Mansbridge looks forward to return to Sudbury

BY HEIDI ULRICHSEN

The anchor of CBC's The National, Peter Mansbridge, says he'll focus on the rehabilitation of Greater Sudbury's environment during a live broadcast from the city on Monday.

Mansbridge will read the news from the parking lot of the Sudbury Catholic District School Board parking lot on D'Youville St.

“For the last three or four years, we've been trying to take The National on the road as much as we can and get it out of Toronto,” he told Northern Life during a phone interview Friday.

“I'm quite excited about this series because while the debate in Canada often turns to saying we're not doing enough to help the environment, it's clear in some parts of the country, real progress has been made," said the well-known broadcaster. "I think the Sudbury story is one people just don't know about.”

The news crew will show up around 1 pm to set up, and Mansbridge will drive or fly to the city. He'll be broadcasting starting at 9 pm.
Members of the public are welcome to come and watch.

The National airs on CBC at 10 pm for those who want to watch at home.
Mansbridge says he'll be speaking to well-know Laurentian biology professor Dr. David Pearson during the broadcast.

“I hear that he (Pearson) is a wonderful guy and a great talker. They call him the Bob McDonald of the north," he said. "Bob is our science guy. He's able to take complicated subjects and make average people understand what he's talking about.”

A CBC journalist, Leslie McKinnon, has been in the city for the past few days putting together a short documentary about changes to our environment.

“For those of us who have grown up in the 1960s, I don't think we'll ever forget the image of it being the closest thing to looking like the the moon," said Mansbridge. "The astronauts were taken there and shown what it looks like, and things like that."

The National will head to Calgary on Wednesday for a similar broadcast.

The anchor says he has been to Sudbury many times over the past 40 years on family vacations. He hasn't been here for about 10 years, so he's excited to see any changes to the city.

The people of Sudbury made a decision to “go green” about 20 or 30 years ago, and they succeeded, says Mansbridge.

“Sudbury is an example of where things actually have got done for the better, and there are lessons to be learned there.”

The media relations officer for the school board, Regan Corelli, says he first got wind that Mansbridge wanted to use the parking lot as a backdrop for the news program last week.

A local French CBC camera operator was filming in the parking lot, and Corelli found out he was scouting a location with a good view of the city at night for The National.


“It came as a surprise to everybody,” says Corelli.

“We couldn't release (information about the shoot) until today when we got confirmation because there were a number of sites in Sudbury they were looking at, and they finally told us late last night they had selected our (school) board.”