Michael Kot, VP Factual Content for Canwest “We have a great sense of pride when Canadian productions and coproductions find a wide and engaged audience. Death or Canada found popular and critical acclaim in Canada and Ireland and more importantly honoured and enriched our shared history through documentary and active investigation.”
A few years back, Archaeological Services Inc. was retained to undertake an archaeological assessment of the Toronto International Film Festival Tower redevelopment site on the northwest corner of King and John Streets in downtown Toronto. Detailed archival research undertaken by Brian Narhi and David Robertson revealed that a portion of Toronto’s first general hospital was preserved under the parking lot at that location.
Tuesday April 7, 2009 at 7 pm
At the height of the Potato Famine, Toronto was inundated by thousands of destitute and starving Irish refugees, many of them suffering from typhus. The refugees outnumbered the city’s inhabitants by a margin of two to one. It was a public health crisis without precedent. Join us to learn more about this tragic and little-known chapter in Toronto’s history.
Presented in conjunction with our current exhibit “An Infectious Idea: 125 Years of Public Health in Toronto”
Admission is free but please call 416-392-0558 or email archives@toronto.ca to reserve your place.
Panelists: Robert G. Kearns, Chairman of Ireland Park Foundation, Professor Mark McGowan, Principal St. Michael’s College, author of Death or Canada: The Irish Famine Migration of 1847 and Toronto, Canada West; Craig Thompson, Executive Producer Ballinran Productions, and producer of History Television docudrama Death or Canada.
Derek Mooney of RTÉ Radio 1’s daily magazine show “Mooney” talks to director Ruan Magan prior to the film’s release in Ireland on November 25, 2008
Use RealPlayer and clip begins at the 41 minute mark.
Andy Barrie talks to Producer/Writer Craig Thompson on Metro Morning
Use RealPlayer
TV Times is the largest circulation TV listings book in Canada. 
In today’s paper, John Doyle calls DEATH OR CANADA an “excellent docudrama.”
While I’m at it, I’ll point out that if you watched the excellent docudrama Death or Canada, about the Irish famine refugees arriving in Toronto (it was on History Television last night), you may have wondered how it was received in Ireland. Well, it was well received, generally. On the night it aired, it was the second-most-watched program in the country. It was beaten in the ratings by – you’ve guessed it – Desperate Housewives.
Here are some blogs of interest
The Spirit’s Sword: Happy St. Patrick’s Day
Christopher Moore’s Canadian History
TORONTO — Those hard-boiled characters that actor Brian Dennehy is known to play?
Many of them are based on his stern grandfather, he says in explaining the plight of his Irish ancestors and his passion for the material in the new docudrama Death or Canada, about Toronto’s role in helping the victims of Ireland’s potato famine.
Shot in Ontario and Ireland, the film is narrated by Dennehy and airs on History Television on Monday, the eve of St. Patrick’s Day.
Read Full Article By Victoria Ahearn of The Canadian Press