By MYRON LOVE Last November, our provincial government announced a mandatory Holocaust education curriculum for all Grade 6, Grade 9 and Grade 11 Social Studies students in Manitoba.  But, as the saying goes, the devil is in the details – as in where do teachers find additional resources to help them teach the curriculum?
The answer was to be found at the Jewish Heritage Centre of Western Canada (JHCWC) which, in addition to its mandate to preserve and highlight the history of Jewish life in Western Canada, has long been a leader in Holocaust education in our province. For nearly 30 years, students have come to the Holocaust Education Centre at the Asper JCC for presentations on the Holocaust and antisemitism.  As well, for the past 25 years, the JHCWC has organized an annual Holocaust and Human Rights symposium, which was previously held at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre and is now held online,  drawing up to 3000 to 5000 students annually from grades 6-12 from throughout the province.  Thus, the JHCWC was a natural fit in partnering with the government in introducing the new Holocaust Education curriculum.
Last March, reports Belle Jarniewski, the JHCWC’s executive director, 200 Winnipeg teachers attended a Holocaust education training program – led by Jarniewski and Dr. Sharon Graham (who is Community Planning and Allocations Lead for the Jewish Federation), as well as Toronto experts from the Azrieli Holocaust Survivor Memoirs program, also from a program called “Facing History and Ourselves” – at the Shaarey Zedek Synagogue. Another 85 teachers participated in a similar program the following day in Brandon.
“One of the teachers from the Turtle Mountain School Division who had attended the session in Brandon reached out to us,” Jarniewski recounts.  “He hoped we could come to Killarney so that more teachers in his school division could receive professional development on the new curriculum.”
Thus, on Tuesday, September 8, Belle Jarniewski and Sharon Graham travelled to Killarney in the southwest corner of Manitoba to lead a morning workshop for some 125 teachers working in the Turtle Mountain School Division.  (The division offices are located in Killarney.)
“It was the first day back for teachers and we were given a half day of their day-long in-service,” Jarniewski notes.
“In this way, we could reach more teachers in the area than if they had to travel to Winnipeg and find substitutes for their classes. It is a lovely school,” she adds, “and we received a really warm and positive response.”
Dr. Sharon Graham’s role, she notes, was to present on Jews and Judaism, Jewish history in general as well as Jewish life in Manitoba, from the earliest days of immigration until now.  She also gave examples of the rich diversity of Jewish life. “The response to Sharon was very positive.”
“Teaching about Jews and Judaism as well as about the millennia old history of antisemitism is an important and integral part of the new curriculum. Many of the people in rural areas may have likely not met a Jew before,” Jarniewski suggests.
“My role,” she continues, “was to provide an overview of the curriculum itself and to offer many pedagogical resources that are available to help teachers feel comfortable in teaching this complex subject.  We also recommended a number of books and films that teachers can access as well as the Azrieli Holocaust Survivor Memoirs Series, which offers books in both English and French to teachers at no cost whatsoever. On our Jewish Heritage Centre website, we have a comprehensive list of books and films which are useful for teaching the Holocaust, as well as many resources from Canada and around the world.”
Jarniewski also mentioned the importance of digital literacy so that students are able to identify appropriate resources.
One book that she specifically advised the teachers to avoid is a popular work of fiction – in both book and film form, titled “The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas.”  The plot purports to show a friendship that develops between a young concentration camp prisoner and the young son of the camp commandant.
“It’s really problematic,” Jarniewski points out.  “Both historians and educators have pointed out the many historical inaccuracies throughout the narrative which promote dangerous misconceptions and misplaced sympathy regarding the Holocaust.”
While Israel-Palestine history is not part of the curriculum, many educators in Canada have noted that children bring up the current conflict in the classroom. It is difficult to find materials that are accessible for children, and which are historically accurate, Jarniewski says.
“We are aware that this topic can engender difficult conversations in the classroom,” she notes.  “We encourage educators to create a safe and respectful space in their classrooms and to prioritizes dialogue over debate.”
One film that she did recommend on this subject  is a 9-minute animated video called “Once Upon A Time In Palestine: Israel-Palestine Explained For Kids” through the lives of childhood friends – one Jewish and the other Arab – from their childhood in the last days of the Ottoman Empire to the present time.
Jarniewski notes that the JHCWC welcomes invitations from school divisions across the province in the near future. 

