'We are not for sale': Canadian defiance and national pride colour 2025 Juno Awards
CBC
Three-time host Michael Bublé opened the 2025 Juno Awards with a statement that was both somewhat expected, and quite unlike anything heard at a Canadian awards show before.
"We are the greatest nation on Earth," he said of the country he had just finished describing as beautiful, expansive and unique. "And we are not for sale."
Stars-and-stripes level of patriotism isn't something typical for Canadian artists, let alone ones at a ceremony usually just fighting for a reason to exist alongside the Grammys.
But in the face of a spiraling trade war and grocery store maple leaf stickers, the Vancouver-set Junos seemingly got a much-needed injection of national pride that popped up as the night continued on.
In a lifetime achievement award acceptance speech by Team Canada jersey-wearing Anne Murray, she explained why she fought against relocating to the U.S. early on in her career.
"I knew instinctively that I needed a place to go, to escape when my work was done," she said. "Canada was my safe haven, my safety blanket, my light at the end of the tunnel. And it still is."
Canadian pride was also in producer Boi-1da's gracious thank you to Drake, after Boi-1da was presented with an international achievement award.
He was seemingly undaunted about coming out in Drake's corner despite the rapper's extended rap feud with Kendrick Lamar, who penned the anthem Not Like Us about the Canadian star's seeming distance from American Black culture.
"The greatest rapper of all time, the greatest artist of all time," he said onstage of his frequent collaborator. "And he's from Canada. Drizzy Drake, that's my brother."
When asked if he was in any way nervous to pick sides in a beef that has roped in everyone from Rick Ross to DeMar DeRozan to Serena Williams, he said the thought hadn't crossed his mind.
"That whole picking sides stuff is just on the internet, because when you go anywhere else in the actual world everybody listens to Drake," he said in the press room backstage.
As the show came to a close, seven-time nominee and Vancouver local bbno$ (pronounced "baby no money," he said, not "B.B. nos") grabbed his first career gold in the fan choice category. It was one of the biggest upsets of the ceremony's roughly 50 awards, as he beat out heavy hitters like the Weeknd, Shawn Mendes and Tate McRae.
After acknowledging the achievement and thanking his hometown, bbno$ had something else to end his speech with.
"Also, Elon Musk is a piece of garbage," he said. He was met with roaring applause.
