In a recent Private Member’s Statement, I had the pleasure of recognizing Gilles Crevier for his exceptional contributions as a musician and resident of Dawson Trail. Gilles is a French Canadian, Red River Métis with nearly four decades of experience as a career musician. Throughout his career, Gilles has performed in Canada, the United States, and Europe, as a member and musical director for the Ensemble Folklorique de la Riviere Rouge. He also served as Concertmaster for the Winnipeg Pops Orchestra for nearly 15 years, and is a founding member of the francophone folk group, La Bardasse.
Today, his musical focus lies mainly with playing Métis fiddle music, which in May, led him, along with his daughter Sara, to his recent representation and performance as an Indigenous member of the official Government of Canada delegation for the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of the Netherlands and the end of the 2nd World War in Europe. Gilles also spends his time serving his community by volunteering with the “comité culturel de Sainte-Anne” and the local Knights of Columbus chapter. I am honoured to have been able to highlight Gilles Crevier and his amazing accomplishments and ongoing contributions to our Dawson Trail community.
It is November now, which means it is also Movember. Movember is an organization and global movement that was started in 2003 to raise awareness and funds for different health issues affecting men, particularly mental health and suicide prevention, prostate cancer, and testicular cancer. This movement that started out as 30 men has grown to over 6 million participants, and they’ve been able to help fund over 1,300 men’s health projects around the world. I had the pleasure to meet with some of the folks at Movember recently and chat with them about men’s health and the important work they do. I am so glad that there are organizations like Movember who are dedicated to raising awareness about men’s mental and physical health, breaking down stigma, and transforming the way health services reach and support men.
