Robert Harris - A Meeting of the School Trustees

''The Heritage Minutes'' is a series of sixty-second

short film A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...

s, each illustrating an important moment in

Canadian history The history of Canada covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Indians to North America thousands of years ago to the present day. Prior to European colonization, the lands encompassing present-day Canada were inhabited for millennia by ...

. The ''Minutes'' integrate Canadian history, folklore and myths into dramatic storylines. Like the

Canada Vignettes Canada Vignettes are a series of short films by the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), some of which aired on CBC Television and other Canadian broadcasters as interstitial programs. The vignettes became popular because of their cultural depicti ...

of the 1970s, the ''Minutes'' themselves have become a part of

Canadian culture The culture of Canada embodies the artistic, culinary, literary, humour, musical, political and social elements that are representative of Canadians. Throughout Canada's history, its culture has been influenced by European culture and traditi ...

and been the subject of academic studies as well as parody. The ''Minutes'' were first introduced on March 31, 1991, as part of a one-off history quiz show hosted by Wayne Rostad. Originally distributed to schools, they appeared frequently on Canadian television and in cinemas before feature films, and were later available online and on DVD. "Radio minutes" have also been made. From 1991 to 1995 fifty episodes were released. In 2012, new ''Minutes'' were produced in the lead-up to Canada's sesquicentennial (150th anniversary of

Canadian Confederation Canadian Confederation (french: Confédération canadienne, link=no) was the process by which three British North American provinces, the Province of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, were united into one federation called the Canada, Dom ...

) in 2017; these included themes in Canadian history, such as the

Canadian Indian residential school system In Canada, the Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by Christian churches. The school sy ...

Background

The thirteen original short films were broken up and run between shows on

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

and the

CTV Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned television network and is now a divis ...

. The continued broadcast of the ''Minutes'' and the production of new ones was pioneered by

Charles Bronfman Charles Bronfman, (born June 27, 1931) is a Canadian-American businessman and philanthropist and is a member of the Canadian Jewish Bronfman family. With an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion (as of 2021), Bronfman was ranked by ''Forbes'' ...

's CRB Foundation (subsequently

The Historica Dominion Institute Historica Canada is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to promoting the country's history and citizenship. All of its programs are offered bilingually and reach more than 28 million Canadians annually. A registered national charitabl ...

Canada Post Canada Post Corporation (french: Société canadienne des postes), trading as Canada Post (french: Postes Canada), is a Crown corporation that functions as the primary postal operator in Canada. Originally known as Royal Mail Canada (the opera ...

(with

Bell Canada Bell Canada (commonly referred to as Bell) is a Canadian telecommunications company headquartered at 1 Carrefour Alexander-Graham-Bell in the borough of Verdun in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is an ILEC (incumbent local exchange carrier) in t ...

being a later sponsor), Power Broadcasting (the broadcasting arm of the

Power Corporation of Canada Power Corporation of Canada () is a management and holding company that focuses on financial services in North America, Europe and Asia. Its core holdings are insurance, retirement, wealth management and investment management, including a portfol ...

), and the

National Film Board The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

. They were devised, developed, and largely narrated (as well as scripted) by noted Canadian broadcaster Patrick Watson, while the producer of the series was Robert Guy Scully. In 2009, "The Historica Foundation of Canada" merged with "The Dominion Institute" to become "The Historica-Dominion Institute," a national charitable organization. In September 2013, the organization changed its name to "Historica Canada". While the foundations have not paid networks to air ''Minutes'', in the early years they have paid to have them run in cinema theatres across the country. The

Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC; french: Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes, links=) is a public organization in Canada with mandate as a regulatory agency for broadcasti ...

