Longtime Métis radio host, country singer, gets ready to retire

A longtime radio host whose voice has connected Métis citizens across Manitoba is getting set to retire from the airwaves.

"I've made so many good friends," said Ray St. Germain, co-host of Native Communications Inc.'s (NCI) popular call-in show Métis Hour x2. 

St. Germain, 82, is Métis from St. Vital, Man., and has been hosting the call-in show from Winnipeg for the last 23 years. 

The two-hour show, which starts on Saturdays at 11 a.m., features a diverse selection of Métis music, curated by St. Germain, a live update with Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand, and phone calls from Métis citizens who tune into the show.

"It gives them a chance to say hi to everybody because it's broadcast all over… [including] the Internet," said St. Germain.

"So, you know, they call up and say hi to their relatives in Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto."

St. Germain is a well-respected country music singer and songwriter who has performed alongside the likes of Johnny Cash and Kenny Rogers and was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2010.

His radio career started in 1957 and the station manager at NCI, Dave McLeod, said he is a trailblazer for people in Manitoba's music industry. 

"Ray St. Germain is an original. A true original. Irreplaceable," said McLeod, who is Anishinaabe from Pine Creek First Nation.

"He's made unique bonds and unique friendships with a lot of people in the Manitoba music industry and I think his career shows what is possible, because he made a decision to stay in Manitoba."

Juno-nominated country music singer Desiree Dorion first met St. Germain when they performed together at the 2002 North American Indigenous Games in Winnipeg.

"Every time I'm around him or every time I listen to him on the radio, you just feel like he's letting you into his living room," said Dorion.

"Ray's retirement really does allow him to see the impact that he's had on on the Indigenous music community and that we have an opportunity just to tell him how much he's loved and and revered in the community."

In the meantime, NCI will look for someone to fill the hosting chair, and St. Germain will soon have enough time to travel and visit his children and grandchildren.