“This is what Jake Eberts said, “We have so many good Canadian stories that we don’t tell.” That we’ve relied, perhaps, on the Hollywood narrative. His joy was doing things like Black Robe and Education of Little Tree, talking about the indigenous stories. He was a big proponent of that. Talk to your elders. They’re full of stories, find out. Curiosity’s important.

I think we have to be more curious with our investigations and our work. You don’t have to look far. Giving voice to just an everyday person, like I did with the Merciers in Griffintown, they’re like, “Us? Why us? We’re not special.” I said, “No, everybody has something to offer.” It’s up to the makers of these stories, the directors, the producers, and the writers to be true to those and to find the kernels in them that are the gems. We need those gems. We should be looking more locally.”