Heritage Minutes

An 1885 Robert Harris painting, A Meeting of the School Trustees, depicted in the 1998 Heritage Minute episode "Rural Teacher", on the benefits of pedagogy.

Heritage Minutes, formerly known as Historica Minutes: History by the Minute, is a series of sixty-second short films, each illustrating an important moment in Canadian history. The Minutes integrate Canadian history, folklore and myths into dramatic story lines. Like the Canada Vignettes of the 1970s, the Minutes themselves have become a part of Canadian culture 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 movies and were later available online and on DVD. In-addition there are "Radio minutes".

Background

The thirteen original short films were broken up and run between shows on CBC Television and CTV Network. The continued broadcast of the Minutes and the production of new ones was pioneered by Charles Bronfman's CRB Foundation (subsequently The Historica Dominion Institute), Canada Post (with Bell Canada being a later sponsor) Power Broadcasting (the broadcasting arm of the Power Corporation of Canada), and the National Film Board. 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 theaters across the country. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) has ruled that Heritage Minutes are an "on-going dramatic series" thus each vignette counts as ninety-seconds of a station's Canadian content requirements.

In 2012, a few "Heritage Minutes" were created on the War of 1812, in anticipation of the war's bicentenary. Then in 2014 two Minutes were released on Sir John A. Macdonald and George-Étienne Cartier, that had been filmed in and around Toronto in September 2013. There are plans to come out with two every year until Canada's 150th birthday in 2017. A 2012 Ipsos Reid poll of 3,900 Canadians selected the five most popular Minutes. Tied for first place was the episodes on Jackie Robinson and Halifax Explosion, followed by Jennie Kidd Trout, Winnie-the-Pooh and Laura Secord.

List of Heritage Minutes

Not all of the Heritage Minutes episodes have actually aired.Eighty of them are available for viewing online (as listed below); however the episodes on the 1972 Summit Series, Cyprus conflict, and Canadian Peacekeepers are not available online through Historica Canada.

