the Breakthrough Artist of the Year Award with musician Coleman Hell, Russell added "I don't know why, but she's hot, so who cares?" The following day, Joly declared that Peters' comments were not appropriate, indicating a need to ensure "that all our role models are supporting the importance of gender parity." Allan Reid, president of CARAS and the Juno Awards, issued an apology and distanced the Juno Awards organization from Peters' statements. Nominees and winners Category nominees were announced on 7 February 2017. Buffy Sainte-Marie is the 2017 recipient of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award. Randy Lennox is the year's recipient of the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award. Sarah McLachlan is the 2017 Canadian Music Hall of Fame inductee. The category for Aboriginal Album of the Year was renamed to Indigenous Music Album of the Year as of the 2017 awards. The first 34 awards were announced on 1 April 2017. People Albums Songs and recordings Other References 2017 music awards 2017 Music festivals in Ontario Culture of Ottawa 2017 in Canadian music