Events at this location

The Accidental Canadian

Who: Dr. James Raffan

Tickets: $15/person

This year, 2025, marks the 50^th year in a row that writer and explorer James Raffan will have spent at least part of the year travelling, researching and learning in the Arctic.To celebrate this career milestone, James has written a one-man musical show he’s calling The Accidental Canadian, referring to the fact that his British parents flipped a coin after WWII to decide whether to emigrate to South Africa or Canada.That coin toss made James and his three sisters “accidental Canadians” and, since he was old enough to venture out on his own, James has been travelling to the most remote corners of the Arctic by every conceivable means—canoe, dogsled, icebreaker, floatplane, snowmobile and on foot—returning with stories that have found their way into books, films, radio documentaries, magazine articles, and countless presentations including his popular Storyfest series that, since 2010, has raised tens of thousands of dollars for community development through the Seeley’s Bay and Area Residents Association.

With overtones of the growing Elbows Up initiative, The Accidental Canadian is a light-hearted yet thought-provoking show for all ages with stories, images and songs animated with James’ trademark mix of humour and erudition.Adding to his usual mix of sounds and images, this presentation will feature several stories written into original songs that will be sprinkled throughout the show and performed live. .As with all of JR’s presentations, this show will take you to places you’ll likely never see and introduce audiences to people and voices they would likely never hear—all part of the incredible country that The Accidental Canadian has discovered in half a century of rambling and writing in the Great White North. James will charm you, inform you, make you laugh and cry, and perhaps help you get a new appreciation of Canada through his reflections on a lifetime of Arctic experience.

Dr. James Raffan is a cultural geographer and writer who has produced more than twenty books, including bestsellers like Fire in the Bones, Circling the Midnight Sun, Deep Waters, Bark, Skin & Cedar, Emperor of the North and Ice Walker. He has created documentaries on a variety of northern subjects and has written for film, radio and media outlets including National Geographic, Canadian Geographic, Up Here, The Walrus, The Globe and Mail as well as for CBC and The Discovery Channel. This work has been recognized with nominations and awards including the Queen’s Golden and Diamond Jubilee medals and Canada’s Meritorious Service Medal for his foundational work in bringing the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough, Ontario onto the national stage. James and his wife, Gail Simmons, live in the Rideau Lakes District of Eastern Ontario where they raised two daughters and continue to be active in as community volunteers.