The Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund Legacy Room is named after these two renowned Canadians who in their own very different ways bought attention to the unacceptable and inhumane treatment of the Indigenous people of Canada.

In 1966 at the age of 12, Chanie Wenjack escaped from residential school and attempted to walk 600km home. Tragically he never made it, but his attempt eventually gained national attention. Today his story is seen as a symbol of resistance against the residential school system.

In 2016, less than a year before his death from cancer, beloved Canadian musician Gord Downie wrote a concept album based on Wenjack's escape. The album was accompanied by a graphic novel on which he collaborated. Soon afterwards, Downie and his brother Mike, along with the Wenjack family, announced the founding of the Gord Downie and Chanie Wenjack Fund to support reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples. Gord Downie passed away during the C3 journey, and relatives of his came to the room.