Extraordinary Canadians

One a fatherless French Canadian settler, the other a Toronto blue blood: John Ralston Saul leads us through the exciting story of how these two unlikely allies united to bring us the democratic and non-violent Canada we know today.

Who is the real Pierre Elliott Trudeau? Join Nino Ricci as he weaves together the life of a man bred to lead a separatist Quebec, but who ultimately becomes the greatest voice for a united and egalitarian Canada.

The literary biography of Canada’s most loved satirical writer, this episode takes you to the Montreal of Mordecai Richler’s childhood, and reveals the truth behind this man of fiction, who universalizes the Canadian Jewish experience for all.

The creator of the most famous literary orphan in the world, Lucy Maud Montgomery’s life was not as rosy as her stories. Jane Urquhart combs through Montgomery’s diaries and novels to reveal the deep depression that plagued her throughout her life, and the strength of spirit that led her to create some of the most beloved characters of all time.

Andrew Cohen opens up the many lives of Lester B. Pearson to the viewer. Talented athlete, brilliant student, teacher, diplomat, and politician, this Liberal leader and Prime Minister of Canada saved the world during the Suez Crisis, was an unstoppable man of action and a true Canadian.

From humble prairie farm girl to winning women’s right to vote, McClung’s whirlwind career as women’s suffrage and temperance activist set her place as one of the most important women in Canadian history. Charlotte Gray tells the story of this funny, frank, and charismatic woman, through victories and family struggles to attain the rights of personhood for all Canadian women.

A brilliant entrepreneur and self-made millionaire, the great merger manipulator Max Aitken had a life of great success and bitter disappointments. David Adams Richards tells the story of one of the most powerful men of the 20th century, from his humble beginnings in small-town Ontario, to his becoming a lord and politician in the U.K.

Margaret MacMillan shows us the other side of Canada’s first funny man. World-famous satirist and professor of Political Economy Stephen Leacock is a keen commentator on human nature. The first true champion of Canada, he showed us how to be proud of being Canadian.

A tragedy viewed rather as a triumph of will. Rudy Wiebe tells the story of one of the greatest leaders Canada has ever known. Non-violent, a believer in discussion and diplomacy, Big Bear (Mistahi-maskwa) is the earliest forerunner of the traits Canadians today pride themselves on.

Join Lewis DeSoto as he travels through the life of Emily Carr and her beloved landscape of British Colombia. From childhood talent through struggles for acceptance in a male-dominated art world, Carr’s drive to paint, and her unique vision shine through these works, and her life story.

From working to revolutionize health care in Canada, to saving thousands of lives in the revolutions of Spain and China, Bethune’s life is devoted to a single purpose: socialized medicine. Adrienne Clarkson looks at the life of this great man, shedding light on his remarkable humanism, and the battles he fights until his dying days.

Genius, enigma, hypochondriac: a life shrouded in mystery. Mark Kingwell shows how rock star of classical music Glenn Gould was in fact a great philosopher and innovator, and in this intimate portrait, Kingwell looks beyond the eccentricities to the man behind the music.

Marshall McLuhan foresaw our technological future decades before the technology even existed, and predicted the myriad changes that technology would have on the way we communicate, live, and think. Writer and artist Douglas Coupland in and of himself the natural child of McLuhanism, explores the unique life of this extraordinary Canadian.

Wilfrid Laurier governed Canada at a pivotal time in our history and was the calm centre of many political storms. The first French Canadian Prime Minister, Laurier was the pioneer of Canadian nationalism, helping create peaceful co-existence between French and English Canadians through compromise and patience. André Pratt is a political writer, journalist, and federalist thinker; he brings Laurier’s forgotten ideas into focus and demonstrates how they laid the foundations for modern Canada.

Louis Riel shaped this country. But the myth of Riel and his fight for the Metis people would never have existed had it not been for his partner in arms Gabriel Dumont. For one tumultuous year Riel and Dumont fought a historic yet doomed battle, one that serves as a tragic reminder of what can go wrong when a government ignores the rights of its citizens. Award-winning novelist Joseph Boyden brings his a unique perspective to this great Canadian story.

As the founder and leader of the Party Quebecois, Rene Levesque made an instrumental contribution to the Quebec and Canadian identity: egalitarian, inclusive, and fair. Translator, political essayist, and author Daniel Poliquin, a great admirer of Levesque, while critical of some of his ideas, believes Levesque’s successes have made Quebec and Canada a better place.

Preacher, boxer, and devout social activist, Tommy Douglas is lauded for establishing many social programs that have come to define Canada, most notably the universal healthcare system. Vincent Lam brings his unique spin to the world of Tommy Douglas from the eyes of a medical doctor working within the system Tommy established.

Few athletes, even great ones, transcend their sport. Maurice Richard is one of them. Though uninterested in politics, he became a political figure who was instrumental in the reinvention of Quebec as a more modern and secular society. Though author Charles Foran has lived all over the world, he was reared on the Montreal Canadiens, and his time in Montreal only deepened his fascination for an eternal icon of the city: Maurice “Rocket” Richard.