Amazing Race Canada competitors include three First Nations members

Crystal St. Pierre,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Amazing Race Canada is midway through the series but the competition isn’t slowing down.

The CTV series started with 11 teams including two with Indigenous participants.

Former pro basketball player Michael Linklater and his son Amari, members of Thunderchild First Nation in Saskatchewan, are the first Indigenous father/son duo to compete in the race.

The Linklater duo also share the excitement of representing their Indigenous ancestry and heritage on screen.

Taylor McPherson, a member of Miawpukek First Nation in Newfoundland and Labrador is also excited to not only compete but to have the opportunity to have a cultural presence on screen. She is paired with Katie Mulkay who is a strong supporter and friend.

“I feel that you know Indigenous representation on TV is obviously really important,” McPherson said. “We’re starting to see it more and more now. But growing up, I didn’t really see a lot of Indigenous people on TV and for me that made it really hard for me to learn how to connect to my culture, to my community, because I was raised in a very westernized culture. “As somebody who’s also working in that field, I work with Indigenous youth and families with community programming, so for me it means a lot to be able to represent my community.”

McPherson is an Indigenous sports program co-ordinator. In her role she tackles crucial issues impacting Indigenous communities and addresses concerns about education and health disparities. She is keen on cultural preservation and self-empowerment through sport.

The series is midway through the 10th season that started at Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ont. Season 1 of the series also began at that location back in 2013.

Teams are competing for a $250,000 cash grand prize. Members of the winning team will also receive two first-ever 2024 Chevrolet Equinox EV RS vehicles, and a round-the-world trip-of-a-lifetime for two courtesy of Expedia.

During each episode teams are eliminated until the final leg. The first team to cross the finish line wins the grand prize and the title of The Amazing Race Canada champions.

Other teams in this year’s series include former professional baseball players, ex-NHL players, Canadian reality TV stars, YouTubers, wrestlers and personal trainers.

Jon Montgomery, who won the gold medal in the men’s skeleton event at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, hosts the show.

“Teams are chosen from a national casting call where aspiring racers apply as a team of two,” said Mark Lysakowski, the show’s executive producer and showrunner. “We look for teams with a pre-existing relationship as that is really what our audience wants to see; is how people that know each other manage the challenges and the travel of the race.”

Lysakowski added communication is a very important component of the race.

“Teams that know how to communicate with each other and solve problems tend to do well,” he said. “Granted that isn’t the only thing that can help them as there is a certain amount of luck involved, just as in life.”

Producers have noticed a key element in previous seasons is how siblings tend to do well in the race, which they believe is because of their long-standing relationship and the substantial amount of time they have spent together.

Some of these same elements are found in the two Indigenous teams.

“The father son bond of Michael and Amari is not something we see very often and it’s an important relationship to showcase to a national audience,” Lysakowski said. “Also, the wonderful energy and joy that the two bring to challenges and the race is wonderful, something is very special in their relationship that sparked on screen when we met them.”

Being both athletic and travellers, Michael explained, once Amari turned 19 this year they jumped on the opportunity to apply to compete in the Race.

“I thought it would be a great idea for both of us to have that opportunity to compete together while travelling because we have a bit of experience; both playing basketball, travelling and competing, so we thought this would be a fun opportunity for us,” the elder Linklater said. “I thought (Amari) would be a great teammate for this because he is fearless. He is hilarious. He always finds the joy in things and you will rarely catch him without a smile on his face.”

It was also important for the two to represent the Indigenous community and to show their strong relationship despite Amari growing up with his parents in separate households.

“Well, what’s really important, is of course representation and we say it, especially for those of us who are underrepresented in a lot of the mainstream media,” Michael said, adding he believes the duo’s story is inspiring and impactful for many other families who are watching. “Also coming from, we’re very open about it, but from, whether you want to call it a broken home or a split family, it’s also something I think people can relate to but, also to show how successful you can still become even going through some of those adversities within your life.”

A common thread between all the teams is the ability to keep a positive attitude while facing the challenges set out during the race.

“Taylor and Katie bring a wonderful youthful energy to the race and they approach the world with joy and wonder,” Lysakowski said. “Also, it’s rare to find two best friend racers that have such a great way of speaking and are such role models in their community.”

The 24-year-olds met during their time on the University of Alberta Pandas’ wrestling team.

“We kind of became friends and came really close from being on the team,” Mulkay said. “We wrestled together, we travelled together and we just became really, really strong friends and we’ve been friends ever since.”

To get ready for the show the two women knew they would not only be physically challenged but also mentally and would need to learn how to strategize together during the game.

This led them to develop some very unique training sessions.

“We were also doing things like going to escape rooms to just challenge our brains under pressure and make sure that we had some sort of way to solve problems within a short amount of time,” Mulkay added.

Another key aspect of the team’s enthusiasm is the opportunity for McPherson to showcase her Indigenous roots on screen.

Throughout the show the two wear beaded earrings, and other clothing from an Indigenous clothing brand they support in an effort to represent McPherson’s heritage.

The series airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT (8 p.m. CT) on CTV, CTV.ca and the CTV app.

Crystal St. Pierre,
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Windspeaker.com