Here’s a first look at YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE, the new ichannel original documentary by award-winning writer/director Kevin O’Keefe. Now in the production, the hour-long film is an eye-opening investigation into the struggle that many people face accessing health care in Canada.
YOUR MONEY OR YOUR LIFE is slated to make its world television premiere on ichannel in fall 2012.
ichannel, Canada’s political and social issues network, is feeling the love this Valentine’s, with documentary and movie specials that take a thought-provoking look at the nature of relationships and romance.
THE LADY SAYS NO
Sunday Feb. 12, 8 pm ET/PT
Handsome Life magazine photographer Bill Shelby (David Niven) arrives in picturesque Carmel, California to snap his latest subject, Dorinda Hatch (Joan Caulfield), author of The Lady Says No, a best-seller that warns women away from men. Deriding her proto-feminist tome as “spinster rubbish,” Shelby sets out to undermine Dorinda’s theories and awaken her romantic impulses. Frank Ross directed this lightweight but charming 1951 battle-of-the-sexes romp, which offers a revealing glimpse into the era’s sexual attitudes and mores.
PROJECT PASSION
Monday Feb. 13, 9 pm ET/PT
Can a failing relationship be saved? That’s the question 15 real-life couples will face, as they gather in the Arizona desert for an intensive series of workshops aimed at rekindling their love lives. This hour-long documentary by Trish Bush follows the couples as they open up – sometimes with shocking honesty – and confront the obstacles that can stand in the way of building happy, committed and fulfilling marriages.
THE FIVE LANGUAGES OF LOVE WITH DR. GARY CHAPMAN
Tuesday Feb. 14, 8 pm ET/PT
Gary Chapman is a relationship counselor and New York Times bestselling author. In this hour-long special, he explores his concept of the five love languages: a way of understanding and interpreting how different people express love. Knowing your partner’s love language, he says, improves communication in a relationship and can help renew and restore intimacy between couples.
SECRETS TO LOVE
Tuesday Feb. 14, 9 pm ET/PT
Filmmaker Tracie Donahue was an all-American girl who grew up fantasizing about an all-American marriage to the man of her dreams. And like many all-American marriages, hers ended in divorce. In this irreverent and witty documentary, Donahue embarks on a quest to understand why some couples manage to live happily ever after – and why so many others don’t.
Next week, ichannel presents holiday season sneak previews of two new weekly programs slated to premiere in 2012.
DECONSTRUCTING DINNER: Tuesday Dec. 27 & Friday Dec. 30, 8 pm ET/PT
Where does your food come from? Who produced it – and how? This documentary series traces the meals on our plates back to their origins, and reveals the far-reaching impact that food production has on everything from local economies to the global environment. What are we really paying for when we buy the ingredients for tonight’s dinner? And what role do we play in shaping the future of our food?
Deconstructing Dinner is hosted by Jon Steinman and produced by Declan O’Driscoll, who also produced ichannel’s award-winning 2010 documentary Milk War.
THE NEXT BIGGEST WINNER: Thursday Dec. 29 & Sunday Jan. 1, 7:30 pm ET
Playing the markets has never been riskier or more nerve-wracking. But there are still rich rewards to be had, for the investor who can find the next Apple or Google. The Next Biggest Winner is a resource for ordinary Canadians trying to understand the stock market and make savvy investment decisions. The half-hour show features in-depth interviews with top brass from emerging public companies jockeying to position themselves as the next big buy, and subjects their claims to a reality check by independent experts and analysts. With host Andra Enescu.
Just a reminder: ichannel is available to all Rogers digital customers in free preview until Wednesday, Jan. 4. You can find us on channel 197.
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney says the federal government’s proposed human smuggling legislation does not criminalize asylum seekers, and argues that Bill C-4 will deter smuggling networks from targeting Canada.
Mr. Kenney responds to viewer questions about this and other issues on the Monday, Dec. 19 edition of our flagship political affairs series #FAQMP, airing at 8 pm ET.
Introduced in June 2011, the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act (Bill C-4) would make human smugglers subject to stiffer penalties, including prison terms and fines.
However, human rights groups and civil libertarians have attacked provisions that would allow the government to detain groups of illegal migrants for up to a year – without opportunity for review or appeal, critics charge.
Mr. Kenney says these concerns are misplaced.
Immigration detention is not imprisonment, he tells #FAQMP host Karyn Pugliese. “It’s basically like a two or three star hotel with a fence around it.”
Detained asylum seekers will have their cases heard within three months, Mr. Kenney says, and legitimate refugees will be permitted to stay in Canada. “Virtually every liberal democracy … requires mandatory detention of all or most asylum claimants until their claim is decided,” he notes.
