After his wife Daryl Hannah recently revealed that Neil Young's US citizenship process was repeatedly impeded by the Trump administration, the Canadian-born musician has endorsed Liberal candidate and current acting prime minister, Mark Carney, for this month's upcoming federal election.
In an open letter published to the NYA Times-Contrarian section of his Neil Young Archives website, Young expressed his support for Carney's campaign at this turbulent moment of US–Canada relations at the hands of the tyrannical Donald Trump, of whom the songwriter has long been a vocal critic.
"Canada is facing threats to its very existence, incredibly from people we thought were our friends," Young wrote. "They want our resources, they want our land, they want our fisheries, they want our water, they want our Arctic, maybe they want our souls. I know the US president could use a soul."
The artist continued, "I believe you are the person our country needs to lead us through this crazy situation and bring us out the other side as a stronger, smarter, more resilient Canada, our core values of caring and fairness and generosity intact, along with our souls. Without a doubt, you've got the chops to get it done. And man, you have got the guts to take it on."
Read Young's open letter to Carney in full below.
Dear Mr. Carney...
I am writing because I want to tell you how much I appreciate and support what you are trying to do for our great country, Canada.
Although I have lived in the United States for most of my life, and recently became a citizen of the USA, I am a Canadian and always will be. Now a dual citizen, I was born in Toronto, lived in the small town of Omemee, Ontario, endured polio when I was so young, I hardly understood what was happening to me and worried every day that I was going to die. It's a miracle I survived and my childhood continued. My parents were wonderful. They let me have chickens. They let me play my guitar. Our dinner conversations covered everything from world issues, to sports, to stuff that was just plain interesting. But life isn't perfect and our family split up. That's when I moved to Winnipeg with my mom and the course of my life became clear. I became a musician and played at high schools and community clubs throughout the wonderful province of Manitoba.
Like you, I've met a lot of people in my career, from many walks of life, some who were wonderful, a great help to me, and some who were just there for a while. At this stage of my life, I am thankful to all of them who showed up and joined me on my journey. And…. I am so grateful to have had the luxury of a spotlight to bring attention to important causes and try to lead the charge through my music for rights and fairness on behalf of the people. It was urgent for us all to speak truth to power.
So now, here we are again. Canada is facing threats to its very existence, incredibly from people we thought were our friends. They want our resources, they want our land, they want our fisheries, they want our water, they want our Arctic, maybe they want our souls. I know the US president could use a soul.
It takes more than bravado to fight this kind of a threat. It takes brains, deep economic knowledge of how the world works, it takes strong, intelligent strategies, and the ability to recognize and seize opportunities both at home and on the world stage, opportunities that can bring a new level of prosperity and safety to people…..people who right now may be paralyzed with fear as they look to the future of Canada and the world.
Mr. Carney, I believe you are the person to do it. I believe you are the person our country needs to lead us through this crazy situation and bring us out the other side as a stronger, smarter, more resilient Canada, our core values of caring and fairness and generosity intact, along with our souls. Without a doubt, you've got the chops to get it done. And man, you have got the guts to take it on.
It's a heavy lift for sure, Mr. Carney. But I, for one, am with you all the way.
PEACE,
…Neil Young