Canadians respond to the postponement of Canada Reads

On March 13, 2020, the CBC announced that the 2020 season of Canada Reads was postponed until further notice due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an earlier post, we discussed the changes the CBC made to Canada Reads programming during the pandemic. Although Canada Reads 2020 has since been rescheduled for July 20-23, many Canadians responded in the intervening weeks to the decision to postpone Canada Reads 2020 on social media. Here are some of the highlights.

In the CBC’s Canada Reads Facebook group, many users asked if the show was still postponed and when the show would be rescheduled. For example, on April 21, Facebook user Caroline Stojanovski posed this question in the Canada Reads Facebook group: “Is the show Canada Reads still postponed?”

Caroline’s response to her own question, “I would love it if they did a zoom show!” and Sarah-Joy Kallos’s response, “This is exactly what Canadians need right now on the distraction front!” suggest that some Canadians prioritize the experience of Canada Reads over the format (in-studio audience). Sarah-Joy Kallos’s response also characterizes the Canada Reads program as an escape from the realities of everyday life—a distraction from, presumably, the COVID-19 pandemic.

These sentiments were also shared by some users on Twitter in response to the CBC’s postponement announcement. Twitter user @Inukshuk’s commented that if the program was hosted remotely, the CBC could take advantage of the potential boredom of Canadians during quarantine.

Interestingly, @Inukshuk’s post focuses on how Canada Reads could fulfill one of its mandates—promoting Canadian literature and literacy—to an even greater degree because of the ongoing pandemic.

Twitter user @DDKBRE also commented that the program would lend itself well to a remote format and added that it would provide Canadians with “something wonderful to look forward to, even if for a week.”

Likewise, user @annettelabonne asked whether the program could be run through Skype as a way to “get through” the pandemic; @TommyNomad shared similar sentiments and claimed that the program could bring joy to Canadians.

These responses that frame Canada Reads as an escape from COVID-19 are particularly interesting because they run counter to the typical Canada Reads narrative and brand. Specifically, Canada Reads is a program that uses books to address major social issues in Canada—equality, truth and reconciliation, immigration, addiction, and homelessness, to name a few. The program also serves a pedagogical function by reinforcing certain depictions of the nation and of Canadian Literature (Moss). These mandates are reflected in the annual themes: “One book to open your eyes,” “One book to move you,” or “One book to bring Canada into focus.”

The references to Canada Reads as an escape or distraction may be indicative of how the show has used the cultural capital of its celebrity defenders to transform a mass reading event into public entertainment (Fuller and Rehberg Sedo).

As Canada Reads 2020 approaches in late July, it will be interesting to see if participants continue to describe the program as a form of escape from COVID-19.

Fuller, Danielle and DeNel Rehberg Sedo. “A Reading Spectacle for the Nation: The CBC and “Canada Reads.”’ Journal of Canadian Studies/Revue d’études canadiennes 40.1 (2006): 5–36.

Moss, Laura. “Canada Reads.” Canadian Literature/Littérature canadienne: A Quarterly of Criticism and Review 182 (2004): 6–10.