Where Is Canada’s New Diva?

Why has Canada yet to produce a new diva? 

This article is part of The G Spot, a weekly segment where criticista Gordistotle gives insight into the pop culture happenings of now through opinions or anecdotes on his life living in Toronto.

August 8th, 2024 | Written by Gordistotle

Collage by Sierra Madison | Left to right: Joni Mitchell, Nelly Furtado, Celion Dion, Tate Mcrae, Avril Lavigne

Canada has had an iron grip on popular music since the streaming era began. The (unholy) trinity of Drake, The Weeknd, and Justin Bieber have been at the forefront of popular music for the past 15 or so years, but none of their music is very fabulous, now is it? Ok, “Rich Baby Daddy” is my song, but that’s not what we’re talking about here.  

These men have been the faces of our country’s musical output, an output, that up until recently, was almost entirely dominated by female artists.  

Which begs the question: When will the pendulum swing back to women? When it does, will we finally be gifted with a new Canadian diva? 

What defines a diva? 

To me, a diva is anyone who really inspires me to transition, captures my admiration. I know, I know, loose definition. Let’s just say a diva can sing well, has a personality, and is most importantly, an over-the-top performer.  

By these metrics, Canada has had like... 1.5 divas in all of pop culture history. 

Celine Dion is our nation’s biggest musical export. She can sing, she’s sold records, and she’s captured the hearts of millions across the globe. However, she is distinctly Canadian, never branching out artistically compared to her vocal diva contemporaries. Celine stuck to the power ballads that made herself, and her counterparts, Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston successful in the first place. However, the latter two ended up delving into different genres like Pop and RnB that have since defined their careers. 

Instead of pioneering a new sound as we transitioned into the new millennium, Canadian artists have always opted to continue their already tried and true sound. While artists like Janet Jackson heavily leaned into futuristic sounds and aesthetics, Canada remained steadfast in its drabness. Nelly Furtado’s first two albums, Alanis Morrisette, Avril Lavigne’s debut, among others, all stayed within the realm of singer-songwriter. Not that any of those records are bad, it's just Canada has already exported many successful singer-songwriters over the years, most notably of course, Joni Mitchell.  

And you know what? I’m going to give it to Mrs Joni. That’s a diva. 

Why Are There So Few Canadian Divas?

It isn’t until Canadian artists sell out and work with American producers that they make some danceable pop music. ‘Loose’ and ‘The Best Damn Thing’ come to mind. I’m sure there are good Canadian producers out there, but why isn’t any of their danceable music being pushed onto us? CanCon exists. Let’s at least leverage it to give us some new good music, not Serena Ryder’s greatest hits until the end of time. 

Does Canada even want a new diva? Why don’t we as a nation crave the glitz and glamour? Why is it that we have an appetite for American divas but can’t produce one of our own to stand toe-to-toe? 

The nation hasn’t birthed a diva in over four decades. If you want to count Shania Twain, which I’m not sure if I do, then it’s been only three. Still way too long. 

This brings us to the modern day. There are slim pickings for the new crop of Canadian pop girls that challenge for Gordistotle’s Diva Stamp of Approval™. You want to make it into the next edition of Gord’s Guide to Divas, don’t you? 

While tracing tax documents to see how the government handles the nation’s earnings, I stumbled upon the Alberta files on the CRA website. Hidden amongst a bunch of tax legislation jargon there’s an “artist fund” named the “McRae Initiative”. I traced the numbers and discovered it was entirely funded by the oil industry. Here’s a link to it if you want further reading.

Tate McRae is a promising young girl from Calgary that I can only assume the Canadian government is spending more to promote than it has on the entire transit infrastructure budget. It’s as if the Canadian Heritage Minister picked her out of a hat to dump millions of taxpayer dollars into. I mean, it worked. “greedy” was one of the biggest songs last year and she’s currently on a world tour spreading that good Canadiana gospel. But is it fabulous? She’s wearing hockey gear and has a balayage. I’m not so sure. 

Tate McRae at the 2023 Billboard Music Awards at Culver Studios in Culver City, California | Virisa Yong

Why am I talking about Canadian Divas? 

As a pop music fanatic, it pains me to know my home country doesn’t feel the need to feed my passions. I want to root for someone from my own turf! 

This idea came to me while I was scrolling through Twitter, as I normally do, and saw this video of Geri Halliwell performing “Bag It Up” at the 2000 Brit Awards. I thought to myself “Oh my god, why don’t we have anything remotely as fun as this?” 

The UK lovessss camp, that goes without saying. Why can’t we take inspiration from our colonial proprietor? 

Canadian Content Laws 

Canada has strong media content laws, on radio there’s an “MAPL System”. To be considered Canadian content, the music must contain two of the following: 

• Music - Must be composed entirely by a Canadian 

• Artist - Must be performed mostly by a Canadian 

• Performance - Must be performed wholly in Canada/Recorded in Canada 

• Lyrics - Must be written entirely by a Canadian 

Artists that meet the above conditions get a huge boost on Canadian radio. This is because Canadian content is 40% of the music played on Canadian radios as per the CanCon laws. 

 So, if the country really is dumping all this money into Canadian content, can we at least make it fabulous? All love to Anjulie and Fefe Dobson, but come on, these artists are never truly destined to leave Canada. Let’s use the CanCon laws as a way to give new artists a push like they did with Tate McRae (but this time maybe to someone who can sing… oops.). 

Collage by Sierra Madison | Left to right: The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Drake

My Dream Canadian Diva 

It’s hard to have high expectations for Canada. Our country’s music has never really wowed me. 

The criteria are as follows: my dream Canadian diva creates good music, is a great singer, has a distinctive image, good music videos, and most importantly, has the personality to back it. That’s not too tall of an order, right? Bonus if she can dance too, but maybe that’s asking too much. 

As the years go on and Canada’s relevance within the divasphere continues to wane, I can’t help but wonder if we’ll see someone with as much talent as Celine Dion ever again. Help me Sony Music Entertainment Canada, you’re my only hope.