By BERNIE BELLAN (Posted Sept. 23, 8:49 pm) I was coming out of the Asper Campus today around 5:30 pm when I saw a familiar figure – my second cousin Marty Green (son of the late Sid Green) standing on the sidewalk. Marty was walking around quietly. He seemed to be holding some kind of papers in his hand.

I called out to him, he came over and handed me a purple leaflet that had a drawing and some printing on it. I read what was on the leaflet and thought: “Okay, this is reasonable enough. Surely he’s entitled to express his opinion.”
Boy, was I wrong! In short order three police cars arrived on the scene. There must have been at least eight police there at one point, along with two cadets. Wow! All this for distributing leaflets?
I continued watching what ensued – but I’m not exactly sure what happened. All that I know is that at one point Marty was handcuffed with his hands behind his back and put into a police car. What the hell was going on? I wondered.
Had Marty said something to the police? I should note that, in all fairness, Marty has a track record of getting himself into trouble with the law.
But still, is it now a crime to hand out leaflets in a public space? I again wondered. I stayed around for about 1/2 hour, but I had to go somewhere else for a while. I did return though about 1/2 hour later and there was still one police car there. I saw two policemen engaged in conversation with Ruth Ashrafi, who’s Regional Director for B’nai Brith in Manitoba. I asked one of the policemen whether Marty had broken any laws.
His response was: “Read Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Subsection 2.”
I waited unit I got home to look up Section 319 of the Criminal Code, Subsection 2. Here’s the Google description of what that section of the criminal code is about: “Section 319(2) of the Canadian Criminal Code governs the wilful promotion of hatred. It is a criminal offence to intentionally promote hatred against an identifiable group through statements made outside of private conversation. [1, 2, 3]”
“You’ve got to be kidding,” I thought. A Jew handing out a leaflet that’s critical of what fanatic settlers are doing on the West Bank is guilty of a hate crime?
Surely there must be more to this than that.
So I called WPS and asked whether there was a report of an incident outside the Asper Campus between 5:30 and 6:30 this evening? The person answering the phone said there was an incident, but said they couldn’t provide any further information.
I did call the media line and left a message, asking someone to call me because I was interested in learning more about what had happened – and why so many police were at the scene for what, for all intents and purposes, seemed nothing more than one person handing out leaflets.

I was so perplexed by what I had seen that I also posed this question to Google: “Is it against the law to hand out leaflets outside the Asper Campus?” (I thought that maybe there was some new kind of bylaw that had been passed of which I was unaware.) Here’s the answer I got:
No, it is not against the law to hand out leaflets on a public sidewalk outside the Asper Campus. Under Canadian law, peaceful distribution of leaflets on public property is a constitutionally protected right under Section 2(b) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees freedom of expression. [1]
However, the legal landscape shifts significantly based on exactly where you are standing, what your leaflets say, and how you behave.

Where You Stand Matters

I •	Public Sidewalks: If you are on the public city sidewalk outside the perimeter of the campus, you have the legal right to distribute pamphlets peacefully. A City of Winnipeg proposal in early 2026 (the Safe Access to Vulnerable Infrastructure Bylaw) attempted to ban "nuisance demonstrations" within 100 metres of community and cultural hubs, but after a major public outcry regarding Charter rights, the city councillor withdrew the proposed law. No such buffer zone exists today.

[1, 2, 3]
•	Inside the Campus Property: The Asper Jewish Community Campus in Winnipeg's Old Tuxedo neighbourhood is private property. Private property owners have the legal right to control or ban the distribution of materials on their premises. If you step onto campus property (such as their courtyard, parking lot, or inside buildings) to pass out leaflets, campus security can legally ask you to stop or leave. Refusing to do so can result in a fine under provincial trespassing laws. [1, 2]

