JoPo - Northurn Gurl

https://northernontario.ctvnews.ca/sudbury-musician-jopo-releases-new-music-video-about-education-strikes-1.4837375 wrote:

Sudbury musician JoPo released her latest single We Are Their Voice, advocating loudly on behalf of students during the ongoing Ontario education union strikes.

"I don’t even have kids, but I stand behind this," said JoPo.

The song was released on YouTube on Feb. 28 and received over 11,000 views in less than a week.

During the creation process, JoPo reached out to teachers across the province, in every school board, to help showcase the unified fight against the Ford government. She says that the entire video was a joint effort with help from the teachers and Bertrand Productions.

Local Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario President Barb Blasutti says it’s amazing to have the support and voice of a local musician on this issue.

"The public support for our fight is overwhelming, but especially so when it’s a local musician who takes the time to research the issues," Blasutti said. "When I first heard it, I had goosebumps."

Several students sing in the video, helping to give them a voice in the labour dispute. For many, it was the first time they have been in a real studio or a music video.

"Even talking to them in the studio, they were saying that in some of their classrooms there are like 38 students. It’s ridiculous. They’re not getting enough time per student when there are that many students in a classroom. So, they were all behind it 100 per cent," said JoPo.

This isn’t the first time that the singer-songwriter has advocated for community issues through songs.

"I think it’s just the path that I have chosen and I stick up for what’s right," she said.

https://rabble.ca/news/2013/03/stompin-tom-connors-alternative-appreciation wrote:"Sudbury Saturday Night" is both an amusing song about the momentary break from work as well as a subtle critique of life in a mining town, a combination making it a Stompin' Tom classic as well as a fan favourite. Connors also mentions women, presumably the partners of the miners (many women in Sudbury played crucial political roles in the community), as being out on the town, playing bingo, drinking, and having fun, probably escaping the pressures of their own work lives.

That "Sudbury Saturday Night" embodied a dissident element was made clear by what happened to Connors upon arrival in Thompson, Manitoba for a concert in 1972. When Connors got to the arena there was "a car with three of four important looking gentlemen sitting there waiting." The men approached Connors and welcomed him to Thompson on behalf of the mayor's office. They gave Connors some souvenirs before stating, "We sure like your song ‘Sudbury Saturday Night,’ Tom and we would like to ask you a small favour?" The men continued, "Well, this being an INCO town, nice and quiet, you understand, and knowing how considerate you've always been in not wanting to stir things up and all, we would appreciate it if you wouldn't sing that song tonight.” Tom responded, "Just a minute … I do understand you gentlemen correctly? You're asking me to not sing 'Sudbury Saturday Night' on my show tonight?" Not really looking for an answer, Connors stated, "Look boys … This is a free country, even in Thompson, Manitoba. And if the INCO workers or anyone else in this town want to hear 'Sudbury Saturday Night' then this is the night they're going to hear it."

Connors walked away and the men got in the car and drove off. Tom recalls that "the first song the audience shouted for me to do that night, and even before I stepped up to the microphone, was 'Sudbury Saturday Night,' I sang it immediately, and several times more before the show was over. There was absolutely no trouble at all, and the crowd loved it. And that was the record we sold the most of that night" (Stompin’ Tom and the Connors Tone, 220).

Such an example illustrates how both Connors and his fans were aware of the fact that Stompin' Tom songs spoke to the experiences of working people.