CBC Digital Archives

This Hour has Seven Days: Opinions fly

In just two seasons between 1964 and 1966, This Hour has Seven Days staked its claim as the most defiant and controversial program in Canadian broadcasting history.~ Created by Douglas Leiterman and Patrick Watson, Seven Days launched a new era of public affairs television, actively taking on the role of the nation's ombudsman and interrogator. Some — including certain members of the CBC brass in Ottawa — called it "sensationalism," "arrogant" and a breach of journalistic neutrality. But Canadians loved it. Millions tuned in every Sunday night at 10 p.m. to watch the show everyone would be talking about the next day. The CBC Digital Archives presents nine complete episodes here, selected from the 50 programs made before the show was cancelled. Due to copyright issues, satirical sketches and songs that originally aired between news segments have been edited out.

From the sublime to the ridiculous, this week's episode bounces from chirpy advice maven Ann Landers (giving tips to teens on love and marriage) to a visceral encounter with the merchants of hate literature on Canada's streets and back roads. Kicking off the show, Seven Days pays tribute in stories and photographs to Second World War stalwart Winston Churchill, 90, as he battles for his life. Finally, a critical profile of Albert Schweitzer and his mission in Africa asks why the good doctor doesn't take better advantage of modern medicine.
• Born in 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was first elected to the British Parliament in 1900. He served several prime ministers in both the Liberal and the Conservative parties before he was appointed prime minister in 1940 by King George VI after Neville Chamberlain resigned. He remained at the helm throughout the Second World War but was defeated in the 1945 general election by Labour party leader Clement Attlee. He was returned to the premiership from 1951 to 1955, when he retired from politics for good. He died on Jan. 24, 1965, one week after this segment aired. He was given a state funeral.
  • Ann Landers, born Esther Pauline Friedman, wrote her popular advice column for more than 45 years. She took over the column from the first Ann Landers, a nurse named Ruth Crowley, when she won a contest after Crowley died in 1955. Based in Chicago, her replies to readers' letters were published across North America. Landers died in 2002. She was 84.

• Albert Schweitzer won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1952 for his philosophy of the "reverence for life." He died just seven months after this episode aired. He was 90.

• A surge in hate literature in the mid-1960s prompted Justice Minister Guy Favereau, interviewed in this clip, to convene the Cohen Committee to study what legislative action might be taken. Their work resulted in amendments to the Criminal Code, specifically sections 318-320, adopted by Parliament in 1970, that address hate propaganda. 

Medium: Television
Program: This Hour has Seven Days
Broadcast Date: Jan. 17, 1965
Guest(s): Guy Favreau, Ann Landers, Gerald McKnight, Marion Myer, Albert Schweitzer, David Stanley, Dr. Karl Stern, John Ross Taylor, Walter Thompson, Pastor Wiomoeller
Host: John Drainie, Laurier LaPierre
Reporter: Don Gordon, Tom Koch, Larry Zolf
Duration: 56:03

Last updated: April 15, 2013

Page consulted on April 15, 2013

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