Legal Limitations on Leafleting
While you can hand out leaflets on the public sidewalk, you must follow general laws regarding your conduct and the content of your message:
• No Obstruction: You cannot physically block or trap people, prevent them from entering the building, or obstruct pedestrian or vehicle traffic. [1]
• No Harassment or Intimidation: Leafleting must be peaceful. Loudly shouting, using unauthorized megaphones, or intimidating visitors can lead to police intervention or local noise violations. [1]
• Hate Speech Laws: The content of your leaflets cannot cross into criminal territory. Under Canada’s Criminal Code, distributing materials that promote hatred or contain antisemitic or defamatory statements against individuals can trigger police investigations and criminal charges. [1, 2]
Okay, with all that in mind, you be the judge. Do you think the leaflet Marty was handing out would constitute “hate speech?”
I’ve placed a call to Marty, asking him to call me to let me know what actually happened once the police came over to talk to him. At this point I know nothing more about the matter, but gee, is this what it’s come to: A citizen quietly handing out leaflets that I dare suggest have nothing at all to do with hate speech is apprehended by WPS?
And sure, I got an earful from one of the police who said to me that after what happened in Belleville you can’t be too careful these days, but come on, show a little common sense fellas – (and they were all men except for one female cadet).

(Updated Sept. 23 10:54 pm and amended Sept. 24 5:02 pm) I just got off the phone with Marty Green. He gave me a further clarification of what happened. Apparently he had been at the Campus on several other occasions – handing out the same leaflet. Marty said that he had received a lot of angry comments, but it wasn’t going to dissuade him from handing out the same leaflet as you’ve already seen. Until today though, the police hadn’t shown up.

This time they told him he was going to be charged with a hate crime and disturbing the peace. It was at that point he was handcuffed and put into a police car, he told me.

It seems though that, after some discussion among various officers who were there – and from what I could see it was two older, grey-haired police who seemed to be the ones in charge (Correction Sept. 24: Marty says it was two younger officers who arrested him, not the older guys) – the decision was taken to release Marty (Correction Sept. 24: Marty says: “They released me on an “‘undertaking’ that I wouldn’t go within 200m of 123 Doncaster, but I refused to sign the undertaking. So I didn’t agree to it. But I would be arrested immediately if I violated it. I’ll have to talk to my lawyer to see if I can challenge the undertaking (that’s why I refused to sign it). I was unable to contact a lawyer while I was in custody and was told that the hate crime charge would be dropped.”

The disturbing the peace charge, however, Marty was told, will still stand, and he can expect to have to make a court appearance at some point in the future. (He guessed it would be some time in December.)

Marty said that he thought there had been strong pressure put on the police to do something about his handing out leaflets, although when I asked him if he could give any specific names as to who might have exerted that pressure, he said he didn’t know.

I’ve deliberately avoided editorializing as I’ve been writing this, but my last word on what happened today is that if we can’t allow peaceful criticism of some aspects of Israeli policy – and I’m not talking about the kind of sloganeering we’re all so used to hearing and seeing from true haters of Israel, such as condemnation of Israeli “genocide,” “settler colonialism,” “apartheid”, and similar epithets, then we’re not the democratic Jewish community Winnipeg used to be.

I hope to have more on this story – which to me represents the kind of fissure that has developed within Jewish communities in so many parts of the world. So, keep checking back (and it’s not so that I can make any money by having you read this story. If you haven’t noticed yet, there are only two ads on this website. I maintain this website to provide an alternative point of view from the kind you’re going to get from all our established community organizations in Winnipeg.)

(Added Sept. 24): I have phoned the WPS media line twice now trying to get some understanding how an individual walking on a public sidewalk in front of the Asper Campus, handing out leaflets to anyone who was willing to take them – and not confronting or yelling at anyone, can be charged with “disturbing the peace,” let alone a “hate crime.” (At least the WPS officers who were going to charge Marty with a hate crime came to their senses on that one and dropped that charge.)

Look, I can understand people being on edge – especially with what happened in Belleville. I’m not naive or deliberately trying to downplay people’s nervousness. But heck, are we now at a point where anyone handing out leaflets in front of the Campus can be arrested? I realize members of the WPS are under tremendous pressure to “do something,” and I could tell by that comment from the young officer who told me to go read Section 319 Subsection 2 of the Criminal Code that members of the WPS have been given lessons about “hate crimes” and particular instruction to be on the watch for anything that might look like a potentially dangerous situation for members of the Jewish community, but come on fellas – use some common sense. Is that all it takes to get someone arrested: An individual or individuals say that they don’t feel “safe” – simply because someone is exercising his lawful right to hand out leaflets in front of the Campus?

