RECOVERING OUR HONOUR is a four-part documentary series that asks how we can bridge the growing divide between civil society and the military. Filmed in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., this thought-provoking series airs in ichannel’s prime time idocs slot the week of April 8. Here’s the official announcement:
During the Canadian combat mission in Afghanistan, people of all ages would line Ontario’s famed Highway of Heroes to pay respect as convoys passed carrying the bodies of fallen soldiers. It was a powerful symbol of the bond between ordinary Canadians and our men and women in uniform.
But are symbols enough? Has our military, in fact, grown estranged from the very society it protects?
RECOVERING OUR HONOUR: Building The Bond Between Citizens And Soldiers is a four-part documentary series that considers the state of civil-military relations today in Canada, the U.S. and Great Britain. Why do we have a military? What is it for – and what is our responsibility, as citizens, to those who serve in the armed forces? Most important, how can we strengthen the ties between the military and civilian worlds?
Recovering Our Honour airs on ichannel from Monday April 8 to Thursday April 11 at 9 pm and Midnight ET. The series is hosted by Senator Pamela Wallin.
Monday April 8 – In The Beginning: Citizen Soldier At a time when the military is largely invisible in much of the country, the Canadian Forces reserves can act as a “positive footprint” for the armed forces in our communities and workplaces. This documentary examines the experiences of reservists – the part-time volunteers who have become the backbone of the Canadian armed forces.
Tuesday April 9 – Leadership Lost: No Country For Young Men Through much of the 20th century, Canadian universities hosted leadership and officer training for the country’s armed forces, helping to forge an important link between the military and civil society. Then, during the social upheaval of the 1960s, these university officer training programs were abolished. This documentary takes a look back at a lost tradition.
Wednesday April 10 – Leadership Found: For Queen & Country While officer training programs at Canadian universities are long defunct, the tradition continues in the U.K., where the Officer Training Corps provides teaching in leadership skills for hundreds of students each year. This documentary asks why the OTC is considered the best club on campus – and whether such a program could work in Canada today.
Thursday April 11 – Leadership Renewed: Bridging The Gap In the U.S., civil-military relations have reached a crisis point. Most Americans know little about their military, and few members of the country’s leadership class have any experience serving in uniform. The military, meanwhile, sees itself increasingly as a world apart. This documentary asks how the bond between U.S. citizens and soldiers became so badly frayed, and considers one hopeful sign of change: the re-emergence of the Reserve Officer Training Corps program, which was dropped by many Ivy League schools during the Vietnam era, but has lately been reinstated at elite institutions such as Harvard, Columbia and Yale.
CLICK HERE to visit the Bridging The Gap Web site.
Recovering Our Honour is the follow-up to the Gemini Award-nominated series A Question Of Honour, which examined Canada’s foreign and defence policies.
THIS WEEK ON #FAQMP: Liberal MP Mark Eyking (Sydney-Victoria)
Catch this week’s new episode online at faqmp.ichannel.ca: Thursday March 14 at 2 pm ET.
This week on ichannel’s flagship political affairs series #FAQMP, host Kevin O’Keefe (above, right) sits down with Liberal MP Mark Eyking, from the Cape Breton, Nova Scotia riding of Sydney-Victoria, to field questions from viewers. Here’s a quick overview from Associate Producer Patrick Hickey:
Mark Eyking sees a gloomy future for Canada’s unemployed. “The Conservatives probably want to get rid of EI altogether,” he says.
Eyking has been leading a charge against the Conservative government’s changes to the Employment Insurance system. Under new rules effective January 1, seasonal workers now face a tougher time qualifying for EI benefits. Eyking worries that these reforms will spell disaster for local economies dependent on seasonal labour.
Eligibility changes mean that frequent claimants will now be required to accept jobs up to one hour’s commute from home and at 30% less pay than their usual vocation. The Conservatives argue that these reforms encourage better utilization of Canada’s labour potential.
But for regions like Eyking’s riding, which rely on seasonal industries like fishing and tourism, stricter EI regulations will pull many off-season workers toward jobs elsewhere. Once gone, Eyking fears, many of these workers are unlikely to return. “When these people are starved out and driven out West, these industries will collapse,” he warns.
While supporters of reform, such as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, see the new rules as providing workers with better opportunities and greater stability, Eyking insists they do an injustice. “When hotel and fish plant workers in Cape Breton are laid off at the end of the season, it is not their fault. These employees and their employers have paid into the EI system and contribute greatly to our economy. Why is the Prime Minister calling them repeat offenders and destroying their livelihoods?”
For another take on the Mark Eyking interview from #FAQMP host – and proud Cape Breton native — Kevin O’Keefe, CLICK HERE.
#FAQMP streams online at faqmp.ichannel.ca on Thursdays at 2 pm ET. Viewers can take part in a live chat with the #FAQMP team during the online broadcast.
THIS WEEK ON #FAQMP: Conservative MP Rick Dykstra (St. Catharines)
Catch this week’s new episode online at faqmp.ichannel.ca: Thursday March 7 at 2 pm ET.
