Shane Koyczan isn't celebrating Canada Day on July 1 this year.
The award-winning Canadian spoken word artist took to Facebook to deny requests to perform his iconic poem "We Are More" for Canada Day. The poet explained he doesn't stand behind the poem anymore, which describes Canada as "an experiment going right for a change."
In the Facebook post, he goes on to explain that when he originally performed the poem at the opening ceremony of the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games, Canada "had not yet strayed so far down this dark path we now find ourselves on."
The B.C.-based artist notes several reasons for his decision.
"I'm not sure what country I'm looking at anymore. A country that labels Canadians as second class citizens. A country that kills its research and gags its scientists. A country that refuses to take a serious look into missing aboriginals despite being the same country that killed First Nations children in residential schools..."
Koyczan says his Canada Day will be on election day, which falls on Oct. 19.
Read Koyczan's full post here:
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