Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke briefly with the CBC's Ron MacLean about the Tragically Hip on Saturday night. In the video conversation, Trudeau was at the arena in Kingston, Ont., for the final show of the band's Man Machine Poem tour and MacLean was in Rio. Trudeau said all week he was wishing he was in Rio for the Olympics, "but tonight I'm glad I'm in Kingston instead." Trudeau said he had mixed feelings about the show, because it was a chance to both say goodbye and to celebrate lead singer Gord Downie, who is battling terminal brain cancer. Trudeau spoke about becoming a fan of the Hip in university and at one point wishing the band would make it big internationally, though now he's glad they've remained a Canadian staple, saying they are "an inevitable and essential part of what we are and who we are as a country."

Source: CBC News August 21, 2016 00:04 UTC