Episode	Description
Peacemaker	The formation of the Iroquois Confederacy presented by a First Nations grandfather explaining the significance of the Great Peace to his granddaughter.
Vikings	L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland is settled by Norsemen (Vikings) around the year 1000 CE.
John Cabot	Italian navigator and explorer John Cabot discovers the Grand Banks of Newfoundland.
Jacques Cartier	French navigator and explorer Jacques Cartier misunderstands some Natives resulting in the name Canada.
Jean Nicolet	French coureur des bois and explorer Jean Nicolet becomes the first European to reach Lake Michigan, but thinks it's the Pacific.
Governor Frontenac	New France, under the leadership of French governor Louis de Buade de Frontenac, repels the British invasion at the Battle of Quebec (1690) (narration was later added to this Minute in order to clarify the story).
Syrup	A First Nations family teaches early settlers how to make maple syrup.
Laura Secord	Canadian heroine Laura Secord aids the British in the War of 1812 with an overland trek to warn of an American military advance.
Responsible Government	Queen Victoria decides to grant Canada responsible government after the crushing of the Rebellions of 1837.
Baldwin & LaFontaine	Lawyer and politician Robert Baldwin and Louis-Hippolyte Lafontaine build interlingual cooperation.
Orphans	French Canadian families adopt Irish orphans in the 1850s while allowing them to keep their original names.
Underground Railroad	An African American escapes to Canada along the Underground Railroad.
Etienne Parent	Journalist and government official Étienne Parent demands equality for French and English.
Hart & Papineau	The efforts of politician and lawyer Louis-Joseph Papineau give full equality of religion to Jews in Canada.
The Paris Crew	The surprise victory of the Paris Crew, a group of unheralded Canadian rowers, at the 1867 World Championships.
Joseph Tyrrell	Geologist and cartographer Joseph Tyrrell discovers a plethora of dinosaur bones in Alberta (see Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology.
Basketball	Sports coach James Naismith's invention of Basketball is featured.
Joseph Casavant	Joseph Casavant, world-renowned organ maker is featured.
Emily Carr	The art of Emily Carr is featured.
Soddie	Prairie settlers build a house of sod (see Addison Sod House).
Midwife	A look at the importance of midwives in early Canada.
Saguenay Fire	The 1870 fire in the Saguenay in featured.
Sandford Fleming	Engineer and inventor Sir Sandford Fleming develops the system of international standard time.
Nitro	A young Chinese Canadian risks his life helping to build the Canadian Pacific Railway.
Jennie Trout	Jennie Trout becomes Canada's first woman doctor.
Rural Teacher	Teacher Kate Henderson sways school trustees to embrace new methods, and the event is represented in the famous painting by Robert Harris, A Meeting of the School Trustees (see image at top).
Louis Riel	The achievements and execution of political and spiritual leader Louis Riel are featured.
Sitting Bull	Native American Chief Sitting Bull seeks refuge in Canada (starring Graham Greene as Sitting Bull).
Les Voltigeurs de Québec	The rehearsal for the first performance of O Canada.
Grey Owl	Englishman Archie Belaney (played by Pierce Brosnan) rises to prominence as a notable author and lecturer after he took on the First Nations identity called Grey Owl.
Frontier College	Frontier College educates those away from the urban centres.
Sam Steele	Major General and police official Sam Steele (portrayed by Alan Scarfe) of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police bars an unruly American (portrayed by Don S. Davis) from entering the Yukon with pistols, despite being threatened at gunpoint.
Emily Murphy	Women's rights activist, jurist, and author Emily Murphy's (played by Kate Nelligan) quest for equal rights for women.
Myrnam Hospital	The town of Myrnam, Alberta forms a non-denominational hospital.
Agnes Macphail	The first woman to be elected to the Canadian House of Commons Agnes Macphail fights for penal reform.
Marconi	Inventor Guglielmo Marconi receives the first trans-Atlantic radio signals in Newfoundland and is awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.
John McCrae	Author, artist and physician during World War I John McCrae pens In Flanders Fields (starring Colm Feore as McCrae).
Halifax Explosion	Train dispatcher Vince Coleman sacrifices his own life to save a train from the Halifax Explosion.
Vimy Ridge	General Arthur Currie prepares his forces for the successful taking of Vimy Ridge in World War I.
Valour Road	Three men from Pine Street in Winnipeg win the Victoria Cross in World War I, and the street's name is changed to Valour Road in their honour.
Winnie	The bear of Canadian soldier Harry Colebourn becomes the inspiration for Winnie the Pooh.
Nellie McClung	Feminist, politician, and social activist Nellie McClung demands the right to vote in Manitoba.
Joseph-Armand Bombardier	Inventor Joseph-Armand Bombardier and the beginnings of his passion for engineering.
J.S. Woodsworth	Author, lecturer and social activist J. S. Woodsworth convinces Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King to introduce old age pensions.
Superman	Comic book artist Joe Shuster, en route to visit his cousin, Frank Shuster, creates Superman.
Water Pump	Canadian Mennonites devise sustainable agriculture practices that aid the Third World.
La Bolduc	The story of how Mary Travers becomes a famed popular singer in Quebec.