The issue of human smuggling arouses intense emotions, Mr. Kenney adds – particularly among the vast majority of new Canadians who have arrived in this country through legal channels. “When they see others pay up to $50,000 to a criminal gang to be smuggled into Canada … it undermines their sense of fairness.”
In the interview, Mr. Kenney also touts efforts now underway to eliminate some of the roadblocks that make it difficult for foreign-trained professionals to pursue their chosen careers in Canada.
The government, he says, will “in the near future” unveil a micro-credit loan program designed to help foreign-trained professionals pay for the additional education and training they may need to be able to practice in this country. Ottawa is also trying to encourage provincial law societies, colleges of physicians and other professional licensing bodies to “speed up and streamline” the process of credential recognition for new Canadians.
Launched in October 2011, #FAQMP is a television and Web-based political discussion series that harnesses the power of social media to hold federal politicians accountable.
Viewers can vote online to determine which Members of Parliament will be interviewed on the show, and can submit questions for them via the #FAQMP social media platforms and Web site (FAQMP.ichannel.ca). They can also watch the show online on Monday nights and participate in a live chat with the producers.
#FAQMP Links:
ichannel presents the original Canadian documentary LAURA’S ARK tonight and on Saturday Dec. 17 at 9 pm ET/PT. Here’s the writeup:
It started with a pig.
In 2003, small-town southern Ontario couple Laura and Barry Cameron received a notice from local municipal authorities ordering them to get rid of their pet pot-bellied pig Ophelia. It was time, they realized, to move – to find a home in the country where they would be free to welcome animals like Ophelia into their lives.
Today, Painted Rock Animal Farm & Sanctuary near Tottenham, Ontario is home to more than 100 orphaned, abused, abandoned and neglected animals. This extraordinary menagerie and the woman behind it, the soft-spoken but unstoppable Laura Cameron, together form the subject of the original new hour-long documentary Laura’s Ark.
Though Painted Rock takes in creatures of all kinds, the majority are farm animals: cattle, donkeys, horses, pigs, goats, sheep and llamas, along with an assortment of chickens and ducks. Laura’s uncanny bond with animals makes it almost impossible for her to turn away any bird or beast in need.
As this animal family has grown, so too has the cost of tending and feeding them – to tens of thousands of dollars a year. Supporters in the local community have stepped up to help raise funds and donate supplies. But much in the Camerons’ lives has been sacrificed for the benefit of the farm’s many hungry mouths. “The animals come first,” Laura says.
Caring for so many creatures – many with special needs — also exacts a considerable emotional toll. Given her intense connection to the animals, Laura often struggles to deal with the losses that are an inevitability of farm life. “I just think that I should be able to save everybody,” she says. “Unfortunately, with what we do here, they can’t all be saved.”
Still, for Laura Cameron and her husband, the rewards vastly outweigh the financial and emotional costs. Laura’s Ark captures many of the small joys and quiet moments at Painted Rock that help to make the unconventional life they have chosen worth living.
“I definitely prefer animals to people,” Laura says. “I do. I can admit that.”
Laura’s Ark was produced for ichannel and The Pet Network by Toronto-based MDF Productions. Patricia Fogliato directed and Mikey Lalonde produced. Peter Gentile is the executive producer.
For more information on Painted Rock Animal Farm & Sanctuary, CLICK HERE.
For more on ichannel’s documentary lineup, CLICK HERE.
Comedian Tevya Heller is an atheist searching for the Almighty in the new ichannel documentary series Oh My God!
“It kind of sucks being an atheist.”
That’s the conclusion young Montreal-born actor, comedian and producer Tevya Heller has reached. Raised in a devout Jewish household, he lost his religious faith as a teenager, Now, for all his material success, it feels like there’s a gaping, God-sized hole in his life. And in the new docu-series Oh My God!, he’s out to do something about that.
ichannel presents the world premiere of Oh My God! on Mondays, starting Dec. 5 at 8:30 pm ET/PT.
Produced for ichannel by Toronto-based Stornoway Productions, Oh My God! follows Heller on a quest to reconnect with his own vanished faith by learning to see the world through the eyes of believers. How? By embedding himself in the lives of young people from different Canadian faith communities – from Hindus to Muslims, Christians to Wiccans – and discovering firsthand how they experience God.
Oh My God! is an atheist’s eye-view of faith – but Heller takes pains to distance himself from the militant, religion-bashing school of atheism championed by the likes of Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins.
“I’m an atheist who wants God to exist,” says Heller, whose formative experiences include seven years of intensive Hebrew schooling. “I think belief is a gift, and that people of faith are lucky. There’s such a loneliness in being an atheist, because you’re not part of a community. So this show is really about an atheist’s search for a God he can believe in.”
Executive Producer Paul Kemp says Oh My God!’s spontaneity and humour set it apart from most shows that attempt to tackle religion. It’s not a series about what people believe, he explains, but what it feels like to believe – and how having belief informs and enriches people’s lives.
