Nova Scotia premier riled by rewrite of history

HALIFAX — The premier of Nova Scotia has added his voice to a growing chorus of complaints about a TV docu-drama about Canada’s history.

Stephen McNeil said the CBC program, Canada: The Story of Us, was wrong to assert that the country’s first permanent European settlement was established in 1608 near what is now Quebec City.

The premier said the history of Canada started three years earlier, when French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded a settlement at Port Royal, N.S., now a national historic site in his riding.

“The history of Canada started in 1605 in Port Royal when [Mi’kmaq Grand Chief Henri] Membertou welcomed Champlain here in peace and friendship,” the premier said Thursday after making an announcement in Fall River, N.S.

“It is unfortunate that people will try to rewrite history. The fact of the matter is that Canada was founded here. Multicultural Canada began here in Port Royal.”

The premier said Canada’s public broadcaster should correct the mistake.

Also Thursday, Nova Scotia’s Acadian federation issued a statement saying the first episode of the series misrepresented Canadian history.

The advocacy group echoed the premier’s complaint, saying the first permanent European settlement was indeed at Port Royal, “contrary to what was stated in the television series.”

A spokesman for CBC has said the two-hour show focused on Quebec City area because, unlike Port Royal, it has maintained a permanent population without interruption from 1608 onward.

“It’s also important to note that this series features key moments in Canadian history,” Chuck Thompson said in a statement. “It is not meant to be a comprehensive and linear account of our nation’s history.”