(Note: I don’t allow comments on this website because when I activate the “Add comment” module I get inundated with spam, but if you want me to publish a comment, send me an email at jewishp@mymts.net, and I’ll add it to the end of this story. So long as the comment isn’t defamatory I’ll print it.)

Introduction by BERNIE BELLAN Perry Rosemond was a well- known television producer who grew up in the North End of Winnipeg before moving to Toronto and establishing himself as one of Canadian television’s brightest talents in the 1960s, later to go on to even greater success in the US before returning to Canada in the 1980s.

Rosemond passed away in Toronto on August 20 at the age of 89.

In August 2020, Gerry Posner interviewed Rosemond for the Jewish Radio Hour. I contacted Rochelle Zucker, the longtime producer of that show, to see whether she could send me an audio file of that interview – which she was able to do. Following is a complete transcript of the often hilarious interview Gerry did with Perry Rosemond:

Gerry Posner: Welcome to the Jewish Hour radio show. This is Gerry Posner, and I’m delighted to be back on the radio once again with a guest whom I believe you will find interesting and informative. So today I feel very fortunate to have on the show a real Winnipeg legend, a man who has made his way in the world of the arts, and that is no small achievement. He has been a big name in the field of entertainment as a writer, a director, a producer for many years. I speak of Perry Rosemond. Perry, welcome to the Jewish Hour radio show.

Rosemond: Thank you, Ger.

Posner: I imagine you might have even listened to this show when you were a youngster.

Rosemond: Well, I have to tell you that my grandmother would call us every Sunday when I was about seven years of age, and she would say, “Turn on the French station at 1 o’clock and you’ll hear a very beautiful program.” And that was Noah Whitman’s show. And here I am, a mere 73 years later, on the show. Remarkable.

Posner: Well, I’m glad you made it. Tell me something, Perry. Who were your parents?

Rosemond: My parents were Max and Mona Rosemond, two of the most beautiful-looking people on the face of the earth, and where is genetics when you need it? But we lived in my grandmother’s house. You called it your grandmother’s house, even though there was a grandfather there. But she ruled the roost. And there were 14 of us in a house that wasn’t that big. But my dad was a clothing designer. My mother was a showroom model. And my mother wore a girdle, but she was never fat. And I later learned in life that the reason she wore the girdle was so that when the buyers in the showroom pinched her, it didn’t hurt as much. Those were my parents.

Posner: Well, where was the house that you grew up in?

Rosemond: The house I grew up in was at the corner of Manitoba and Andrews in North Winnipeg.

Posner: So you spent quite a few years there.

Rosemond: Oh, yes. I spent quite a few years there, but we moved. My parents were sort of upwardly mobile, and we moved from Andrews and Manitoba to Lansdowne Avenue. That was an improvement. Oh, my goodness. I had my own room.

Posner: Were there more of you than just Perry? I mean, were there siblings?

Rosemond: No, there was just me. But I was surrounded by cousins who were as close as brothers and sisters, really. And we stayed close for our entire lives. So there was a huge, huge sense of family at 193 Andrews.

Posner: Who would these cousins be?

Rosemond: My cousin Sonny and my cousin Mickey.

Posner: Both Rosemonds?

Rosemond: No, they were on my mother’s side.

Posner: What was her (maiden) name?

Rosemond: Magid.

Posner: MAGGOT. Really? Okay.

Rosemond: And Sonny and Mickey were four years older than me and exploited me at every opportunity. My uncle Dave Rosemond used to manage the Beacon Theater in Winnipeg.

Posner: In the North End.

Rosemond: Yes. And they would go to the Beacon Theater with me and get in for free because of me and still take my 10 cents that my mother gave me for the popcorn. So their mission in life was to exploit Perry Rosemond.

Posner: And you remember it, too.

Rosemond: I do indeed. I do indeed.

Posner: So you went to school where?

Rosemond: William Whyte School.

Posner: And then did you go to (St. Johns) Tech?

