From a Global news release:

“Health Care 911: The Plight of Immigrant Medical Doctors”

Saturday, September 30th at 7 p.m. ET/PT (60 mins.)

Health Care 911: The Plight of Immigrant Medical Doctors, digs deep to uncover the truth behind what is really going on in our health care system – following several foreign trained medical doctors who are trying desperately to get their credentials recognized in Canada. Told through the eyes of immigrant filmmaker Jiyar Gol, Jiyar goes head to head with the College of Physicians and Surgeons and BC’s Minister of Health looking for answers. Among the doctors profiled, viewers will meet Dr. Pervaiz Ahmed a general practitioner from Pakistan who now supports his wife and two children by working as a security guard. Dr. Alfredo Tura from Italy who came to Canada only to work as a nurse for ten years before obtaining a residency and Dr. Rafet Jhameel from Iraq who volunteers his time in a clinic because he is not allowed to practice medicine.

About ‘GLOBAL CURRENTS’: Global National’s Kevin Newman hosts this critically acclaimed documentary series committed to revealing extraordinary perspectives and issues affecting all Canadians. Each one-hour, independently-produced, weekly documentary represents the talents of Canada’s best socio-political, environmental, humanist and scientific documentary filmmakers.

Other documentaries in the series include:

o Breaking Ranks – October 7
o Dads Who Fought Back – October 14
o Polygamy’s Lost Boys – October 21
o The Stamp Fishery: Loss of a Dream – October 28
o Somba K’e – The Money Place – November 4
o DecAIDS: Anything is Possible – November 11
o 100 Days of Freedom – November 18
o The Damage Done: A Drug War Odyssey – November 25
o Rich Nation – December 2
o Thin Ice – December 9

From a CHUM media release:

A New Series takes an Intimate Look at the Making of an International Fashion Magazine ith “FashionTelevision’s” Jeanne Beker

Get the Real Story Behind the Front Page

Just how much work goes into securing a cover at one of fashion’s hottest magazines? Find out when the new series, “Cover Stories” with Jeanne Beker, premieres on A-Channel, Friday, September 29th.

The broadcast schedule is as follows:

A-Channel Barrie/Toronto                Friday, September 29th at 8:30 pm ET
A-Channel Ottawa                        Friday, September 29th at 8:30 pm ET
A-Channel London                        Friday, September 29th at 8:30 pm ET
A-Channel Victoria                      Sunday, October 1st at 8:30 pm PT

“FashionTelevision’s” Host Jeanne Beker knows the fashion world inside and out – she’s been covering the international style scene for over 20 years. As one of the top style correspondents in the world, Jeanne was a trailblazer and one of the first to cover fashion as entertainment on TV. While television was the medium that first put her into the international spotlight, Jeanne has since expanded her influence and expertise as Editor-In-Chief of the oversized glossy magazine, “FQ”.

Jeanne’s high-profile and credibility have given her what every journalist strives for – access!! Whether it’s top designers, photographers, models or celebrities, Jeanne knows them all and more importantly, they all know her. Now, she’s leading a team of professionals, including international media entrepreneur Michael King and the talented groups at FQ and SIR magazines, in a documentary series that takes viewers behind-the-scenes of the fashion industry.

“Cover Stories” brings the inner workings of the alluring and fascinating fashion world to audiences, exposing the egos behind the icons and the drama behind the dresses. The series will examine the industry through the eyes of those inside the fast paced, high fashion world, giving a rare perspective from those who know it best. So put on your best Dolce & Gabbana, strap on your Jimmy Choo’s and get ready for an “all access, VIP pass” to some of the worlds most exclusive destinations, parties and events, and best of all, a no-holds-barred portrayal of creating Canada’s international magazines of style.

“Cover Stories” is co-executive produced by Jeanne Beker and David Greener.

Don’t miss the premiere of “Cover Stories” Friday, September 29th on A-Channel. “Cover Stories” also airs Fridays at 8:30 pm ET (5:30 pm PT) on FashionTelevisionChannel.

From the Toronto Sun:

• Hockey night on CBC: CBC dips into the well again to bring us yet another documentary on shinny because, really, it has nothing better to do

From a CBC media release:

Epic five-part series traces Canada’s first steps on the ice

Hockey: A People’s History launches this Sunday, September 17th at 8 p.m. on CBC Television with back-to-back episodes.

In the premiere episode, A Simple Game, the origins of hockey are traced back to the ancient pyramids and seen in different forms throughout the world. When the puck is dropped in 1875 one winter’s night in Montreal, a young country has a new passion that explodes across class and gender, creating Canada’s most honoured game.

The episode traces the remarkable evolution of the game and introduces the men and women from all across Canada who will make it their own. It’s the story of visionaries, of a Renaissance man such as James Creighton, the unlikely candidate to be this country’s founding father of hockey, Lord Stanley of Preston, who gives the sport its Holy Grail and the Mic Mac Indians who emerged as the first manufacturers of hockey equipment.

In the second episode, The Money Game, millionaires and mercenaries team up to create professional hockey. For the first time, young men from the working class will make a living playing hockey. The creation of the Montreal Canadians and advancement of hockey’s first super stars, like Fred “Cyclone” Taylor, the highest paid athlete of the day, leads to the creation of the NHL. The structure of hockey as we know it today is formed when the Patrick brothers build Canada’s first artificial ice arenas in Vancouver and Victoria and conceive rule changes that are still in use in today’s game. Among them, the introduction of the blue line, line substitutions, post schedule playoffs, points for assists and forward passing – the key innovation that leads to hockey becoming the fastest game on two feet.

Hockey: A People’s History will air every Sunday at 8 p.m. until October 15 with two one-hour episodes each evening. Series narrator Paul Gross is accompanied by hockey “philosophers” (experts in the field) Wayne Gretzky, Ken Dryden, Michael McKinley, Alison Griffiths, Jean Beliveau, Stephen Brunt, Don Cherry, Daniele Sauvageau, and Bruce Dowbiggin, among others. Hockey: A People’s History is a collaboration between CBC Television and Société Radio-Canada and is produced by the award-winning team who created the nationally acclaimed series Canada: A People’s History.

GREENPEACE: Making a Stand
premieres on Global Currents September 23 7 p.m. ET/PT

“When you come from that honest place in your heart of doing what you really love and believe in, then miracles happen.”  Rex Weyler

GREENPEACE: Making a Stand, a documentary based on Rex Weyler’s recent book Greenpeace: The Inside Story (Raincoast 2004), will go to broadcast on Global Television on Saturday, September 23, 2006 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

As a founding member of Greenpeace, Weyler is a key character through out the program, alongside the now-deceased Bob Hunter, whose combination of media savvy and sheer chutzpah inspired many of the early Greenpeace campaigns. With dramatic action footage, still photographs, lively interviews with unforgettable characters, evocative period and contemporary music, the documentary explores what inspires people to risk their lives for their beliefs – to sail a ship into a nuclear test zone, to get between a pod of whales and an explosive harpoon, or to block bulldozers mowing down a forest. This compelling documentary looks at the 35 year evolution of Greenpeace from the early days of the environmental movement in the 1970s, to the front lines of a potentially dangerous campaign in Argentina.

Continue reading Upcoming episode: Global Currents, Sept. 23 →