Canada’s history is full of heroes and it behooves Canadians to be aware of the examples of courage, valour, enterprise, ingenuity, determination, sacrifice, and integrity that form their heritage, Peter Mansbridge told a University audience on December 3, 2004.
Mansbridge, the well-known and popular anchor of CBC’s The National, was invited to deliver the second annual Canada Post Lecture on campus. His topic was “Does the media reflect Canada’s history?”
Citing statistics on the number of books, Internet references and songs, Mansbridge concluded that Canadian history has indeed been well covered by media, especially in recent years.
The most effective medium to bring this subject to the forefront is television, he noted. But a Canadian history broadcast “will not bring in as many eyeballs as an American drama,” Mansbridge added.
“As long as we allow the marketplace to be the sole determinant of what gets on television, you won’t see much enthusiasm for telling our story. In the end, Canadians are going to have to look in the mirror for the solution.”
