By ROB GRANATSTEIN -- Toronto Sun
He's never been to Saskatchewan or Nunavut. But he has proudly sewn his country's flag on his backpack and hit the road. By the end of Canada Day, Jeff Douglas -- better known as Joe the beer-drinking patriot ranter -- will finally have met Jimmy, Sally and Suzy ... and he's sure they'll be really nice.

As you read this, Douglas is in the midst of celebrating our country's birthday the best way he knows how, by performing The Rant from coast to coast.

"I'm totally psyched," said Douglas, 28, Molson's hugely popular beer pitchman and Canada's cheerleader. "For the Millennium Canada Day, it's the ultimate Canada Day.

"It truly is Canada in a day," he said yesterday at The Sun, just hours before leaving Pearson airport on a private jet.

Douglas started his eight-city tour across five time zones last night in Moncton, N.B., at 10:30 p.m. He was in St. John's, Nfld., shortly after midnight, flew to Ottawa for a 1:30 a.m. rant, then rested.

At 10 a.m. today he's addressing Parliament Hill celebrators, then flies to Toronto. He'll whup the crowd at Kew Gardens into a frenzy around 12:30 p.m. before hitting Edgefest at Molson Park in Barrie. After that it's Winnipeg, Edmonton, Victoria and a 12:05 a.m. rant in Vancouver. Douglas said one of the biggest benefits of performing The Rant live is he feels more Canadian every time.

Source: Canadian Heritage