Bluenose	The ship Bluenose an important Canadian symbol in the 1930s wins its last race.
Wilder Penfield	How Dr. Wilder Penfield makes important discoveries in neuroscience when a patient smells burnt toast as the initial signal for an epileptic seizure, during the Montreal procedure.
Osborn of Hong Kong	Sgt. Major John Robert Osborn sacrifices his life to protect his men from Japanese forces during the Battle of Hong Kong in World War II, and is posthumously granted the Victoria Cross.
Marion Orr	Female World War II pilot Marion Orr is featured.
Mona Parsons	Mona Parsons, a partisan World War II Allied agent in the Netherlands escapes execution and later imprisonment by the Nazis and meets her future husband who confirms her nationality to Canadian forces liberating the nation.
Juno Beach	Broadcaster Johnny Lombardi entertains his comrades in the field during a respite of the World War II D-Day taking of Juno Beach by Canadian forces.
Andrew Mynarski	Pilot officer Andrew Mynarski's attempt to free his friend from a bomber turret.
Tommy Prince	A eulogy is given for Tommy Prince, Canada’s most-decorated Aboriginal war veteran.
Home from the Wars	Returning World War II veterans successfully agitate for increasing housing assistance.
John Humphrey	Legal scholar, jurist, and human rights advocate John Humphrey drafts the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Jackie Robinson	Baseball player Jackie Robinson joins the Montreal Royals on October 23, 1946.
Lucille Teasdale	Surgeon Lucille Teasdale devotes her life to helping the poor in Africa.
Marshall McLuhan	Philosopher of communication theory Marshall McLuhan coins the phrases "the medium is the message" and "global village".
Maurice Ruddick	Miner Maurice Ruddick recounts the 1958 Springhill mine disaster.
Nat Taylor	How Nat Taylor invents the multiplex theater.
Pauline Vanier	The achievements of professional diplomats Georges and Pauline Vanier are featured.
Maurice "Rocket" Richard	Hockey player Maurice Richard scores five goals and three assists for eight points in a single game.
Stratford	A look back at the beginning of the Stratford Festival of Canada.
Jacques Plante	Jacques Plante becomes the first NHL player to wear a goaltender mask in regular play.
Avro Arrow	The development of the Avro Arrow (this Heritage Minute was made using footage from the 1996 mini-series The Arrow).
Paul Emile Borduas	The art of Paul-Émile Borduas and the Quiet Revolution are featured.
Le Reseau	Engineer Thomas Wardrope Eadie develops the Trans Canada Microwave telecommunications network.
Flags	Lawyer, judge, and politician John Matheson looks at candidates for Canada's new flag.
Expo 67	The planning of the Montreal International and Universal Exposition called Expo 67 is featured.
Inukshuk	An Inuksuk a stone landmark or cairn is built on Baffin Island.
Dextraze in the Congo	Brigadier-General Jacques Dextraze resolves a hostage situation in the Congo with his UN Peacekeeping forces contingent.
Richard Pierpoint	Richard Pierpoint was a formerly enslaved Black Loyalist who, at age 68, enlisted black men to fight in the War of 1812. Captain Runchey's Company of Coloured Men fought in a number of battles in the Niagara region and were instrumental to the war effort.
Queenston Heights	At the Battle of Queenston Heights (October 13, 1812) Mohawk Chief John Norton and 80 Grand River warriors surprised hundreds of advancing American soldiers and skirmished with them for hours until reinforcements arrived and the battle was won.
Maple Leaf Gardens	Considered one of the "cathedrals" of ice hockey, the construction and history of the Maple Leaf Gardens is featured.
Sir John A. Macdonald	The dominant figure of Canadian Confederation, Sir John A. Macdonald was the first Prime Minister of Canada.
Sir George-Étienne Cartier	George-Étienne Cartier was a dominant figure in the politics of Canada East (now Quebec) overseeing its entry into Confederation.
Winnipeg Falcons	The Winnipeg Falcons were a senior ice hockey team that fought through discrimination and stayed together even through the First World War, on their way to winning the gold medal for Canada at the 1920 Olympics. Narrated by George Stroumboulopoulos and an appearance by actor Jared Keeso. This was the first Heritage Minute segment to extend longer than one minute.
Nursing Sisters	Nursing Sisters commemorates the service and sacrifice of women on the front lines of the First World War through the retelling of a real event from May 1918. It is the story of two of the nearly 3000 trained nurses who served overseas. Narrated by Molly Parker and starring Siobhan Williams.

Parodies

• The Canadian sketch comedy shows This Hour Has 22 Minutes, The Rick Mercer Report, Royal Canadian Air Farce, and Rock et Belles Oreilles, have all parodied the Heritage Minute format in sketches, or used the format for satire.
• The Comedy Network 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 adapted the Heritage Minute format in a comic about Margaret Trudeau, wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.
• In 2007, the Internet comedy group LoadingReadyRun celebrated Canada Day by telling the story of the Heritage Minutes in the format of a Heritage Minute.

See also

• Canada: A People's History
• Events of National Historic Significance
• Hinterland Who's Who
• National Historic Sites of Canada
• Persons of National Historic Significance
• The Greatest Canadian

External links

• Historica Canada