Rosemond: I went to Aberdeen and then to Tech. And at William Whyte School, I would go to sleep at night and pray to wake up Ukrainian so that the daily beatings would stop. But it was 50% Ukrainian and 50% Jewish.

Posner: Yeah, you knew what it was like to be a Jew.

Rosemond: Absolutely.

Posner: Did you do any studying in Hebrew or Yiddish?

Rosemond : I did. I went to Hebrew school. And in those days, I sounded like Georgie Jessel, for God’s sakes. In those days, I can’t believe I said that. If you’re going to cut anything, cut “in those days.” Please, Ger, do me a favor. But in those days, the instructors were measured by how much pain they could inflict on the students.

Posner: And you had a bit of that.

Rosemond: A bit of that. I was once thrown against a radiator by Mar Gross, and I still bear the pains to this day.

Posner: But you weren’t a product of Cantor Brownstone’s choir.

Rosemond: No, that was Alan Blye, and he was my friend and my roommate when I moved to Toronto to become an actor.

Posner: Who were some of your buddies in Winnipeg growing up? I guess Blye was one of them.

Rosemond: Blye was very close. Bugsy Lavich was very close, very close, and probably the leading bookmaker of his generation.

Posner: He’s well-known.

Rosemond: Indeed, and remains today my closest and dearest friend. And whenever I think about Bernie, I say to myself, how advantageous is it to have a friend who is the smartest human being in the world? I mean, if I need to know anything, he knows it. He knows it.

Posner: Did you go to university in Winnipeg at all?

Rosemond: I went to the University of Manitoba, and that’s where I got the bug to go into theater because I was Troilus in “Troilus and Cressida.” I was Cassius in “Julius Caesar,” and I was hopeless in the classroom. But it just took me by storm. It really did. And I ended up going to Toronto.

Posner: Well, just hold on a second. Were you not involved in some fashion in the creation of the MTC, the Manitoba Theatre Centre, in its very early days – with John Hirsch?

Rosemond: I was a founding member of the Manitoba Theatre Centre with Gordon Pinsent and Len Cariou – who went on to win a Tony, and Donnelly Rhodes, who went on to be a terrific influence in theatre in Canada. And I was one of the founding members. And you know what was strange, Gerry, is that I thought, boy, if this guy John Hirsch is in Winnipeg, what must they be like in New York or the West End in England? And I never met his match. But boy, could he intimidate me. I was in a play, “Death of a Salesman.” I was playing Bernard, and he came up to me and he said, “Mr. Rosemond, don’t you think you ought to reconsider your interpretation of that lawyer you’re playing?” And it would have been a fair note, except it was given to me after dress rehearsal. I’ve never seen a man customize performance the way he did — everybody got exactly what they needed. He was beyond brilliant. He went to his demise as my mentor and my idol and my friend.

Posner: So he was your introduction to the world of arts.

Rosemond: Absolutely. And strangely enough, we hooked up later when — oh, many, many years later — when he was head of drama at CBC, and he brought me back from Los Angeles to create the program “King of Kensington.”

Posner: When you made that decision somewhere in the ’50s, you’re in your, I guess, 20s, and you make a decision, “I’m going to move to Toronto, and I’m going to go into the arts as a career.” Your parents must have looked at you like you were out of your head.

Rosemond: Do you know, Gerry, it was funny, because beyond the initial beating about the head and shoulders that my father laid on me, they never stopped supporting me. They stood by me, and I can’t tell you how grateful I am for that. 100% support. Let me chart my own course.

Posner: But the odds were stacked against you. Come on.

Rosemond: Oh, tell me about it. I mean, it was about 15 minutes before I realized I wasn’t a very good television actor. I remember sitting in the basement of 42 Bedford Road in Toronto with Gordon Pinsent, who was my other roommate, with Alan Blye, and we were watching a guy who stole a part from me. He was playing the part I was born to play. And I watched it for about 10 minutes, and I said, “You know what, Gordon? He’s better than I would have been.” And Gordon said, “Perry, get out of acting. You don’t have the ego for it.” And I’d been sneaking in and out of control rooms all this time, Gerry. So I got bitten by the behind the scenes. And that’s where I headed.

Posner: So you actually gave up the acting. You went into production.

