Premier says CBC must correct miniseries and apologize to Nova Scotians

Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeilis adding his name to a letter addressed to the president of the CBCsayingthe provincewas snubbed in the new miniseriesCanada: The Story of Us.

The mayor of Annapolis Royal, N.S., Bill MacDonald,wrote theletter to the CBC's Hubert Lacroix, requesting an apology and a new episode after the series portrayed Quebec City as the site of thefirst permanentEuropean settlement in 1608.

The trouble is that Samuel de Champlainhelpedestablisha year-round habitation in Port-Royal, N.S., three years earlier in 1605. Today, Port-Royal is a national historic site close tothe modern-day town of Annapolis Royal.

"Port-Royal was a place of first contact, forever marked by the welcoming of these Europeans in peace and friendship by Grand ChiefHenriMembertouand theMi'kmaqpeople," the letter reads.

"Episode oneof the CBC miniseries effectively erases the collective early history of a whole province and its peopleincludingtheMi'kmaqand the Acadians."

'It needs to be corrected'

Colin Fraser, the Liberal MP for the area, and Timothy Habinski, warden for the Municipality of the County of Annapolis, are also signatories.

In a press release Wednesday, McNeil said the omission overlooks the fundamental contributions of the Mi'kmaq and Acadians.

"Why are we, as a province or a region, willing to allow CBC to rewrite Canadian history?" McNeil told reporters Thursday.

"Our ancestors were greeted in peace and friendship by the Mi'kmaq people. That should be celebrated."

The politicians are worried because the miniseries is being offered to schools and is available to be streamed from the public broadcaster.

The letter calls onthe CBC produces a further episode a prequel as soon as possible, to remedy the current circumstances."

"It's not too late for them [CBC] to say, you know, we made a mistake and we should correct it," McNeiltold reporters Thursday.

CBC says it will respond to letter

In the meantime, those who have signed the letter are calling on CBC to broadcast an apology to the people of Nova Scotia "for ignoring 412 years of our shared history."

Emma Bdard, a CBC spokesperson, said in an emailthe corporation will respond to the letter as it does with all correspondence.

She noted the miniseries "is not a definitive or linear history of Canada."

"The series took a biographical approach, and with only 50 stories to tell over 10 episodes, difficult decisions had to be made as to which ones to include in the series," she said.

• Why 'Canada: The Story of Us' has angered a Nova Scotia town

The producers of the series, Bristow Global Media, previously said Port-Royal came up many times during research for the show, butthey decided todefine permanence as a continuous, year-round population and settled on Champlain's1608 settlement in what is now Quebec.

They noted theprevious attempt at permanent settlement in Port-Royal was cut short in 1607.