Canada is our home.

Canada is an important part of our company’s beginnings. (It’s where our founder, a new immigrant, was able to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming a printer in 1956. He named the company after St. Joseph, the patron saint of the working person and of Canada.)

Canada is at the core of our work today; we tell the stories that matter through our media brands, which reach 17.9 million Canadians; a third of our population. We also work with leading Canadian brands to help them tell and share their stories.

Since our beginnings, we have been committed to making Canada the best place it can be; helping our communities and our planet thrive.

So heading into this Canada Day, we are reflecting on the past (learning, lamenting, lending support however we can) while considering how we can make our country better for today and tomorrow for every Canadian that calls this land home.

Our action for today: a $2,000 donation to the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF), committed to improving the lives of Indigenous people by building awareness, education and connections between all Canadians.

Chanie Wenjack was a young boy who died on October 22, 1966, walking the railroad tracks, trying to escape from the Cecilia Jeffrey Indian Residential School in northern Ontario to walk home.

The SJC Media connection: Mike Downie, the brother of the Tragically Hip’s singer Gord Downie, came across Ian Adams’ Maclean’s story from February 6, 1967, “The Lonely Death of Charlie Wenjack.”  He introduced the article to Gord, who used it as inspiration for his Secret Path project, his fifth and final album released within his lifetime. It is a concept album about Chanie Wenjack and also inspired a graphic novel illustrated by comic artist Jeff Lemire.

To read the full 1967 Maclean’s story, and to learn about Indigenous history, people and culture this Canada Day, visit our compilation of stories and articles across the brands of SJC Media.