CAPTAIN CANADA: 1
Not really a comic book superhero, I like to think of this “Captain Canada” as an audio cartoon character. He was created by Garry Dunford, a Toronto Sun columnist, for CBC Radio which it should be added broadcast another cartoon style show “Johnny Chase, secret agent of space”. The former show ran in the 1970’s.
Two prominent entertainment personalities portrayed the characters in the show. Allan McFee, was the voice for “the mild mannered, mellifluous Michael McCloud, a CBC staff announcer who became – in times of crises- Captain Canada, Guardian of the Nation’s Guilt.” “Captain Canada” and all the other characters were voiced by Bruno Gerrusi later of Beachcombers fame.
To get a sense of what the “Captain” and the program was like let us listen to Dunford:
“Much in the manner of Marvel superheroes to follow, the flawed Captain was a walking superwreak, filled with doubts and guilts about bilingualism and biculturalism.
Captain Canada wore a suit of fleur-de-lis and lions. … He was faster than a frozen turbotrain. Whenever he was astounded, he’d shout “Manic damn”. Evil U.S. moguls were always trying to buy up Canadian institutions like the CBC or the Captain himself. He was continually flummoxed by uncivil civil servants. But through it all, he fought to maintain our independence, defend our tattered ideals.
Once, when Captain Canada saved thousands of Prairie farmers from drowning in the dreaded Saskatchewan wheat pool, they asked the Cap how they could repay him.
“Think bilingual thoughts,” Captain Canada told ‘em. “Be bicultural in your daily life. Speak in two languages out of both sides of your mouth. Remember: Canada is more than a country. It’s a branch plant.”
The tattered artifacts of this program (a post card showing the Captain and his sidekick “Groon”, scripts and taped airchecks have been secreted away in the National Archives.
SOURCE:
Article newspaper:
Toronto Sun, 6 Mar.1992: “Captain Canada.” Writ., Garry Dunford: 6.
Globe and Mail, 2 June 1979: “It’s Johnny Chase, secret agent of space!” Writ., Catlin Kelly: 37.