Conservative MP RICK DYKSTRA is Parliamentary Secretary to Minister of Citizenship & Immigration Jason Kenney. Among the topics of discussion on this week’s show: Bill C-43, which aims to protect Canada from foreign criminals. Here’s a quick overview from Associate Producer Patrick Hickey:
Conservative MP Rick Dykstra has a message for foreign-born criminals: You are not welcome in this country. “They make a mockery of our system. They make appeal after appeal after appeal. That is not going to happen anymore.”
Bill C-43 was first introduced by Citizenship & Immigration Minster Jason Kenney in June 2012 and has already passed its first two readings before the House of Commons “Canada is not a haven for criminals,” Dykstra told the House this past September. “We are going to make sure that the enforcements laid out in this piece of legislation are in fact finally put to rest and implemented.”
Among these new enforcements: a limitation on the appeals available to permanent residents who have been ordered deported due to criminal convictions. C-43 also seeks to prevent foreign criminals gaining entry to Canada via legitimate immigration. Under current rules, foreign nationals barred from Canada for serious criminality can apply to certain humanitarian programs within Citizenship & Immigration Canada to delay or prevent their removal from Canada. C-43 would eliminate these individuals’ access to such programs.
Critics have raised concerns that C-43 is too heavy handed. The Canadian Bar Association cautions that its ‘one-size-fits-all approach’ to denying deportation appeals doesn’t take into consideration an offender’s potential for rehabilitation or even the true seriousness of their crimes. Minor offences such as shoplifting or simple marijuana possession could fall within the scope of C-43.
The Harper government, however, has indicated that it will continue to move the bill forward. Says Dykstra: “At the end of the day it is a bill that makes sense and it is one that has the overwhelming support of Canadians.”
#FAQMP viewers also had questions for MP Rick Dykstra about immigrant and refugee healthcare – and, in particular, about cutbacks to the Interim Federal Health Plan (IFH), which provides health insurance for refugees and refugee claimants while they are waiting for their cases to be settled. For more on this issue from #FAQMP host Kevin O’Keefe (pictured above, right), CLICK HERE.
#FAQMP streams online at faqmp.ichannel.ca on Thursdays at 2 pm ET. Viewers can take part in a live chat with the #FAQMP team during the online broadcast.
We’re so proud of the team behind our original political affairs series #FAQMP: today we learned that they’ve been nominated for a Canadian Screen Award! Congratulations to the entire #FAQMP crew. Here’s the official ichannel news release with full details:
TORONTO, January 15, 2013: ichannel’s flagship political affairs series #FAQMP is among the first-ever nominees for the new Canadian Screen Awards.
The hour-long weekly program has earned a nomination in the category of Best Cross-Platform Project – Non-Fiction. This is the first time an ichannel original production has received an award nomination from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.
Launched in October 2011, #FAQMP (“Frequently Asked Questions for your Member of Parliament”) uses social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, along with its own interactive Web site (faqmp.ichannel.ca), to give viewers unprecedented control over the show’s content.
Canadians cast votes online to determine which Member of Parliament will be interviewed each week, and submit the questions that will be asked. A live chat during the broadcast allows viewers to give immediate feedback to the #FAQMP production team.
“#FAQMP is an innovative program that harnesses the power of social media to help bring ordinary Canadians closer to the country’s political decision-makers,” said Don Gaudet, Vice President of Programming for Toronto-based Stornoway Communications, which owns and operates the digital specialty service ichannel. “We’re tremendously proud of the #FAQMP production team, and delighted to see their efforts receive well-deserved industry recognition.”
Added #FAQMPSenior Producer Kevin O’Keefe: “We owe an enormous thanks to the many Canadians who have voted, submitted questions and taken part in our live chats. The enthusiastic participation of our online supporters has been integral to the success of the program.”
ichannel will broadcast episodes from the current season on Sunday nights, starting February 10, at 10 pm ET. New episodes of #FAQMP will be streamed online at faqmp.ichannel.ca on Thursdays, starting February 28, at 2 pm ET.
Season two of #FAQMP is produced with the assistance of the Canadian Media Fund.
Introduced in 2013 by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, the Canadian Screen Awards recognize excellence in film, television and digital media productions.
FUSION is the nation’s interactive station: a bold and innovative 21st century programming model designed to provide national, regional and local reflection. FUSION uses the latest digital technologies to engage youth and provide local reflection, with a strong emphasis on live interactive viewer participation from across the country and across multiple media platforms.
HELP US SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT FUSION! Click on the social media buttons at the bottom of this post to share with your social networks!
To learn more about the FUSION revolution, click on these links:
NEWS RELEASE: Communications innovator and woman of firsts Martha Fusca awarded Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal
TORONTO, November 15, 2012: Martha Fusca, a leader in the Canadian broadcast and production sectors, has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
Ms. Fusca was nominated by Senator Anne C. Cools to receive this honour in recognition of her “innovative contribution to Canada’s communications industry” and as “a woman of firsts.”
Ms. Fusca co-founded the television and film production company Stornoway Productions, and spearheaded the launch in 2000 of Stornoway Communications, which today owns and operates the specialty TV services ichannel, The Pet Network and bpm:tv.