Rosemond: Exactly, exactly.

Posner: Well, maybe you were fortunate that that happened early on in the career. In your career, as I gather, you’ve touched the lives of some pretty big names. Tell me if I’m wrong here. Dick Van Dyke?

Rosemond: Yes. Len Cariou, Cloris Leachman, Julie Andrews, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Donnie and Marie, Johnny Cash, and the list goes on.

Posner: How does this all come about?

Rosemond: Oh, Johnny Cash. That was the best time of my life. Two years in Nashville. I’ll tell you how it came about. Johnny wanted documentary elements in his variety show, and I had trained in both in Canada. So I wasn’t the best documentary filmmaker, and I wasn’t the best comedy variety producer, but the fact that I could do both got me the job directing his show. And when they introduced me to him — it was during the hippie era, so I had the long hair and the whole nine yards.

Posner You weren’t exactly a feature presenter. You didn’t present well.

Rosemond: No, I didn’t present well because Johnny said, “Where are you going to film this week?” And I said, “I’m going to Hazard, Kentucky to film coal miners.” And Johnny said, “Perry, if you go into Hazard, Kentucky on a Saturday night with that long hair and them bell-bottoms, they’re going to kill you.” So this whole Hollywood invasion of middle America was absolutely hysterical. But the show was a big hit.

Posner: Give me the career path. You came here (Toronto) in the ’50s.

Rosemond: OK, I came here in the ’50s, late ’50s, as an actor. Right. Shared a room with Gordon Pinsent and Alan Blye. Right. We were very competitive, but Alan really won because he had a role on a continuing starring role on one of the big variety shows. And if I’m not mistaken, he actually declared Gordon Pinsent and me as dependents on his 1959 tax form. So he definitely was the more successful of the group. Then I went back to Winnipeg in 1960, and I applied as a production assistant. And there were no openings, but there were producer-directors that had quit, and so they gave me a job as a producer-director.

Posner: So I get this is at CBC in Winnipeg, correct?

Rosemond So I got 4,200 bucks for the year, and I did Metro News and a talk show, and then I did a show called “Red River Jamboree,” which was fully sponsored by Kraft Foods, always in the top ten. And, Ger, I’ve been going downhill ever since.

Posner Well, I wouldn’t say that. I don’t know hardly that, based on what I’ve read about you. I’d say you’re climbing the ladder, and you’ve climbed to the top. And then, so how long were you back in Winnipeg?

Rosemond: I was back in Winnipeg until ’63. What happened was I was doing this variety show and I looked eastward and the third best variety producer at CBC in Toronto was a guy by the name of Norman Jewison. And so I thought, oh, my God, I’m never going to get to Toronto, which was Mecca, as a variety producer. So I went to my supervisor and said, “Look, I want to do children’s programming. My heart is with the children.” And so I got transferred to the children’s department in Winnipeg, took two kinescopes under my arm and headed to Toronto, and got a transfer to children’s programming in ’63. ’63 to ’68 Toronto, ’68 to ’85 Los Angeles.

Posner: But what were you doing in LA?

Rosemond: Well, I came out of the Cash show and did Bill Cosby’s show. You might not have heard of him. He hasn’t been in the news much these days. But I did Bill Cosby’s variety show, and from then, Donnie and Marie (then) a situation comedy called “Good Times.” But what happened is I had three shows going in Canada at the same time. I had “Bizarre” on CTV. I had “Tom Jones” on Global TV, and I had “King of Kensington” on CBC. So I thought, well, what am I doing in America?

Posner: So back you came to Canada?

Rosemond: Back to Canada, where I’ve been since ’85.

Posner: Now, in those years, those five years that you alluded to, that you were doing work in children’s programming, you were pretty involved, from what I gather. You did some work on “Children of the World?”

Rosemond: Yeah, that’s probably something of which I’m most proud. It was a series on children in developing nations, and it drew an audience of over 600 million people just in audio-visual distribution.

Posner: Wow. And if I had to say, what’s the number one thing you’ve accomplished? That would be it?

Rosemond: That would be it.

Posner: Really?

Rosemond: Absolutely.

Posner: I understand it won (something called the Japan Prize). I mean, I hadn’t heard of this, but I gather it’s pretty significant. The Japan Prize is (for) the best children’s program.

