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Untold Stories of Unsung Heroines
by Nicholas Keung, Immigration/Diversity reporter, The Toronto Star, 9/12/2005
MOTHER TONGUE: TV looks at how ethnic women shape country
Born and raised in Toronto, Susan Poizner lived and breathed her Jewish heritage, but never quite felt Canadian.
The seasoned journalist, who has been treading around the world since she turned 18 and moved to Israel, admits she was under the illusion that "you have to have blue eyes, be blonde, and play hockey to be Canadian".
So it was enlightening when Poizner, 39, abandoned the United States after 9/11 and came "home," discovering in the process the fascinating ethnic pockets of the city in which she grew up.
Reaffirmed in her Canadian identity, she started exploring ideas for documenting this country's ethnic diversity.
What began as a notion for a TV series on ethnic cookery took a sharp turn as she encountered a string of fascinating women, and her project became a series of 13 television profiles of true-life Canadian heroines. Dubbed "Mother Tongue", the series begins airing today.
"I knew I wanted to focus on ethnic women, but as I was researching on ethnic food, I slowly realised that there were not enough educational resources on the history of these women," says Poizner, a former reporter for the Jerusalem Post, the Guardian and the BBC.
"Ethnic women endured hardships. They fought and survived. In many ways, they contributed to Canada and made a difference in our lives, but it's almost like they do not exist in Canada."
The 13 episodes, each 22 minutes long, profile women from African, Chinese, Doukhobor, Finnish, Italian, Japanese, Jewish, Muslim, Rwandan, Russian, Ukrainian, Vietnamese and Woodland Cree backgrounds.
Among them are Finnish suffragist Aina Wilen, Chinese civil rights activist Mary Lee Chan, who successfully protested a government plan to demolish her Strathcona neighbourhood: and Senator Martha Bielish, daughter of impoverished Ukrainian immigrants.
Poizner felt compelled to give these women a voice, as the "unsung heroines" who helped build a better life for their immigrant families.
"We need to give them credit, but it’s not just about recognition. I hope these stories can inspire other people to believe that they too can do that and be like that,” she explains.
But getting the stories together was tough. Only after numerous failed attempts with broadcasters and potential funders was Poizner able to secure $350,000 for the project from the multicultural program division of Canadian Heritage. The finished product took three years of research, filming and editing.
Poizner learned a lot from the women she profiled.
“I really admire their perseverance and determination,” she said. “They stood up for what they believed in. Despite criticism, they didn’t waver.
Mother Tongue will air on Canadian Learning Television starting today at 9.30pm, with an episode on Eliza Parker, a fugitive slave who came to Buxton, Ont. In the mid-1850s after a black rebellion. Background materials for teachers and others are online at www.mothertongue.ca.
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This series of educational videos was made possible with funding from
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Mother Tongue: A woman's history of ethnic Canada is a 13-part TV series that documents Canada's multicultural history from a female perspective. Each program tells the story of a notable woman in one of Canada's communities, including a Black fugitive slave, an Acadian mail order bride, and an Icelandic suffragette.
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