''Marie-Soleil'' was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

children's television show in the 1980s and early 1990s, which aired on many stations associated with the

CTV Television 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 ...

.Janice Kennedy, "Suzanne Pinel wants Quebecers to catch the spirit of Marie- Soleil". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', November 24, 1990. The show, starring children's entertainer Suzanne Pinel, used stories and songs to teach

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

to anglophone kids. The series was initially produced by Mid-Canada Communications for the MCTV stations in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on part of the Superior Geological Provi ...

in 1984,Audrey M. Ashley
"Music Pinel's medium for teaching kids French"
''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as ''The Bytown Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the '' ...

'', November 8, 1984. and shot in

Sudbury Sudbury may refer to: Places Australia * Sudbury Reef, Queensland Canada * Greater Sudbury, Ontario (official name; the city continues to be known simply as Sudbury for most purposes) ** Sudbury (electoral district), one of the city's federal e ...

;Tony Atherton, "CJOH ends morning show era; After 15 years- unscripted format replaces magazine". ''

'', July 6, 1987. however, as a resident of

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

, Pinel found travelling to Sudbury on a regular basis to film the show difficult to reconcile with raising her children, so after a single season it went on hiatus before production was relaunched on Ottawa's

CJOH-TV CJOH-DT (channel 13) is a television station in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Pembroke-licensed CTV 2 outlet CHRO-TV (channel 5). Both stations share ...

in 1987. The puppet character, an English-speaking dog named Fergus, was played by Jon Park-Wheeler. There was also a clown named Samuel, played by Suzanne Lalonde, who spoke with sign language for the hearing impaired. The series was also later broadcast in reruns on YTV.

References

1984 Canadian television series debuts 1980s Canadian children's television series 1990s Canadian children's television series 1980s preschool education television series 1990s preschool education television series CTV Television Network original programming French-language media in Ontario Sign language television shows Television series by Bell Media Television shows filmed in Greater Sudbury Television shows filmed in Ottawa French-language education in Canada {{ottawa-stub