Sometimes you can excuse selfishness.

When it comes to the last cold beer in the fridge, for example.

Or when you're a Canadian band and you've spent the past decade-and-a-half of your existence touring this godforsaken land in the dead of winter.

Especially then, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida thinks, is it OK to think about your own self interests.

"Touring Canada in spring is unbelievable," a sunny Maida says from Vancouver.

To make sure it happened, OLP had to spend the five months since the release of its latest CD, Healthy In Paranoid Times, touring south of the border.

That tour in itself led to another slight bit of selfishness on the part of the band -- the decision to play smaller theatres, such as the Jubilee tomorrow night, instead of the usual hockey barns.

"Just doing that for four or five months in the US -- the sound is so good like that," Maida says.

"And for us, this new record is one of those things where there are a lot of little guitar parts happening all over the place and little textures -- and we want to hear that stuff.

"It sounds weird and selfish, but I think people respect that more."

Another thing people respect about Maida is his decidedly unselfish acts when it comes to offering his name and time to causes he cares about.

The latest is his involvement in the Canadian Music Creators Coalition, a group of artists, such as Barenaked Ladies, Avril Lavigne and Sarah McLachlan, as well as smaller labels, who are attempting to have a say in policies such as copyright law, digital music and Canadian cultural decisions.

"Going through the whole major label cycle -- we were one of those bands that signed a record deal in the early '90s and we're pretty much almost clear of our deal -- and looking towards the future and seeing where music's going right now, it's in this incredibly exciting place," Maida says. "That's the way I see it.

"But some things need to catch up and change...

"I think you're going to find that the major labels are not speaking on behalf of the artists anymore and the coalition is going to make sure the artists -- which are the people that make the songs and drive the business -- have a voice."