Kelly McAlpine or Orillia, Ontario, has this modest proposal for the head of the CBC, Herbert Lacroix.

Dear Mr. Lacroix,

As you may be aware, Canada will soon be losing another patriot to cancer; who has honoured and contributed to this country in a multitude of ways for many years.

Gord Downie, along with fellow members of The Tragically Hip, have celebrated their love for this country through songs such as “Bobcaygeon”, “Fifty-Mission Cap”, “Wheat Kings” and many more. Gord has also dedicated himself as a member of the board for Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, whose mission is to ‘create a swimmable, drinkable, fishable future.’

It is both astounding and inspiring that Gord plans to join his fellow bandmates to celebrate one last tour with their fans across Canada. The band listed face-value ticket prices from $56-$166 CAD with the intent of proceeds being donated to the Sunnybrook Foundation. Of course, ticket distributors such as Ticketmaster have appeared to disrupt these intentions; making pre-sales impossible for fans to access, then re-selling at THOUSANDS of dollars – with NO DONATION to the Sunnybrook foundation. This is disgusting. Yet I believe CBC can step in and make a tremendously effective contribution to Gord’s vision; with all of our help.

I am asking CBC to facilitate a live broadcast of The Tragically Hip’s final show at the K-Rock centre in Kingston on August 20th 2016, with proceeds from advertising, media coverage etc. to be donated to the Sunnybrook Foundation as The Hip intended with their ticket sales. Perhaps viewers (who cannot afford Ticketmaster’s gouging prices) can access this coverage by making a SMALL donation (under $10) to the Sunnybrook Foundation as well.

If you build it, your fellow Canadians will come.

Sincerely,

Kelly McAlpine, Orillia ON

Go here to sign the petition. I have a feeling, though, that people are already talking about documenting this tour in a big, big way.