ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Skip to main content

'We have to build bridges': Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk on Ukraine, reconciliation

Share

Moving toward reconciliation doesn't come from jumping "the queue to perfection," but by building bridges and trusting one another, Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk says.

Kreviazuk shared that message during an interview with CTV News Channel on Friday as Canada Day celebrations got underway in Ottawa.

The and , who collaborated with Drake on his "Take Care," is one of many performers to hit the stage in the .

With Canada Day meaning something different to everyone, including Indigenous people, Kreviazuk, who is both Ukrainian and Metis, said reconciliation comes through "small pivots."

"What we have to do is come together with a little faith that some of us do not have an agenda except to ... move forward, to get to a better place," she said.

"We can't just jump the queue to perfection and we have to build bridges and we have to trust each other, and I think when friendships are built and we break bread together and we understand, not to sound cheesy, but we do have more in common as humans than we don't."

With a great-grandmother who was a survivor of the Elkhorn residential school in Manitoba, Kreviazuk said she was raised to be protective of that side of the family — because having Indigenous blood could have landed you in a residential school, she says.

"Now, here I am. I am not ashamed. I'm very proud of my heritage both as a Ukrainian and Metis girl," she said.

Kreviazuk also addressed Russia's war in Ukraine, telling CTV News Channel that Russian President Vladimir Putin "needs to be stopped" and Canada should do more to end the war.

"I don't think that we won't win. I just think that it's how many lives will we lose," she said.

"I just hope that when history is written, we did all that we can."

Watch the full interview with CTV’s Mike Le Couteur and Chantal Kreviazuk at the top of this article. With files from CTV News and The Canadian Press

CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½

Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.

The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.

An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.

Emergency crews in northern Ontario found the bodies of four people inside a home where a fire broke out Thursday night.

Local Spotlight

They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.

A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.

Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.

The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.

It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.

A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.

David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.

Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.