HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 2009-12-16, Page 3Goderich Signal -Star, Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - Page 3
Mansbridge tells a lifetime of tales over breakfast
_Dave Sykes_signal-star publisher
From his travel experience to every
cornerofthe world, Peter Mansbridge,
the quintessential Canadian and
trusted voice of the country's national
newscast, says our legacy as a people
and a nation is quite simple; we care.
In recounting three touching stories
from his news experience in recent
years, Mansbridge told an audience
of about 450 people at the Goderich
Rotary Club sponsored breakfast
Monday, that the quest to define
Canada and its people is clear in the
eyes of people around the world.
"A big part of our legacy around
the world is simply that we care,"
he said. 'We are seen as a caring
people by others and everyone that is
here in this room this morning cares
about the community and others. As
a people we certainly fit the bill and
have every reason to be proud."
The 41 -year veteran of the CBC,
who began his career in radio in
Churchill, Manitoba in 1969 after a
radio executive heard him announce
a flight departure, has. been the
trusted voice of CBC's National
News for the past 20 years, providing
.comprehensive coverage of the most
significant stories in Canada and
around the world.
And it has been during his on-site
coverage of current news in remote
comers of the world that Mansbridge
has gained a true sense of the value
and comfort that Canadians have
provided to those in need. Quite
simply, the friendly, caring hands of
Canada have touched and warmed the
hearts of people in other countries.
On location in Sri Lanka just days
after a devastating tsunami leveled
the island and killed hundreds of
thousands of people, the CBC crew
was filming on the beach when a
group of youngsters gathered to
watch. The children, who couldn't
speak English, kicked a soccer ball
around with Mansbridge and a young
girl of about 8, pointed to a Canadian
pin on Mansbridge's lapel.
Through an interpreter, the young
girl said "Canada good' after having
been treated at a makeshift medical
Photo by Dave Sykes
Peter Mansbridge, CBC National News anchor received a Paul Harris
Fellowship from Tine Buechler, Stratford Rotary Club President and Tanya Wolff,
District Governor, after his speech at a Rotary Club sponsored breakfast in
Goderich Monday.
facility in a tent where three nurses
from Vancouver, having heard of
the . disaster facing the island, filled
suitcases with medical supplies and
raced to the ravaged island to treat
homeless victims:
To that young child, the caring
actions of three Canadian women
will always be representative of an
entire country and its people.
While on location intheNetherlands
for a story, hundreds of thousands of
people lining the streets of a major
city were waving Canadian flags and
cheering wildly.
`Where was a bunch of old guys,
some walking, others riding in jeeps
and trucks. They were Canadian vets,
there to celebrate the 60th anniversary
of the liberation of the city," he said.
"There was a woman there with her
four-year-old son who held his hand
out and high-fived Canadian soldiers
as they went by."
The woman explained she brought
her young son so he would know
"what Canada is" and teach his kids
about our country and its legacy of
caring. She wanted her son to know
and to never forget what Canada did
for their city and country.
A final story to illustrate the point
comes from Afghanistan where a
young, university educated woman
travels the dangerous countrysideto
explain to women their rights and
freedoms.
"This young woman was born
in Afghanistan and her family fled,
as refugees and Canada took them
r11
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in," he said. "The family lived in
Montreal, became Canadian citizens
and then she got a political science
degree from McGill. Now she is
showing people in Afghanistan,
what is possible in a country here
freedom means something."
The examples serve to demonstrate
the role Canadians play and the
legacy of caring and courage they
have implanted in countries around
the world. In our own quiet, Canadian
way.
'The three women who went on
their own to help people in Sri Lanka,
the vets that we see as old guys on
parade but we know they were young
guys once and they made an enormous
difference at a tremendous cost and
sacrifice that will not be forgotten,"
he said. "The new Canadian who
was so proud that she used Canada as
an example of what's possible. It's all
part of our legacy, we care."
Mansbridge also signed copies of
his most recent book, Mansbridge
One on One, thatcontains an interview
with Barack Obama, an assignment
he calls his career highlight. After the
10 -minute interview, Obama thanked
him and left the Map Room. The
busiest man in the world, who only
had time for a .10 -minute session,
soon returned with an aide, six-foot,
eight -inch Marvin Nicholson, a
Victoria native who wanted to meet
Mansbridge and tell him "my mother
just loves you."
A moment Mansbridge says he
will never forget.
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