This Heritage Moment is all about an immigrant couple on the olden times prairies building a Soddie, which is like a house for people who don’t have access to wood. All there is to it is these people suffering to make a home for themselves set to stirring music. Brave pioneers who built (that part of) our nation.

I’ve pointed out a couple of these moments that get by on only one or two cast members, and this is like those. It does it well. This couple, their horses, and some cool facial hair are all that carries us through. They seem like a likeable pair and that makes it all work. We’re happy when they build their house at the end and we try not to think about how they probably end up dead a few winters later anyway.

To be honest, there ain’t a whole lot to say here. Perhaps the biggest failing of this one is that the woman sees something “over there” and we never find out what. It couldn’t possibly just be a weak set-up for her husbands line about “the same flat country everywhere”. She must have seen something. And Canadians need to know what. Four out of Six Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake.

Well this one is depressing. To sum it up, Tommy Prince was a really good soldier and helped out in several different wars. When he came back home, his life sucked because life pretty much sucks for all aboriginal people in Canada. And his life continued to suck until he was dead forever. But this one guy at his funeral pointed out how that was sad, so that’s a plus.

I don’t remember this one from my youth. Probably its a newer one, but even if it had aired back then I don’t think there’s any good quotes to be seared into brains in this one. I kinda like how it looks like he might be dressing himself at first, but then it turns out he’s a corpse. For some fraction of a split-second I was able to believe that he had just dressed up in his uniform to lay down in the coffin. I’d do that if I had access to a military uniform and a coffin. But sadly, no. He’s just dead is all.

Not much else to say here. I definitely think that it is worth drawing attention to the fact that First Nations people have so many disadvantages. Still, all this Moment does is draw attention to it. The fact that Tommy Prince died in 1977 and it’s still true… Well. Depressing. Three out of Six Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake.

It is 1930 and it is Montreal. Mary Travers just bursts into a recording studio and records her song. It’s a hit! Hooray Canada!

There’s some stuff to like in this one. I like to think that the recording studio owner guy is trying to get home to see his family and this woman just ruins all his plans. He first uses his unique magical ability to know if someone has ever recorded before to try to dissuade her, but that isn’t any good. He tries to lie about having no records, but his Idiot Henchman Georges doesn’t realize he’s lying and tells her they’ve got plenty. Finally Mr. Owner tries to bring money into the matter, but Idiot Henchman Georges helpfully points out that Travers’s offer is “a working man’s salary for a month” in case anyone from an era with inflation is watching. The record is made and the owner’s family grows ever more distant because he never comes home on time.

I like this one well enough. It’s not super quotable, though Idiot Henchman Georges could be quoted if I ever saw the chance, I guess. But it moves along quickly, has humor and a nice soundtrack. I’ll hand Four out of Five Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake to this Moment. Skimming Wikipedia makes it clear that this didn’t go down like this in real life, though. I think I’m going to have to start deducting some Pieces of Cake from real life one of these days.

I gotta respect La Bolduc for singing in some kind of crazy messed-up fictional language. That sure is a bold move. Good night everyone!

This one is just some guys talking about how they should do some military stuff while we get some clips of some military stuff. Then we have readings of some, I assume, real letters home from military stuff. That is all.

I don’t remember this one. If this aired during my childhood, I have no memory of it. Does that mean that this is one of the ones made after I was too old for televised indoctrination? I don’t know. It seems to me that, given the pride Canada has for the whole Vimy thing, this would have been one of the earliest Heritage Moments that they’d have wanted to make. Maybe it is one of the first and I don’t remember it because of how boring it is. It is pretty boring, after all. Without doing research (and I ain’t doin’ research!!!), I can’t be sure, but I’m assuming it is a post-my-childhood Moment.

I don’t know what to say about this one. There’s not much to it. It feels thrown together. I like the way they gave a newsreel-footage style to the bits made for this to match the real footage, but that seems to be the extent of the effort. I love the way the narrator comes along so suddenly at the end and says only “It was the first significant victory of the war.” It’s so rushed and tacked on. They just “tried” so hard to get another fact in there. Basically, I’m saying that this isn’t a great one. One out of Six Pieces of PDR’s Reviewing System Pie.

“As I looked to right and left, all I could see was Canadians.” I’ve had this happen here in Canada! I’m like the war hero guy!

We start at a Mennonite community where those wacky Mennonites are at it again! This time they’re building a water pump! What next?!?!? Anyway, from there we go to the year 1980 and some eggheads are trying to build a pump to help out in developing nations. The eggheads can’t figure out a way to make a pump that will function in the hellscape that is Africa, until they realize that using an old-school pump would do pretty well. Some lady, via a translator, says “You Canadians have such modern ideas,” and the Canadian is like “Tell her it’s actually a very old idea.” And then they all laugh, including the woman for whom the remark hasn’t yet been translated. Happy End. Of course, the line “Tell her it’s actually a very old idea” seems like it should be followed up with “but your country is still so backwards that you haven’t caught up yet.” Hilarious!

Quotability: “Light weight, rust proof, so simple you could fix it with a rubber band and a bent nail.” That;s a pretty decent rant that I love in the context of the commercial, but it doesn’t have a lot of use outside of it. “Maybe today’s technology is the problem!” is one that definitely stuck in my brain and, though I haven’t used it in daily life, I definitely could. I’m not sure I even noticed as a kid the repeated line “Water. Lifeblood of a farm.” said in non-English languages. That’s actually kind of a neat touch.

And helping get water to people is a thing I support, so I’m okay with the commercial from that standpoint as well. PDR is a pretty big fan of water. I’m going to go as high as Four and a Half Pieces out of Six of PDR’s Reviewing System Cake. It’s one of the ones that crams a lot in, and it does a good job cramming it.