You guys aren’t serious.
Okay.
Okay.
Hey, I’m Amanda Parris, host of CBC’s
Exhibitionists and Marvin’s Room.
Later in this video I’ll tell you why they’re
doing this to me.
Ok, let’s do this.
Canada’s turning 150 in 2017
This milestone is called a sesquicentennial.
It’s kind of a BIG DEAL.
The biggest anniversary since our centennial.
There are gonna be tons of cool projects
Like this underground time tunnel.
Public art about lost history
And a brand new Canadian typeface
(Amanda: speed it up.)
Okay, so here are some real places in Canada.
Sober Island
Blow Me Down
Big Beaver
Bacon Ridge
Come by Chance
Mushaboom
Mayo
Goobies
Dildo
Punkeydoodles Corners
Wawa
Mono
Crotch Lake
Uren
Vulcan
Balls Creek
Ball's Falls
Eyebrow
Elbow
Finger
And Climax!
I could go on.
We have a town with exclamation points
And this long name.
Meaning: “Where the wild trout are caught
by fishing with hooks”
Which is a tiny lake in Manitoba.
Canada has one fifth of the world’s freshwater.
And stretches across six time zones.
Our public broadcaster, the CBC, launched
in 1936 to unify this sprawling country
Which makes the CBC older than the Canadian
flag
Here’s what our flag used to look like,
by the way.
And here’s what it could look like in the
future.
You never know.
Canada is home to over 36 million people.
It’s got two official languages
But over 20 percent of Canadians have an international
mother tongue.
And that list doesn’t include over 60 indigenous
languages
From at least eight distinct language families
The largest of which is Algonquin
Actually, wait.
Pause the timer.
Okay, let’s be real for a minute.
We know we can’t do Canada any kind of justice
in just 150 seconds, right?
This is a fascinating, complicated and ever-changing
country.
And our 150th anniversary is a really great
opportunity to stop and really think about
where we are as a nation.
From our greatest achievements to the very
real challenges we face today.
Which is why the CBC is launching Canada 2017.
It’s a year-long project that will include
surprising new TV shows
thought-provoking documentaries
lots of digital storytelling
and most importantly
your stories about Canada and what it means
to be Canadian in 2017.
Because there are some things we shouldn’t
just list off.
And other things that we should.
Like strange Canadian attractions.
For instance this snake orgy.
This medieval viking village.
This enchanted forest.
And while some of us aren’t spending our
travel bucks in Canada.
We could be checking out all the sweet relics
from Canada’s Centennial!
Like this UFO landing pad in Alberta
Which was a world first, by the way.
Or the famous Expo 67 dome.
Which survived a raging fire.
We also spawned IMAX when we turned 100!
What else?
Well, Canada’s also got the world’s longest
recreational trail...
street
beaver dam
And beard on a living male
We’ve got the world’s deepest underground
lab
The most polar bears
maple syrup
and donut shops per capita
You probably already know Canadians invented
these things.
But do you know about these?
And don’t forget Trivial Pursuit!
You know, as great as trivia can be
We also really need context.
Because fact is: Canada’s stories need so
much more than 150 seconds.
Whooo.
