The World Without Canada

[Ed Storey]

I should know better, but I got sucked into watching the three one-hour shows that were narrated by Dan Aykroyd and looked at what the world could potentially be like without Canada. The first two episodes covered our immense natural resources and how they help drive the world economy and production; and science and technology with all of the contributions Canadians have made in those fields. These overly melodramatic shows were not too bad and covered specific examples that any Canadian who went to school in the 1960s and 1970s would have known about. There were a few pieces of information in these first two shows that were new to me and it was easy to dismiss the silly re-enactments associated with some of the events. I was concerned though when I found out that the third episode would cover History and Heroes and my trepidations were confirmed when the 'old farcical factual nugget' concerning the peeing in handkerchiefs to stave off chlorine gas was one of the first 'events' discussed which apparently resulted in Canada being responsible for helping invent the gas mask. Of course Vimy Ridge was also covered with all of the typical nationalistic flag-waving associated with the centennial of the battle. The Second World War was glossed over in a similar fashion with the Battle of the Atlantic and the Canadian invention of Sonar starting the segment followed by the Commonwealth Air Training Plan, the writers seemed to forget it was actually called the BRITISH Commonwealth Air Training Plan, but why let facts ruin a good story. Of course the Normandy invasion followed by the liberation of the Netherlands rounded out the Canadian ground war. Lots of the usual hackneyed stock footage, much of it American, and I was surprised historian David O’Keefe was part of this series although he was only used for the military portions. In fact he was the only name I recognized as the commentary from notable Canadian experts (the website's words not mine) also included: data scientist and futurist, Juliette Powell; acclaimed sci-fi author, Robert J. Sawyer; and Merritt Turetsky, professor of ecology at Guelph University. No surprise that the Italian Campaign, or the Bombing Campaign was not mentioned.

Of course Canada is a nation of Peacekeepers so the concept of peacekeeping was discussed as were our liberal values of generosity and the welcoming of all to Canada. Fair enough I guess BUT of course no Canadian show that deals with the military is complete unless they totally screw something up. Of course figuring out uniforms and how they are actually worn is apparently totally beyond the media journalism majors who I suspect also minored in groundhog husbandry and produce these shows; so of course low and behold there were a couple of good ones in this third part. Check them out, I have attached screenshots here. I just shake my head in disbelief and kick myself for being sucked in to watching this programming as I know better. Three hours of watching History Channel crap I will never get back.

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