(CRTC) has ruled that ''Heritage Minutes'' are an "on-going dramatic series"; each

vignette Vignette may refer to: * Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy * Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters * Vignette (literature), short, i ...

thus counts as ninety-seconds of a station's

Canadian content Canadian content (abbreviated CanCon, cancon or can-con; ) refers to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) requirements, derived from the Broadcasting Act of Canada, that radio and television broadcasters (inclu ...

requirements. Laura Secord warns Fitzgibbons, 1813

The first sets of ''Heritage Minutes'' were released in five segments between 1991 and 2000. A set of eight new ''Heritage Minutes'', covering military moments in Canadian history, were released in 2005. In 2012, two new ''Minutes'' were created on the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 (18 June 1812 – 17 February 1815) was fought by the United States of America and its indigenous allies against the United Kingdom and its allies in British North America, with limited participation by Spain in Florida. It bega ...

in anticipation of the war's bicentenary, and in 2014 two more ''Minutes'' were released on

John A. Macdonald Sir John Alexander Macdonald (January 10 or 11, 1815 – June 6, 1891) was the first prime minister of Canada, serving from 1867 to 1873 and from 1878 to 1891. The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, he had a political career that sp ...

and

George-Étienne Cartier Sir George-Étienne Cartier, 1st Baronet, (pronounced ; September 6, 1814May 20, 1873) was a Canadian statesman and Father of Confederation. The English spelling of the name—George, instead of Georges, the usual French spelling—is explained ...

that had been filmed in and around Toronto in September 2013. To honour the centenary of the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

two ''Minutes'' were released: one on the

Winnipeg Falcons The Winnipeg Falcons were a senior men's amateur ice hockey team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Winnipeg Falcons won the 1920 Allan Cup. That team went on to represent Canada in the Ice hockey at the 1920 Summer Olympics, 1920 Olympic games he ...

in 2014 and one on Canadian Nursing Sisters in early 2015. In September 2015, to commemorate the 35th anniversary of

Terry Fox Terrance Stanley Fox (July 28, 1958 June 28, 1981) was a Canadian athlete, humanitarian, and cancer research activist. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, he embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money ...

's run to conquer cancer, Historica released a "Minute" on Fox's inspirational run. February 2016 saw the release of a "Minute" on

Viola Desmond Viola Irene Desmond (July 6, 1914 – February 7, 1965) was a Canadian civil and women's rights activist and businesswoman of Black Nova Scotian descent. In 1946, she challenged racial segregation at a cinema in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia by refu ...

, a trailblazing black female entrepreneur from Halifax who spoke out against racial discrimination in Nova Scotia. On the 21st of June, 2016, the 20th anniversary of National Aboriginal Day,

Historica Canada Historica Canada is a Canadian charitable organization dedicated to promoting the country's history and citizenship. All of its programs are offered bilingually and reach more than 28 million Canadians annually. A registered national charitabl ...

released two new ''Minutes''. The first tells the story of Chanie "Charlie" Wenjack, whose death sparked the first inquest into the treatment of Indigenous children in Canadian residential schools. The second, Naskumituwin, highlights the making of

Treaty 9 ''Treaty No. 9'' (also known as ''The James Bay Treaty'') is a numbered treaty first signed in 1905-1906 between Anishinaabe (Algonquin and Ojibway) and Omushkegowuk Cree communities and the Canadian Crown, which includes both the governme ...

from the perspective of historical witness George Spence, an 18-year-old Cree hunter from Albany, James Bay. On October 19, 2016, Historica Canada released another Heritage Minute that shows a story about an Inuit artist named

Kenojuak Ashevak Kenojuak Ashevak, (Inuktitut: ᕿᓐᓄᐊᔪᐊᖅ ᐋᓯᕙᒃ, Qinnuajuaq Aasivak), (October 3, 1927 – January 8, 2013) is celebrated as a leading figure of modern Inuit art. Early life and family Kenojuak Ashevak was born in an igloo ...

. It is also the first Heritage minute that is narrated on not just its official languages (English and French) but also a third language, where this Heritage Minute is narrated in

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

. A 2012 Ipsos Reid poll of 3,900 Canadians selected the five most popular Minutes. Tied for first place were the episodes on

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line ...

and the

Halifax Explosion On the morning of 6 December 1917, the French cargo ship collided with the Norwegian vessel in the waters of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The ''Mont-Blanc'', laden with high explosives, caught fire and exploded, devastating the Richmond ...

