When a musician can invoke that much good in the world, it is worth a deeper dive into understanding why.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on November 18, 2024.

OTTAWA—Canada has gone “Swiftie” this week.

In anticipation of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour in Toronto and Vancouver, the country is abuzz with excitement.

The Toronto Star is auctioning off tickets to raise money for the Santa Claus Fund. According to The Star, the fund has been donating gift boxes to vulnerable children since 1906. What could be more Canadian than that?

Swift herself donated $13,000 to the fund last year, and she wasn’t even visiting Toronto. This year, she is donating again. Two Nov. 22 concert tickets are being auctioned off by The Star, which is also encouraging concert-goers to donate to their own favourite charity.

Social media is calling on fans to follow Swift’s example by donating to something worthwhile as she has done.

Stories of charitable acts surrounding the Swift tour abound.

CTV reported that an Ottawa boy with a rare spastic paraplegia was gifted two tickets to the concert that his friends had auctioned off for $20,000.

The tickets were originally sold off to fund seven-year-old Jack Laidlaw’s experimental treatment in a Boston hospital.

Someone donated $20,000 for the seats, with an anonymous matching donation.

But the person who purchased the tickets was so moved by Laidlaw’s story that she donated the tickets to him, and he will attend the concert with his father.

Stories of similar goodness are popping up all across the country.

Taylor’s performances started on Nov. 14 with six concerts in Toronto, moving to Vancouver for three performances in early December.

Some 60,000 people will attend each sold-out concert with thousands more expected to attend the pre-concert Taylgate ’24 at the Metro Convention Centre.

Taylor Swift Way has been temporarily installed in Toronto with 22 street signs wending their way from Queen Street West to John Street, Front Street, and Blue Jays Way.

Official Swift merchandise is being sold in only one location, and hundreds of fans lined up to purchase posters, shirts, and other memorabilia when the shop opened.

Some clearly don’t understand the Swift mania that has gripped the nation.

Globe and Mail sports columnist Cathal Kelly wrote a scathing critique of Taylor’s music, writing: “On a scale of musical impact, she is somewhere north of Barry Manilow and south of Elton John. She is a less interesting Diana Ross, or a Madonna with better business instincts.”

Cathal goes on to say it is not Swift’s fault, but rather a reflection of “the enormous vacant space in cultural history that she represents. … Six nights in Toronto is another portent of mediocrity.”

He may be right, but I can’t help but wondering why thousands of people—including members of my own family—are struck with Swiftmania.

My niece won two tickets in a lottery at a cost of $500 apiece. As of last week, those tickets could be sold on the internet for up to $8,000 each.

But she prefers to go to the concert, and forego a possible $15,000 cash payout.

Like Kelly, I just don’t get it. Maybe it is just the older generation that is living in ignorance as the world moves to embrace Swift’s social media stardom.

When a musician can invoke that much good in the world, it is worth a deeper dive into understanding why.

Of course, the woman and her team are obviously marketing geniuses. That goes without saying.

But her judicious use of social media and the global response to her music is giving the world something to share in a time when, according to the young, everything else seems to be falling apart.

Perhaps Swift’s influence is overstated.

She came out courageously and loudly in favour of electing America’s first woman president. Swift was Kamala Harris’ biggest booster, much to the ire of Donald Trump.

While her fans may have been cheering, they did not all jump on board because if they had, Trump would have lost the election.

So perhaps her followers are thirsting for a brief moment, a three-hour escape from the reality of the world in which they live.

Surveys show many young people don’t even want to have children today because they are afraid of how climate change is destroying the globe. World wars and environmental disasters dominate the news.

There aren’t many moments when these disasters can be minimized.

Swift concerts, and the crazy prelude leading up to her arrival, are one way that troubles can be forgotten.

Perhaps her music won’t last for a half-century like that of the iconic Beatles.

But the Swiftie Moment is here to stay.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.

By Sheila Copps
First published in The Hill Times on September 25, 2023.

OTTAWA—Protests and counter-protests on the rights of children to use their chosen pronouns were held across the country last week.

New Democratic Party Leader Jagmeet Singh led a counter-protest in Ottawa, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn “hate and its manifestations,” and reiterate his support for the 2SLGBTQ+ community across Canada.

Not surprisingly, Conservative Members of Parliament were silent on the issue, with the Canadian Press reporting that the leader’s office had told them not to discuss the protests with the media or on social media outlets.

A memo, shared with CP, was sent from the leader’s office claiming that protesters against LGBTQ education in the schools have a legitimate point to make about “parental rights.”

Heated clashes in cities across the country led to arrests in Halifax, Vancouver, Victoria, and Ottawa. The issue is heating up as governments in New Brunswick and Saskatchewan have introduced legislation requiring students to get their parents’ permission before teachers can address them in their preferred he/she/they pronoun.

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre’s office may not be able to stop Members of Parliament from weighing in when so many of them were elected thanks to support they received from social conservatives who do not support LGBTQ education in schools. The fact that the opposition leader is trying to keep a lid on comments shows that he understands the issue is a political hot potato that will win his party no new supporters.

As his party’s numbers climb, Poilievre has to be very careful to appeal to voters who are leery of social conservatism. Chances are the solidarity of potential power will not be enough to silence those in the caucus who got their political feet wet on recruiting social conservatives.

It is no coincidence that when Leslyn Lewis first ran for her party’s leadership in 2020, she was the first choice of Saskatchewan Tories. She swept the province where the premier and his government have recently enacted legislation to prevent minors from changing their pronouns without their parents’ permission.

Anti-trans rallies were organized across Canada last week by a group identifying itself as the “One Million March For Children,” which said it stood against gender ideology. But the marches were countered by groups defending the rights of 2SLGBTQ+ youth. Some are concerned that adolescents should not be outed to parents, and others wanted to support those teenagers who have self-identified as trans or gay.

Hate crimes against the gay community are on the rise, according to a report by Statistics Canada released last December. The report stated that police-reported hate crimes increased by 60 per cent between 2019 and 2021, reaching their highest level in five years.

Meanwhile, Ontario Premier Doug Ford promised to change the sex education curriculum when he was courting socially conservative voters during his leadership campaign. However, while in government, he was accused of re-introducing a sex education curriculum that was virtually identical to the one he had criticized during his campaign. Ford learned quickly that modifying sex education is probably not a top-of-mind priority for most Ontarians.

Poilievre is likely discovering the same challenge at the federal level. But how is he going to be able to stop his right-wing caucus members from aligning themselves with the thousands who rallied across the country against sex education involving the 2SLGBTQ+ community? The temperature is rising on both sides, so it is difficult to see how the Conservatives are going to be able to stay out of the fray.

And when the leader of the New Democrats makes it his business to lead the counter-demonstration, he obviously understands the political issues at stake.

Most Canadians don’t really involve themselves in the adolescent pronoun debate. However, they do support rights for the LGBTQ community. With the advent of same-sex marriage and support for choice in sexual orientation, most people appreciate the wave of equality that has evolved in the past two decades.

But the small percentage of people who oppose transgender teaching in schools has unleashed the wrath of the silent minority. The number of parents and grandparents who showed up last week to support their transgender progeny could translate into a significant voting bloc in the next election.

If the issue provokes enough interest, it will actually move votes in the next election. Therein the reason why the Tories don’t want to be on the record with any comment when it comes to transgender policies in local school sectors.

Their political silence is golden. But it may not be sustainable.

Sheila Copps is a former Jean Chrétien-era cabinet minister and a former deputy prime minister. Follow her on Twitter at @Sheila_Copps.