This film is part of Free
Canada
From a London pub to the Alaska Highway, Canada’s influence extends far beyond its border, as shown in this celebration of America’s unique ties with its northern neighbour.
Overview
This celebration of Canadian industry and independence stresses the country’s wartime friendship with both Britain and the USA. Ranging from the seaboard of British Columbia to the bustling port of Halifax, via the vast granaries of Thunder Bay, and packed with footage of Canadian cities, factories and farms, perhaps the film’s most entertaining moment is the feisty discussion between an English, an American and a Canadian soldier about which side of the road to drive on.
With its frank admission that few Americans possess any real knowledge of Canada, this issue does a creditable job of giving a broad brush portrait the political, economic, and social make-up of the biggest country in the western hemisphere for the benefit of American and British audiences. One of Canada’s great contributions to the war effort - the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan - is also highlighted, with some high quality footage of the trainees in an unidentified Canadian base. Between 1939 and 1945 over 130,000 Allied pilots, navigators, gunners, radio operators, engineers and technicians were trained in what President Roosevelt called ‘the aerodrome of democracy’.
