Trudeau and Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie mutual admirers

KINGSTON, Ont. – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared himself a big fan of the Tragically Hip and it’s a mutual admiration society as far as the band’s lead singer is concerned.

Gord Downie waxed poetic about Trudeau on Saturday night as the prime minister took in the final show of the band’s “Man Machine Poem” tour.

“He’s going to be looking good for about at least 12 more years, I don’t know if they let you go beyond that. But he’ll do it,” Downie told concertgoers between songs.

“We’re in good hands, folks, real good hands. He cares about the people way up North, that we were trained our entire lives to ignore, trained our entire lives to hear not a word of what’s going on up there. And what’s going on up there ain’t good. It’s maybe worse than it’s ever been, so it’s not on the improve. (But) we’re going to get it fixed and we got the guy to do it, to start, to help.”

Trudeau could be seen in the audience nodding and mouthing “thank you.”

Before the show started, Trudeau’s official photographer posted a photo on Twitter of the prime minister embracing Downie.

In a brief interview with the CBC, Trudeau reminisced about how he used to enjoy the band’s music during his high school and university years.

Trudeau said the band remains anchored in Canada in so many ways through their lyrics and music.

The Kingston show was the last in a 15-city concert tour. It’s expected to be the Hip’s final tour as Downie revealed earlier this year he is fighting terminal brain cancer.