Champlain settled here first, Annapolis Royal mayor says after mini series snub

A new docu-drama series about the history of Canada has touched a raw nerve in a rural corner of Nova Scotia.

Bill MacDonald, the mayor of Annapolis Royal, is leading a campaign to denounce the first episode as a disrespectful and erroneous version of what really happened when Europeans first settled in this land.

He said he was shocked this week when the CBC show, “Canada: The Story of Us,’’ asserted that the first permanent European settlement was established near what is now Quebec City.

MacDonald said the CBC got it wrong, although the public broadcaster denies that.

It’s well known that French explorer Samuel de Champlain established a permanent settlement at Port Royal, N.S., in 1605 — three years before he founded another one along the St. Lawrence River in Quebec, the mayor said.

“Here in Annapolis Royal, we believe that we truly are the cradle of our nation,’’ MacDonald said in an interview Wednesday, two days after he posted a rebuke of the show on his mayoral Facebook page, saying “CBC has misrepresented Canadian history.’’

MacDonald said he plans to write a letter of complaint to the CBC. He suggested a prequel may be in order, given the fact that Port Royal wasn’t even mentioned during the two-hour program broadcast Sunday night.

His online post has sparked more criticism, though not all of the comments on the mayor’s page endorsed his view.

Some commenters suggested the first settlements were in other places altogether, including Red Bay, N.L., and LaHave, N.S.

Others piled on the CBC.

“I, like a lot of the people of Nova Scotia, was very surprised and disturbed about the missing history of the first settlements at Port Royal,’’ said one person. “As a person who grew up in this area, I have always promoted Annapolis Royal ... I was very disappointed.’’

Others were more blunt: “Sad when we can’t get our own history straight,’’ wrote one.