Peter Mansbridge on Canada’s Legacy of Caring

At the 2014 annual HRPA conference held in Toronto, Ontario, Peter Mansbridge, renowned CBC broadcaster and news anchor, elicited both raucous laughter and awed silence as he recounted some of the most memorable experiences of his 45+ year career. These included being part of the “global village” of journalists present when the Berlin wall came down, being mistaken for the president of Poland on CNN during Pope John Paul II’s funeral, and meeting a newly inaugurated Barack Obama in 2008. But most remarkable for him were the moments that answered the nebulous question — what is a Canadian? He shared three experiences from his extensive world travels — taking place in Sri Lanka, the Netherlands and Afghanistan — that provided a definitive answer.