What does one think of when confronted with the expression, “middle of nowhere”? The blustering back country of the Canadian north, maybe—or simply a solitary speck in the midst of black emptiness.
For Jann Arden, the Juno-award winning singer-songwriter, the middle of nowhere is Oshawa, Ont., population: 150,000 (at least). She made the comment to her 38,000 Twitter followers after she was booted off a Via Rail train for carrying her dog Midi with her in the passenger car. “Via Rail you guys suck…a four pound dog in a bag and you boot me off in the middle of nowhere?” Arden tweeted. She also told the rail company to “eat my bra,” complaining that she travels with her dog on airplanes all the time, and that she wasn’t aware that Via Rail only allows service dogs to sit with their owners in the passenger car.
In the wake of Arden’s comments, Oshawa Mayor John Henry (no known relation to the “steel driving” man of folk song fame) told the Toronto Sun that he’d like to invite the singer to visit his town. “She can put her dog in my car and I’ll drive her all around the city and show her the great things here,” said Henry, adding that Oshawa is the “automotive manufacturing centre of Canada.”
This morning, he told CTV that he has mailed the singer a formal invitation to come visit. Maybe she can write a song about it.