‘Beautiful cause': Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds donates to Oake foundation, asks others to join in
The longtime Winnipeg sports broadcaster shared an Ottawa stage with actor Ryan Reynolds on Canada Day as the two were among 88 inducted into the Order of Canada.
The two spoke briefly about the Bruce Oake Recovery Centre, named after Oake's son, who struggled with addiction and died of an overdose at 25 in 2011, along with the planned Anne Oake Family Recovery Centre, named after his wife, who died in 2021 of an autoimmune liver disease at 65.
SPENCER COLBY / THE CANADIAN PRESS FILES
Scott Oake looks on as Ryan Reynolds chats with Deantha Rae Edmunds after she was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada in Ottawa on July 1.
Oake said the Vancouver actor made a donation to the Bruce and Anne Oake Memorial Foundation the day before the ceremony, and they spoke on the phone Monday about how he could offer further support.
On Tuesday morning, the Deadpool star sent along a video of him cracking jokes but also sharing an important message, calling Canada's drug crisis the 'single greatest peace time problem this country has ever faced' and commending Oake's commitment to fight it.
'I'm really proud to know Scott Oake, I think he's an incredible example of Canadian grit and determination and moving through grief in a way that has a positive outcome for other people,' he said in the video posted to Oake's social media.
'I think it's just a beautiful cause, and I'm proud to support the Bruce and Anne Oake foundation, and I hope you'll consider doing the same.'
Oake said Reynolds was well-informed on the work they were doing when they spoke, and they had discussed him creating a video to promote the foundation.
He described Reynolds as a 'generous, solid, down-to-earth guy.'
'This came in, and we were stunned … we couldn't believe it, he spent a lot of time shooting that, editing it,' he said. 'It was amazing.'
Oake was one of four Manitoba recipients of the Order of Canada announced in December, joining Free Press faith columnist John Longhurst, disability rights activist Oly Backstrom and veterinarian Ken Mould.
He joked that the honour and ensuing ceremony was 'enough to make you feel like a fraud.'
'I'm always kind of embarrassed when people are willing to heap credit on me and the family — we weren't innocent bystanders, put it that way, but it's a lot of people who have got Bruce Oake open and running the beautiful way it is, and will do the same for the Anne Oake Recovery Centre,' he said.
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Ryan Reynolds called Scott Oake 'an incredible example of Canadian grit and determination,' in the video posted to social media.
'That's why I like to say, this Order of Canada is for everyone in the recovery community.'
In April, the province announced it would invest $1.5 million into the creation of the Anne Oake centre, which will provide treatment for women struggling with addiction.
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Oake said the facility is 'well down the road in design' and they are in the process of completing the lease for the land near the Victoria Hospital.
The capital campaign for the project seeks to raise $25 million; $15 million has been raised so far.
The upcoming Hockey Night in Canada Gala is scheduled for Sept. 4 at the Metropolitan Entertainment Centre on Donald Street, with all proceeds going to the Anne Oake centre.
Guests will have the chance to win a 'major prize' donated by Reynolds.
malak.abas@freepress.mb.ca
Malak AbasReporter
Malak Abas is a city reporter at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg's North End, she led the campus paper at the University of Manitoba before joining the Free Press in 2020. Read more about Malak.
Every piece of reporting Malak produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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