Award winning Canadian singers and songwriters come together nationally for the Saying Goodbye concert held in honour of National Grief and Bereavement Day   

Hosted by Tara Shannon, talent performing includes Johnny Reid, Gregory Charles, John McDermott, Michelle Wright, Fred Penner, Jenn Grant, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Ray Legere and many more.                     

 Saying Goodbye is a national concert on November 14 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. EST with performers from across each province and territory, held in honour and awareness of National Grief and Bereavement Day on November 16, 2021. The national virtual live stream can be found at Sayinggoodbyeconcert.ca. Saying Goodbye is hosted by the National Arts Centre (NAC) and presented by the Canadian Hospice and Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) in partnership with all provincial palliative care associations across Canada.

Tickets to the concert are free, donations are appreciated. Proceeds will be shared between the CHPCA and the appropriate provincial palliative care association. The 2nd annual event will feature various Canadian artists from across each province and territory, including notable talent like Johnny Reid, Gregory Charles, John McDermott, Michelle Wright, Fred Penner, Shari Ulrich, Jenn Grant, Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Ray Legere, Tara Shannon and many more.

Saying Goodbye will provide a time and place to grieve for loved ones lost during COVID-19 as the pandemic prevented many from engaging in the usual process of letting go. The goal is to help normalize conversation around the dying process and recognize grief and bereavement as a natural response to loss.

“There is never a ‘good’ time to lose a loved one. The Saying Goodbye concert has the potential to create really great awareness around grief and bereavement as we experienced it as never before during this difficult time of social isolation,” says Laurel Gillespie, CEO of the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association.

 
List of all talent performing 

• Johnny Reid, platinum selling, multi Juno and CCMA winning recording artist
• Gregory Charles, recipient of the Order of Canada, award winning recording artist and musician
• John McDermott, Grammy-nominated artist
• Michelle Wright, Juno Award, Academy of Country Music Award-winning artist, and Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame inductee
• Fred Penner, four-time Juno Award winning music performer
• Jenn Grant, three-time Juno nominee songwriter and performer
• Carolyn Dawn Johnson, ACMA, AMA, and multiple Juno and CCMA Award winning singer-songwriter
• Ray Legere, New Brunswick Country Music Hall Of Fame inductee and ECMA winning musician
• Shari Ulrich, Juno Award winning artist
• Catherine MacLellan, Juno Award winner and 2021 East Coast Music Award winner for Songwriter of the Year
• Theo Tams, Canadian Radio Music Award and Gemini nominated singer/songwriter
• Don Amero, three-time Juno nominated artist and activist
• Eileen Laverty, Prairie Music Award winning singer-songwriter
• Mikhail Laxton, singer-songwriter, contestant on Australia’s The Voice
• Jessica Pearson and East Wind, Folk Music Ontario Award recipient
• Yvan Petit, Franco-Ontarian singer-songwriter
• NARA, recording artist from the NWT
• The Swindlers, Montreal-based Celtic-Folk-Acoustic band
• Tara Shannon, award winning recording artist

Saying Goodbye Campaign

During the COVID-19 pandemic, there were very stringent restrictions on end-of-life visitations which resulted in many people not being able to say goodbye to their loved ones. In reaction to this, the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) and the CHPCA Champion’s Council announced the launch of the “Saying Goodbye” campaign in the spring of 2020. This campaign called on health authorities to implement a more compassionate approach to end-of-life visitations across Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many people were also unable to have funerals or celebration of life events during the period of social distancing and isolation, which can have a profound effect on the grieving process. Saying Goodbye acknowledges the grief of those who have lost a loved one and are experiencing grief, specifically those affected by loss during the quarantine period of the COVID-19 pandemic. The message also applies to anyone dealing with grief and bereavement.

About the Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA)

The Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association (CHPCA) is the national voice for hospice palliative care in Canada. It is a bilingual, national and charitable non-profit association whose mission is the pursuit of excellence in care for persons approaching death so that the burdens of suffering, loneliness, and grief are lessened. CHPCA works in close partnership with other national organizations and will continue to move forward with the goal of ensuring that all Canadians, regardless of where they may live, have equal access to quality hospice palliative care services for themselves and their family.

CHPCA comprises over 3,000 associates, both individuals (professionals, caregivers, and volunteers) and hospice palliative care programs and services from every province and territory. CHPCA represents more than 580 hospice palliative care programs or services in Canada who employ tens-of-thousands of paid and volunteer staff working in home care programs, nursing homes, free-standing hospices, long-term care centres, and hospitals. The voluntary Board of Directors is made up of representation from each of the 10 provincial hospice palliative care associations as well as five at-large positions chpca.ca.