore it with grace, dignity and even humility.

June 4, 2012

As an institution in the U.K., Canada and the 14 other Commonwealth realms in which Elizabeth was head of state, the monarchy has had its ups and downs. Perhaps more downs in recent years. The odd behaviour — and misbehaviour — of some members of the Royal Family go a long way to explaining that. But the Queen herself was different and universally perceived as such. Yes, she represented the monarchy. Of course she embodied its highest values, devoted as she was to duty and acting more as a servant than ruler of the people. But on a personal level she was far bigger than this ancient, and in some minds, anachronistic institution.

June 11, 2016

While one of the most recognizable people in an era of history that is coming to a close, she was timeless. The Queen may have enjoyed fantabulous wealth. She certainly spent much of her time in the rarefied atmosphere of palaces surrounded by splendid objects d’art, with her needs met by an army of servants. But the way she lived each day often seemed as much middle-class as aristocratic. Indeed, during family vacations at Balmoral, Elizabeth was famous for doing the washing up. No wonder her name became synonymous with the term “work ethic.” Her steadfast commitment to making the performance of her job her highest priority could well be her greatest legacy.

Canada gained from that commitment, too. Her reign encompassed the tenures of 12 Canadian prime ministers. She made 22 official visits to Canada before the frailties of age convinced her to leave overseas travel to her children and grandchildren. And each visit offered in its own way a recognition of how Canada was changing, from a post-Second-World-War country still profoundly and uncertainly tied to its colonial past to one that was more confident, diverse and truly master of its own destiny. Canada prizes evolution over revolution. Elizabeth helped us evolve.

April 10, 2021

While she represented tradition, she was unafraid of change. And it was also her calling to provide something constant in the midst of that change, an anchor in often turbulent waters. She was here in 1959 to open the engineering marvel that is the St. Lawrence Seaway. She returned to celebrate Canada’s Centennial in 1967 and the start of the Montreal Olympics in 1976. But without doubt, Elizabeth’s most memorable moment in the life of this country came in 1982 when she arrived to sign the Constitution Act that introduced the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That stroke of the pen also gave Canada the lasting power to change its founding documents without the consent of the British Parliament. That was true independence.

In coming days there will be many discussions about the future of the Canadian monarchy, and that is appropriate. But this is a day to reflect on the passing of Canada’s Queen. And we mean Canada’s. In her last public statement, which was issued on Wednesday just hours before she died, the Queen proved how much this country meant to her. In that message she expressed her deep sympathy for everyone impacted by last weekend’s stabbing rampage in Saskatchewan, a place she knew from six personal visits. “I mourn with all Canadians at this tragic time,” she said. Now, all Canadians can mourn for their Queen. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial) 

 

Thursday September 1, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday September 1, 2022

A making-of clip of this cartoon may be found here.

Disdained by Putin, Gorbachev walked a tightrope to defend his legacy

Russian President Vladimir Putin has spent his 22 years in power relentlessly hacking down the legacy of the reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

August 11, 1999

The two rarely met, and Gorbachev, who died Tuesday in Moscow at age 91, cautiously couched his remarks about the Russian leader, even when they weren’t critical. Unlike Putin’s predecessor, Boris Yeltsin, Gorbachev never requested or received a guarantee of immunity from arrest or prosecution, he said.

Gorbachev’s criticism of Putin was often indirect, as in his 2015 book “The New Russia,” in which he wrote that Putin had taken “advantage” of a flawed constitution drafted on Yeltsin’s watch — for example, by using an imprecise provision on term limits to return to the presidency in 2012.

Thursday April 7, 2022

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Thursday April 7, 2022

A lament for Hamilton’s maestro

With the tragic death Tuesday of Boris Brott, 78, Canada has lost one of its outstanding orchestral and operatic conductors.

Maestro Brott

Born in Montreal to violinist-composer-conductor Alexander Brott and cellist Lotte Brott in 1944, Brott debuted as a violin soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at age five. Seven years later, he studied conducting with Pierre Monteux at his academy in Maine. It was Monteux who gave Brott his first conducting job as his assistant with the London Symphony Orchestra and on his European tours.

After studies with Igor Markevitch, Brott won top prize at the 1958 Pan-American Conducting Competition in Mexico. One year later, Brott, then a 15-year-old student at Montreal’s West Hill High School, founded the Philharmonic Youth Orchestra of Montreal.

After winning third prize at the 1962 Liverpool Competition, he served as Walter Susskind’s assistant at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra from 1963 to 1965. Brott then became active in England, conducting the Northern Sinfonia at Newcastle upon Tyne from 1964 to 1968, and was principal conductor of the Royal Ballet Covent Garden’s touring company from 1964 to 1967.

In 1968, he was awarded first prize at the prestigious Dimitri Mitropoulos International Music Competition in New York and later that year was consequently named assistant to the New York Philharmonic Orchestra’s charismatic and flashy music director, Leonard Bernstein.

Brott came to Hamilton in 1969 as artistic director and conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra (HPO). Over the years, he led the HPO from an amateur ensemble to a professional orchestra that at its peak had a 42-week season and some 16,000 subscribers.

Fantasy Classic 2020

Together with members of the community, Brott also spearheaded the construction of the 2,200 seat Hamilton Place, now FirstOntario Concert Hall.

After having made his opera conducting debut with “La fille du régiment” at the Canadian Opera Company in 1977, Brott was one of the movers and shakers who helped to found Opera Hamilton, conducting performances of “La traviata” in 1980 and “Tosca” in 1981.

During the late 1970s and 1980s, Brott was one of Canada’s busiest conductors. In addition to his duties in Hamilton, he held positions with the CBC Winnipeg Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia and the Ontario Place Pops Orchestra, among others.

Unfortunately, things turned sour for Brott at the HPO and the two parted ways around 1990. In 1989, Brott founded the Hamilton-based professional training orchestra, the National Academy Orchestra (NAO) of Canada, which served as the orchestra-in-residence for his eponymous music festival, Canada’s largest orchestral festival. Today, many of the NAO’s over 1,000 alumni hold positions in orchestras across North America and beyond. He also established BrottOpera, which staged operatic productions in the Hamilton area.

From the book, “You Might Be From Hamilton If…”

In the 2000s, Brott also took over the McGill Chamber Orchestra, which had been founded in 1939 by his parents. Renamed the Orchestre Classique de Montréal, Brott was to have co-conducted a “Forever Handel” concert with this ensemble on April 28.

Internationally, Brott was the first music director of the New West Symphony in Thousand Oaks, California, in 1995 and also guest conducted throughout Italy. A career highlight came in 2000 when he conducted Bernstein’s “Mass” in Vatican City before an audience which included Pope John Paul II.

Brott’s many awards include an Officer of the Order of Canada (1986), Order of Ontario (2006), and City of Hamilton Lifetime Achievement Arts Award (2007).

Dorothy the Dinosaur – Illustration by Graeme MacKay

Though Brott had conducted countless works over his career, to many the most essential of these was Handel’s “Messiah,” which he performed in Israel and led annually for many years in Hamilton and Montreal.

For Brott, it was always go big or go home. His chutzpah, his ability to make things happen and to figuratively move heaven and earth if necessary, are irreplaceable. Canada will not see anyone like him and we are all the poorer for his loss.

Brott is survived by his brother, Denis, of Montreal, his wife, Ardyth, of Hamilton, two sons and a daughter and their families.

May his memory be a blessing. (Hamilton Spectator)