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Social Action (12)
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Action: The October Crisis of 1970Robin Spry 1973 1 h 27 minThis feature-length documentary looks at those desperate days of October 1970 when Montreal awaited the outcome of FLQ terrorist acts. Using news reports and clips from the time, the film reflects upon the October Crisis and reveals the relief, dismay and defiance people felt when the Canadian army stepped in. -
Democracy à la MaudePatricia Kearns 1998 1 h 1 minMaude Barlow is a crusading warrior for social justice and the leader of Canada's largest citizens' rights group, the Council of Canadians. This feature film portrays Barlow's progress from young Ottawa housewife, quietly reading Germaine Greer alone at home, to outspoken activist, locking horns with such formidable opponents as media magnate Conrad Black and Thomas D'Aquino of the Business Council on National Issues. On the front lines in the battle against the Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI), Barlow cautions against "the rise of corporate rule”, arguing that such agreements enhance the international mobility of corporations at the expense of Canadian social programs and jobs.
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Gopher BrokePeter Thurling 1979 24 minThe Depression era. A small town in Saskatchewan, Dominion Day, 1935. A Royal Canadian Mounted Police sergeant runs up against a group of desperate people who plan to join the Trekkers on their march to Ottawa in protest against the daily wage of twenty cents a day paid by the government to the unemployed in federal labour camps. Kid, the hero, has wrangled a truck and is planning to transport people and food to the Regina meeting place. Because of its illegal nature, their mission is thwarted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. But only briefly. Humour, suspense and music enliven this short historical drama.
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A Hospital CrucifiedRenée Blanchar 2007 1 h 1 minOn March 2, 2004, Bernard Lord's Conservative government announces that the hospital in Caraquet, New Brunswick, will be converted to a community health centre. Considering the government's decision unfair, the people of the region rally to save the health care services to which they feel entitled. Despite their year-and-a-half-long struggle, the Hôpital de l'Enfant-Jésus is closed. In recording the chronology of the events, Renée Blanchar plunges into the heart of the action with an urgent need to speak out against injustice. The result is a very human film about solidarity. In French with English subtitles.
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Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left - Part 1 - International Background - Canadian RootsArthur Hammond 1989 54 minA look at the problematic relationship of Canadian unions and the New Democratic Party on the eve of the 1980s, as the Socialist International meets in Vancouver. This triggers a flashback to the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain, and the birth of both modern trade unions and democratic socialism. The influence of British, American and European immigration, of American trade unions, World War 1 and other events provide a turbulent and fascinating backdrop to the evolution of the Canadian labour-socialist alliance. Part 1.
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Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left - Part 2 - Born of Hard TimesArthur Hammond 1989 51 minThe world plunges into the Great Depression which, like most leaders, Canada's R.B. Bennett refuses to combat with unbalanced budgets and government spending. Inspired by reports from Russia, many turn to communism for solutions. The 1937 General Motors strike in Oshawa gives the Congress of Industrial Organizations a toehold in Canada, but on the eve of World War II Canada's tiny unions remain blocked by restrictive labour laws and, like the equally tiny Cooperative Commonwealth Federation, locked in struggle with communist rivals. Part 2.
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Imperfect Union: Canadian Labour and the Left - Part 3 - Falling Apart and Getting TogetherArthur Hammond 1989 53 minWorld War II turns Canada into an industrial power, and creates a mass trade-union movement. Mackenzie King responds with unemployment insurance and full legal status for unions. In 1944, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation comes to power in Saskatchewan, under Tommy Douglas, the first socialist government in North America. With the formation of the Canadian Labour Congress in 1956, CCF and CLC energies are directed toward the formation of the New Democratic Party in 1961. Part 3 of the series.
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Last ResortJacques Godbout 1987 1 h 10 minThis feature length documentary by Jacques Godbout tackles a topic all too rarely explored in the media: terrorism in Canadian society. From Montreal to Vancouver, and Quebec City to Toronto, exasperated individuals find a new calling as self-style saviours of humanity and decide to mete out their own justice. Part reportage, part essay and part critical analysis of the phenomenon, this film includes first-hand accounts by Serge Daoust, Franco Piperno, François Schirm, Pierre Vallières and young militants from the journal Révoltes.
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Pipelines, Power and DemocracyOlivier D. Asselin 2015 1 h 28 minPipelines, Power and Democracy is a striking documentary that follows the mobilization of ordinary people to thwart the ambitions of oil companies and halt, even if only temporarily, the advance of pipelines across Quebec. In the process, the film offers a sharp reminder that power can be accessible to all.
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Some People Have to SufferChristopher Pinney 1976 42 minThis film documents a community's struggle to survive in the face of government indifference and the political and financial clout of industrial developers. In 1953 the residents of Bridgeview, British Columbia, were promised sewers; following years of debate, frustration, meetings and verbiage, construction started in 1977. The film interviews some of the residents, who state their opinions frankly both to the camera and at meetings. When the film was shown at the Habitat conference in Vancouver, 1976, press coverage noted: "The Third World is merely twenty miles from the site of Habitat."
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Traitor or PatriotJacques Godbout 2000 1 h 22 minThis feature documentary is a portrait of Adélard Godbout, the largely forgotten man who was Premier of Quebec from 1939 to 1944. During his office, Godbout helped lay the groundwork for the Quiet Revolution of the 1950s and 1960s: instituting compulsory education, giving women the vote, creating Hydro-Québec and trying to free the province from domination by the clergy. Yet, during the conscription crisis, he favoured sending volunteers to fight Hitler: a sin for which many would never forgive him. Filmmaker Jacques Godbout takes a fresh look at his great-uncle's legacy.
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Tobacco's Last StandRobin Benger 2004 44 minIn this feature documentary, we head to Norfolk County, Ontario, an unusual Canadian town where anti-smoking forces are the enemy in a community that proudly celebrates the annual tobacco leaf harvest and supports a feisty pro-tobacco mayor. Firmly in denial about the consequences of second-hand smoke, community leaders proclaim their right to freedom and economic success against the backdrop of a growing anti-smoking campaign and a heated city council debate on making the community smoke-free.