, followed by

Jennie Kidd Trout Jennie Kidd Trout (born Gowanlock; April 21, 1841 – November 10, 1921) was the first woman in Canada to become a licensed medical doctor, on March 11, 1875. Trout was the only woman in Canada licensed to practice medicine until July 1880, when ...

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

and

Laura Secord Laura Secord ( Ingersoll; 13 September 1775 – 17 October 1868) was a Canadian heroine of the War of 1812. She is known for having walked out of American-occupied territory in 1813 to warn British forces of an impending American atta ...

List of ''Heritage Minutes''

Not all of the ''Heritage Minutes'' episodes have actually aired. 85 (later 86) of them are available for viewing online (as listed below); however, an episode on Canadian Peacekeepers in Cyprus, which was pulled from broadcast shortly after its 1991 release, was not made available online through Historica Canada until 2016.

Parodies

* The Canadian sketch comedy shows ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics wi ...

'', ''

The Rick Mercer Report ''Rick Mercer Report'' (also called the ''Mercer Report'' or ''RMR'') is a Canadian television comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 2004 to 2018. Launched in 2004, as ''Rick Mercer's Monday Report'', or simply ''Monday Report'', by ...

'', ''

Royal Canadian Air Farce The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...

'', and ''

Rock et Belles Oreilles Rock et Belles Oreilles (RBO) was a Canadian radio, television and stage comedy group that was very popular in the primarily French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec during the 1980s and 1990s. Its name was a pun on the name of the famous Hann ...

'', have parodied the ''Heritage Minute'' format in sketches, or used the format for satire. *

The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octo ...

has aired short parodies titled "Sacrilege Moments". * Canadian rapper Classified parodied the Heritage Minute in his music video for the song "O Canada..." * Canadian cartoonist

Kate Beaton Kathryn Moira Beaton (born 8 September 1983) is a Canadian comics artist best known as the creator of the comic strip ''Hark! A Vagrant'', which ran from 2007 to 2018. Her other major works include the children's books '' The Princess and the Po ...

adapted the ''Heritage Minute'' format in a comic about

Margaret Trudeau Margaret Joan Trudeau ( Sinclair, formerly Kemper; born September 10, 1948) is a Canadian activist. She married Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, in 1971; three years after he became prime minister. They divorced in 1984, du ...

, wife of former Canadian Prime Minister

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

. * In 2007, the Internet comedy group

LoadingReadyRun LoadingReadyRun, often abbreviated to LRR, is a Canadian entertainment group that produces video and audio comedy. It often covers video games, internet trends, and popular culture. Founded in October 2003 by Graham Stark and Paul Saunders a ...

celebrated

Canada Day Canada Day (french: Fête du Canada), formerly known as Dominion Day (french: Fête du Dominion), is the national day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 18 ...

by telling the story of the ''Heritage Minutes'' in the format of a ''Heritage Minute''. * In the second episode of

season 1 Season One may refer to: Albums * ''Season One'' (Suburban Legends album), 2004 * ''Season One'' (All Sons & Daughters album), 2012 * ''Season One'' (Saukrates album), 2012 See also * * * Season 2 (disambiguation) * Season 4 (disambiguat ...

of ''

Canada's Drag Race ''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...

'', the main challenge is based on parodying Heritage Minutes as "Her-itage Moments"; the parodied ads were the one on Nellie McClung and the

suffragist Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...

movement in Manitoba, and the one about Dr. Wilder Penfield's advances in neuroscience research.Bianca Guzzo
"Canada’s Drag Race Season 1 Episode 2 Recap: Her-Itage Moments"
''IN Magazine'', July 9, 2020.

References

External links

Historica Canada''Heritage Minutes''
- official YouTube channel {{People of Canada Public service announcements Studies of Canadian history 1991 Canadian television series debuts Canadian television commercials Interstitial television shows 1990s Canadian television series Canadian historical television series

Background

List of ''Heritage Minutes''

Parodies

See also

References

Further reading

External links