Come on in. Excuse me. Pardon me. Have a seat. Relax. Please pass the popcorn. Don't forget to turn off your cell phone. Shhh. The movie is about to begin. 

April showers bring May flowers and May flowers bring June brides!

"Why is it you can never hope to describe the emotion Africa creates? You are lifted. Out of whatever pit, unbound from whatever tie, released from whatever fear. You are lifted and you see it all from above." 
                                       ~ Fransesca Marciano, "Rules of the Wild"

It has been 25 years since Rick Hansen completed his Man in Motion World Tour, travelling 40,000 kilometres by wheelchair through 34 countries, to prove the potential of people with disabilities. His 26-month journey inspired a nation to believe anything is possible.

In this interview with CTV reporter Henry Kowalski, Rick looks back on the tour, speculates on his future and talks about hope. Shortly after, he established the Rick Hansen Foundation to find a cure for spinal cord injuries and to create more accessible communities.

Since 1988, the Foundation has turned the $26 million raised during the Tour into $252 million in investments for the cause. You can learn more or make a donation at the Rick Hansen Foundation website. 

This month’s full moon on May 6 will be the closest and largest of 2012. It’s considered a “super moon” and is expected to shine bigger and brighter than any other day of the year.

It brings to mind a classic bedtime story which has lulled countless numbers of children to sleep by the light of the moon.For a little fun, we have illustrated the story using stock footage from our archive.

Can you guess what the story is?

Sirens, flashing lights, fire engines, police cars, ambulances, helicopters. If your production features any sort of emergency, we'll rush to the rescue with just the right shot. 

How do you remember the colours of the rainbow? Some people use an acronym, using the first letter of each colour: Roy G. Biv 

RED    ORANGE   YELLOW   GREEN   BLUE   INDIGO   VIOLET

Our stock footage comes in any colour your heart desires.

Now that the Harper government has passed its omnibus crime bill, it is expected that more, longer and harsher sentences will pack prisons and other correctional facilities.  Inmates can look forward to far better conditions than those very harsh ones that led to one of the bloodiest prison riots in Canadian history.

In 1971, inmates spent at least 16 hours a day locked in virtual isolation in their cells, subject to restrictive prison rules and severe discipline for any rule violation. Helpless, hopeless and with no venue for complaint, the prisoners turned to violence in order to be heard.

Five guards were taken hostage and some prisoners brutally tortured. Two of the prisoners died, 13 were seriously injured and part of Kingston Penitentiary was destroyed.      

The idea to split the Northwest Territories into two territories was first introduced as a bill in the House of Commons way back in 1963, but never made it past the first reading.

In 1977, the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (ITC), formed to negotiate a land claims agreement with the federal government, formally proposed the creation of a Nunavut Territory.

The people in Nunavut wanted their own government, one that was closer to the people and more culturally-based, one that included the use of Inuktitut as its working language.

On April 14, 1982, 56% of voters in the Northwest Territories voted, in a boundary plebiscite (referendum), in favour of creating Nunavut. In November of that year, the Canadian government announced that it would be so.

The Territory of Nunavut (“our land” in Inuktitut) was born on April 1, 1999. The map of Canada was redrawn for the first time since 1949 when Newfoundland had joined Confederation.

This report looks back to the the 1982 Nunavut Referendum.

It's March and the sap is running. Maple madness in the sugar bush. Quintessentially Canadian, sweet maple syrup tells us spring is here.  Pass the pancakes, please.