“It takes us deep inside communities that most of us wouldn’t otherwise have access to, and offers a pretty cool glimpse into worlds that viewers don’t often get to see,” he says.
FOLLOW TEVYA HELLER ON TWITTER
ichannel, Canada’s political and social issues network, honours the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers in wars past and present with a full day of special programming on Remembrance Day, Friday November 11.
Highlights:
DOCTORS AND NURSES AT WAR
11 am & 5 pm ET
In most armed forces, battlefield casualties are taken to hospital for surgery and treatment. But the British fly top doctors and paramedics straight out to the battlefield — taking the ER directly into war zones to save time and lives. This powerful three-part documentary series follows NHS trauma surgeons, paramedics and nurses who have volunteered to serve for three months with the British Armed Forces at Camp Bastion in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Though all are experienced trauma specialists, many are experiencing warfare for the first time. Doctors and Nurses at War affords the viewer a rare, unvarnished glimpse into the harsh realities of battlefield medicine, and offers a gripping account of medical professionals on the front lines of a 21st-century conflict fighting to save the lives of soldiers and civilians alike. Robert Lindsay narrates.
CANADIAN CORPS
2 pm, 8 pm & 11 pm ET
This epic two-part documentary draws upon rare archival footage and original historical research to recall one of the great untold stories of World War One: the decisive role of the famed Canadian Corps. During the final 100 days of the war, this legendary fighting unit spearheaded the Allied offensive, smashing through the supposedly impregnable Hindenburg Line and helping to pave the way to victory.
WAGING PEACE: CANADA IN AFGHANISTAN
10 pm & 1 am ET
This hour-long film follows independent Canadian “citizen journalist” Richard Fitoussi on a journey to Afghanistan’s war-torn southern frontier to learn why Canadian soldiers are dying on a mission that has sparked more controversy than any other military intervention in this country’s history. Embedded with the Canadian military, Fitoussi captures a rarely-seen glimpse of life on the front lines for Canadian soldiers and illustrates what’s at stake in this conflict – for the people of Afghanistan, and for the Canadian fighters who serve in our name.
More than a year after it premiered, the award-winning ichannel documentary MILK WAR continues to make waves. The hour-long film by Declan O’Driscoll and Kevin O’Keefe will have its latest public screening in Toronto on Thursday October 20. It’s a fundraiser on behalf of the Westend Food Co-op, presented in partnership with The Theatre Centre. Director Kevin O’Keefe and Associate Producer Richard Paradiso will be on hand, along with dairy farmer Michael Schmidt, whose battle for the right to distribute raw milk is the focus of the documentary.
The screening is at The Theatre Centre, 1087 Queen Street West, starting at 7:30 pm. CLICK HERE FOR ADVANCE TICKET SALES.
The new ichannel original documentary BAD HABITS: THE RETURN OF THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE, will have its broadcast premiere and its first official public screening in October. Check out the trailer below.
We’ll have more information and photos soon. For now, here’s a quick overview:
Say hello to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. Part social justice movement, part religious drag act, the Sisters have been doing good works, challenging intolerance and making many people apoplectic for more than 30 years.
After a 25-year absence, the Sisters are putting down new roots in Canada. And now, the glitter and glory of their outrageous life and times is the subject of an original ichannel documentary by award-winning writer/director Kevin O’Keefe.
BAD HABITS: THE RETURN OF THE SISTERS OF PERPETUAL INDULGENCE will have its world premiere public screening — a benefit for the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation — at The Royal theatre in Toronto (608 College Street) on Saturday October 15, starting at 6 pm ET.
Watch for the world television premiere on ichannel this fall!
Rick Salutin’s Toronto Star column on Jack Layton is one of the most thoughtful takes on the late Opposition leader’s life and career — far from uncritical, but insightful about what made Layton such a compelling figure:
Jack would surely have called himself a socialist … But I think it was this kind of battle for justice, especially on larger social issues, that drew him in. He seemed most at home speaking for those who lacked the levers of wealth or power. (The comfortable, of course, have a right to their rights. But they tend to be well-represented in the public realm.) He liked being a kind of tribune for the relatively powerless and voiceless; it meshed with his flair for attention and focus.
His concluding thoughts are worth quoting in full:
The real test of a life, it seems to me, is not what you are or what you do. It’s how you change and grow. Otherwise what’s the point of living a life, which occurs in time, rather than being a painting on the wall: something that’s done and finished and just sits there to be admired. I think there’s evidence he lived that kind of learning curve, increasingly so toward the end. His final letter, released Monday, shows an amazing warmth, hopefulness, even a luminosity. Illness and early death are nothing anyone would ask for but it would be typical of his optimism and positive bent to find whatever might be of value in them.
