Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Tucked into an overheated Toronto studio, Oji-Cree singer-songwriter Aysanabee sings the opening lyrics of "River" from his debut album "Watin": "Take what you need, leave what you can, oh she told me and took my hand."
"I've been dreaming about doing this for as long as I can remember," he told W5 in an interview as part of a documentary special on his meteoric rise in the music scene.
2023 was a whirlwind year for Aysanabee. "Watin" was shortlisted for a Polaris Prize, his song "Nomads" reached No. 1 on Canadian music charts and he played his music for masses of fans in countless music halls around the world.
Last year, Aysanabee received a Juno nomination for Contemporary Indigenous Artist or Group of the Year. He was nominated again under the same category for the 2024 Junos, as well as for Songwriter of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year.
"It was like London, Ont., to Spain, to Sarnia, Ont., like in the same week," he said. "Last year, we did like 184 shows."
His music also scored Wab Kinew's historic victory last year as Manitoba's first First Nations premier. "This is a great victory for all of us in Manitoba," Kinew said in his remarks.
"I haven't really had the time to stop and reflect on it," Aysanabee said.
"It's been surreal and I've been trying to take off the tunnel vision to kind of be in the moment, and really take things in," he said. "There have been these really special moments."
Aysanabee calls Toronto home now. Still, even when he's off the road, he says he's consumed with writing and recording new material.
Lana Gay is a host at Toronto's Indie 88. She first heard Aysanabee when he dropped into the radio station for a live session.
"Hearing those vocals through the wall … not knowing it was him in our other studio, and thinking, 'Who is that'?" Gay recalled.
"He sounds as amazing on record as he does in a studio session, as he does on stage," she added, "and his voice really cuts through. It's very powerful."
She says she loves the songs both as stick-in-your-head indie rock tracks and as tools to share the history of "Canada's great shame."
"Watin" is named after Aysanabee's grandfather and the songs are largely based on conversations they had over the phone.
Watin, who at the time was in a Thunder Bay long-term care home, told Aysanabee about his time in residential school.
"His health was failing, and so he was losing all these memories," Aysanabee said.
He recorded stories about Watin growing up in Sandy Lake First Nation, a six-hour flight north of Thunder Bay, Ont. Aysanabee lived there too, until he was four.
"I think I, like a lot of other people, always kind of struggled to reconnect with their roots because I moved off rez when I was four," Aysanabee said, adding Watin was his "last direct connection to our story and our family and our history."
Watin was taken away at age eight to McIntosh Residential School near Kenora, Ont., and renamed Walter.
"I didn't know all the things he had been through," Aysanabee said.
He says the stories were also a source of inspiration as he learned of his grandfather's resilience. Watin would also meet the love of his life during his time at the school.
"I think that was one of the main things that got him and my grandmother through," he said. "They had each other, and they fell in love."
He says the conversations also helped him along the path of his own self-discovery, which included reclaiming his family name, "Aysanabee," after going by Evan Pang until recently.
Aysanabee also worked as a journalist and video editor. He was employed as a digital content editor at CTVNews.ca until March 2022. He is no longer with the company.
Watch W5's documentary 'Aysanabee' Saturday at 7 p.m. on CTV
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
Three people have been arrested and charged in the killing of B.C. Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – as authorities continue investigating potential connections to the Indian government.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
TD Bank Group could be hit with more severe penalties than previously expected, says a banking analyst after a report that the investigation it faces in the U.S. is tied to laundering illicit fentanyl profits.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
RCMP say human remains found in a rural area in central Saskatchewan may have been there for a decade or more.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
As Wegovy becomes available to Canadians starting Monday, a medical expert is cautioning patients wanting to use the drug to lose weight that no medication is a ''magic bullet,' and the new medication is meant particularly for people who meet certain criteria related to obesity and weight.
Drew Carey took over as host of 'The Price Is Right' and hopes he’s there for life. 'I'm not going anywhere,' he told 'Entertainment Tonight' of the job he took over from longtime host Bob Barker in 2007.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.