Feature Film & TV Production Grant Helps Canada Remembers Our Heroes Educate, Entertain, and Honour

Tony Towstego is a successful grant recipient of our Feature Film & TV Production Grant for his TV documentary series, Canada Remembers Our Heroes, now in its second season.

Freedom does not come free. This is the message Tony Towstego passionately shares through his documentary series, Canada Remembers Our Heroes.

Canada Remembers Our Heroes, which can be streamed on Accessible Media Inc.’s AMI+ in Canada or seen on WPBS in the US, follows the remarkable stories of Canadian War Veterans from different eras. The series educates and entertains viewers while honouring our national heroes.

Viewers are introduced to such Canadian heroes as Reginald “Crash” Harrison. Harrison left his family farm in Saskatchewan to join the Royal Canadian Air Force as a bomber pilot in 1942. He earned his nickname, Crash, after surviving four separate plane crashes during WWII. Not only did Towstego and his team interview Harrison for Canada Remembers Our Heroes, but they also put the 101-year-old veteran back up in the air in a vintage Tiger Moth – the same plane he flew for his original training.

Though there is a lot of coverage and documentation of heroes like Harrison and other World War veterans, what makes Canada Remembers Our Heroes so unique is that they do not just focus on wars of the 20th century and before. “There’s nobody else in Canada doing as much on current-day veterans,” Towstego notes. “We specialize in this area.” Heroes such as Aaron Ledoux, a Canadian who served as a Canadian in the American Army, fighting terrorism after 9/11, are featured on the show.

Towstego and his all-Saskatchewan crew have filmed all across the province, from Prince Albert and North Battleford to Moose Jaw and Muskeg Lake. When on location, the crew spent money locally and built strong relationships, which led to an investment partnership with the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation.

Important shows like Canada Remembers Our Heroes cannot happen without investment partnerships and financing from organizations like Creative Saskatchewan. As Towstego humbly puts it, “Without Creative Saskatchewan’s support, thousands of children across Canada wouldn’t be learning about the sacrifices of these veterans. It’s historic. It’s bigger than us.”