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Les Archives de Radio-Canada

Home · New Year's Day, 1972

Topic spans: 1972 - 1972

New Year's Day, 1972

In 1972, the CBC celebrated by having a festive chat with entertainer Guy Lombardo. The era was a casual one, when even the prime minister wore mutton chops. But on TV and radio, self-reflection was also in order. In 1971, Canadians were still not Canadian enough, studded snow tires were outlawed and hockey superstar Gordie Howe had retired.

Most of the programs in the TV grid below were listed in TV Guide, Toronto-Lake Ontario edition for Jan. 1 - 7, 1972. The exceptions are Chez Hélène, Front Page Challenge and Weekend, which appeared later that week or month. The radio schedule aired exactly as listed.

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3 television clips
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5 radio clips

Canadians need to be more Canadian

Broadcast Date: Jan. 1, 1972

Canadians undervalue themselves. This is the message from Governor General Roland Michener on New Year's Day in 1972. In this CBC Radio clip, Michener speaks about an under-appreciated military and bountiful resources that are taken for granted. "We Canadians are too close to the woods to see the great trees of our forests," he explains.

Prime Minister Trudeau's annual message, heard in the latter part of this clip, is one of praise for the country.
But in true Canadian fashion, Trudeau offers it through the words of an outsider, Charles Dickens.

Canadians need to be more Canadian

• CBC Radio's The Scene was hosted by Pat Patterson and aired Saturdays mornings. Patterson was a long-time host for both radio and television, including the program Scan, a behind-the-scenes show about how CBC Television was produced, and Matinee, a women's radio program.

• Program notes for 1972's first episode of Scene said Patterson looked ahead to 12 months of covering music, movies, fashion, women's liberation and hockey.

• Among the show's regular guests were Bill Glassco of Toronto's Tarragon Theatre, movie critic Clive Denton, and Evelyn Roth on fashion trends.

• New Year's Day in 1972 fell on a Saturday. It ushered in the longest leap year in history. It was two seconds longer than usual. The extra seconds had been added to universal clocks that year, in June and in December because time calculation of the earth's orbit had been recorded slightly inaccurately.

• In 1972, the 12th man walked on the moon and U.S. presidential assistant Henry Kissinger announced that "peace [was] at hand" in Vietnam. In Canada, Pierre Trudeau began the year as the first prime minister since John A. Macdonald to have a child while in office. Justin Trudeau was born on Christmas Day 1971.

• Roland Michener was Canada's governor general until 1974. He was appointed in Canada's centennial year (1967), and presided over the first Order of Canada ceremony that year.

• Michener was known for his dedication to physical fitness and was an advocate of the government's Participaction program. Part of his exercise regime at the time (he was 71) was a daily morning jog.

Canadians need to be more Canadian

Medium: Radio

Program: The Scene

Broadcast Date: Jan. 1, 1972


Speaker: Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Roland Michener

Duration: 11:02

Last updated:
April 16, 2008


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