Ms. Fusca also co-founded the Independent Broadcasters Group (IBG), an affiliation of independent pay, specialty and conventional television licensees. A leader in supporting women in the communications industry, she has served as President and Board member of the Toronto chapter of Women in Film and Television. She is also the recipient of the Entrepreneur Award from the Canadian Media Production Association and the Canadian Women in Communications Trailblazer award.
In keeping with her pioneering spirit, Ms. Fusca is currently leading Stornoway’s newest venture: FUSION, an application for a specialty digital licence under a 9(i)(h) order.
The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal was created to commemorate the 2012 celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the Throne as Queen of Canada.
The medal is being presented, throughout the year, to deserving Canadians to celebrate significant contributions and achievements, and to recognize those who, like Her Majesty The Queen, have dedicated themselves to serving their fellow citizens, their community and their country.
ichannel honours Remembrance Day with a special broadcast of the documentary PORTRAITS OF WAR. The hour-long film from Toronto’s Stornoway Productions airs Sunday November 11 at 1 pm & 7 pm ET. See below for details.
PORTRAITS OF WAR: A One-Hour Documentary Special
They were hell-bent on serving their countries during the WWII. Young men on a quest for “glory” and “adventure” caught up in the idealism of a most noble cause. Yet their pursuit would leave them forever changed – one through international fame, the other through private reflection. While their experiences followed very similar paths, they never met – until now, in front of our cameras.
This is a story told by two men – internationally acclaimed artist, Alex Colville, and funeral director-turned-photographer, Harold Morden. Through their respective paintings and photographs, both created images that captured the nightmarish truth that is war. And both, while witnessing the veneer of civilization shatter before their eyes, would have their notions of humanity eternally altered.
By 1944 the civilian lives of Colville and Morden bore a similarity. Each in his early 20s, had volunteered for military service, but had been turned down. Alex Colville had been deemed unfit for officer training and Harold Morden, a devoted photographer, was twice rejected by the Royal Canadian Air Force. He was colour blind. Who knew?
Unrelenting, they waited, they finagled, and in 1944 they each got their wish to serve their country; they were shipped overseas just as the Allies turned the tides of World War II on the beaches of Normandy.
As a war artist, Colville studied its heroes and victims, sometimes committing war’s absurd banality to canvas. Assigned to a combat medical evacuation unit, Morden spent 18 months just behind the front line, skirting enemy fire while transporting 60,000 injured souls to safety. He also recorded his unit’s history with strikingly candid photographs.
In April 1945, with the Allied Victory in Europe in sight, Morden and Colville’s lives crossed at perhaps the darkest time and place in living memory — the Bergen Belsen Death Camp. They were amongst a handful of Canadians who actually saw the camp on the day of its liberation. Colville was there to paint, Morden to help evacuate the weakened survivors among the literally tens of thousands of dead left by the retreating Germans.
Portraits of War shares the saga of two Canadians, their reactions to war and death, and how, in the aftermath of witnessing one of the most evil episodes in human history, their future works would be defined by escaping its trauma.
What was the hottest drink on the menu at Saturday’s Friends for Life gala, you ask? A martini … shaken, not stirred (of course). Had I known beforehand that the FFL gathering had a James Bond theme this year, I would have chosen to wear the finest tuxedo from my extensive collection. But alas, a shirt and tie would have to do.
If there was one thing this benefit did not lack, was style, and lots of it. The room was crammed with beautiful people, all dressed to impress. It’s not hard to convince people to pose for a photo when everyone looks that good.
Partying is always fun, but partying for a great cause is better. The Friends for Life Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the fight against cystic fibrosis and childhood cancer. There were some powerful and touching speeches, and it was gratifying to know that, through this annual event, FFL raises money that helps to fund research and make the lives of those living with CF and cancer more comfortable.
Next year, I’ll be sure to check on the theme of this party ahead of time, so I can keep pace with this all too stylish crowd. I may still order the martini, though. Does shaken really taste different from stirred?
Check out the iNEWS video clips from the gala below and on our YouTube channel.
In honour of Aboriginal History Month, ichannel is highlighting a series of one-hour @issue specials, hosted by Karyn Pugliese, that examine social justice issues, unique challenges and success stories from Aboriginal communities across Canada. You can watch the latest of these, “First Nations Business,” below.
First Nations Business. First Nations communities in Canada are often portrayed as places of unemployment, poverty and despair. But many have defied the odds, developing thriving economies through band-run businesses, partnership ventures and aggressive entrepreneurship. According to the Canadian Council on Aboriginal Business, First Nations are spawning entrepreneurs at five times the rate of the rest of the population. In this edition of @issue, host Karyn Pugliese finds out why Aboriginal businesses are booming.
Photographer Pia Ferrari joined Kalen and the iNEWS team last Thursday at Maro in Toronto’s Liberty Village for The Sinai Soiree, an luxurious lingerie fashion show sponsored by Cosabella and ResultWear to raise funds for women’s health and cancer research at Mount Sinai Hospital. The extravaganza was organized by Future Sinai, a community of young philanthropists and volunteer leaders working to advance, promote and fundraise for Mount Sinai.
Check out the iNEWS video clips from the show below and on our YouTube channel.
