Canadian actor, singer Tom Jackson on how songs bring people together during tough times

Canadian icon Tom Jackson is making his annual trek across the country, sharing songs and stories to raise money for local food banks and family service agencies.

The legendary actor, singer and storyteller is touring his Stories, Songs and Santa Causes until Dec. 16, with shows planned for New Westminster and Kamloops in B.C., and all the way to Newfoundland.

Jackson, 74, was appointed as an officer of the Order of Canada in 2000.

But just last week, he returned to Rideau Hall to receive the higher honour of companion of the Order of Canada. 

"It was a very exciting day for me," Jackson told On The Coast guest host Margaret Gallagher. "It was awesome. Nope, it was better than that."

Jackson sat down for an interview with CBC Radio ahead of his New Westminster performance on Nov. 25 to talk about the show, and how song can bring people closer together.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What's the idea behind Stories, Songs and Santa Causes?

The idea was more about the 'why' than the what. We took on the task of getting people out of the COVID-19 funk.

For two years we've had this weight on our shoulders. The world has had a weight on their shoulders. And we need to find a happy place.

And say when you come to Stories, Songs and Santa Causes, you're going to go to your happy place. It's just going to happen. We are determined to make you healthy. We're determined to give you a social prescription that you don't have to swallow.

It's just you go there and you become healthy and you find joy and compassion and empathy and faith and hope. But mostly, you find love. Not the word, but the verb. 

This can be a tough time of year for many people. How can songs and stories bring us together and make us healthy?

Well, let me take you back 38 years or 40 years. I was living in a hole in the ground or in a crawl space and I was addicted to drugs and somebody came to visit me and I don't know if it was real or not real.

But this somebody said to me, "I'm going to send you an angel and that angel is going to be worse off than you. And if you help that angel, I'm gonna help you."

So I took the deal and I said, "Okay, how would I know this thing? Is it going to have wings?" He said no. But it'll be looking worse off than you.

And I found that there were so many angels out there that were worse off than me. So the moral of that story is that if you want to feel better, help somebody who's worse off than you. It never fails. It'll help you and it'll help whoever you're helping.

What does your song Huron Carole mean to you personally?

Well, it has its own historic implication and effect on the world. But in my world, it's an anthem.

Somebody asked me once at the end of a tour, "What do you want to be remembered as?" I think I want to be remembered as the guy who sang the song.

Because the song is a verb. It was written in an effort to explain the significance of Christmas to the Huron Indians. And then we created this project. We created it in a place known as Huronia.

That song has served to generate over $250 million in cash and food services for social service agencies.

But it's not just that. It's the agencies that save lives. So when you come to this show, you don't just get happy and healthy and joy and empathy and all that. You get to save lives.

What does it mean for you to be back on the road across the country sharing these songs and these stories?

There's a magic between me and the person I'm watching.

Because it's personal and we get to reconnect again and we haven't done that for two years. So it's really something that is tangible to you, you can feel it. It's not just what you hear. There's a spiritual connection between me and my audience.