Rosemond: That’s correct.

Posner: So, you know, that’s saying something. That’s a long way from the North End.

Rosemond: Well, you know what we say. They say, how come there’s so many great people from the North End? And my answer is always the same. It’s a deep and abiding desire to get the heck out of the North End.

Posner: Now, I think, correct me here, in some fashion, not only did you do this program that won this prize, “Children of the World.” But you also were connected, and maybe you can tell me how, to “Mr. Dressup” and “The Friendly Giant?”

Rosemond: That’s right. I was head of children’s programming for a period of time and worked with Mr. Dressup and the Friendly Giant. Friendly Giant, I remember once being in a room with him, and I was giving him some notes, and he turned around and he walked away from me. I thought, well, that’s rude. And then I looked, and a group of schoolchildren had come into the studio. And he was deathly afraid of being seen as anything but a giant. Which he was, by the way. He was a gigantic personality.

Posner: Well, you were the executive producer of those shows, right?

Rosemond: Correct, correct, yeah.

Posner: And in some way you got connected to Sesame Street, too?

Rosemond: That’s right. I was living in Los Angeles, and they asked if I would come back and Canadianize Sesame Street.

Posner Canadianized Sesame Street? I didn’t know there was a Canadianized version.

Rosemond: Well, what we did was we took out the Native American segments and the Spanish segments, and we substituted them with Native Canadian and French. And then gradually we took over and did our own version, a Canadian version of Sesame Street. Again, very gratifying. Back to Winnipeg to do it — that was my blackmail. I said, I’ll come back and do it if I can do it in Winnipeg, because I like the graphics artists in Winnipeg, and I felt I’d get a better product.

Posner: Okay, that’d be what, sometime in the ’80s?

Rosemond: That would have been earlier. That would have been in the ’70s.

Posner: Wow. Well, you kept up your links to Winnipeg.

Rosemond: Absolutely. Absolutely.

Posner: Now, so you’ve had children’s programming. And you also got into, I gather, documentary and public affairs.

Rosemond: Right, yes. “The Way It Is.”

Posner: “The Way It Is” was the Sunday Night flagship show. That was the big show on CBC Sunday night, wasn’t it?

Rosemond: That’s right. It was the big show on CBC Sunday night, and I worked with an executive producer called Ross McLean. I didn’t last too long on that, Gerry. I remember Ross had a very constructive way of winning arguments. We had one argument. And I can’t even remember what it was about, but he won it hands down by throwing a Coke can at my head. And I took a hike, and I never came back to “The Way It Is.”

Posner: That’s the way it was.

Rosemond: That’s the way it was, right.

Posner: You also did what you call profiles for CBC’s “Telescope,” with Oscar Peterson, Arthur Haley, Gordon Pinsent, Glenn Gould, Donald Sutherland. I mean, that was another big show.

Rosemond: Yeah, and that was my entrée to the United States because I became their man in America. And thus I did Donald Sutherland in Hollywood while snooping around for work and Eddie Albert from ‘”Green Acres” and all of the expatriate Canadians who were living in Los Angeles. And that gave me a foothold because I could look for work and still pay the rent. My Canadian qualifications counted for nothing in America. You were zero. Zero. And I was starting from scratch at age 30, and I had to have some kind of income to get things going.

Posner: And then somewhere along the line you got — you oversaw the production, I’m not sure exactly, of “Hockey Night in Canada.” I’m guessing you never even played the game.

Rosemond: I was on the third line of the Chicago Blackhawks in the miniature NHL, you know, and probably the worst ever third liner in the history of Manitoba’s miniature NHL hockey. But here’s the deal with that. When I wanted to come back to Canada, I couldn’t just come back as a freelancer because when they brought me in from America, I was the big American producer that they were bringing to Canada. If I was going to be in Canada, you know the deal, the expert’s always 100 miles from home.

Posner: That’s right.

Rosemond: So I had to have a foothold. So I had worked with Don Ohlmeyer Productions, and they were consulting to Hockey Night. And they wanted to take over Hockey Night. And Don suggested that I come up from America to put them in the hockey business, which I did. And I also started other shows for this company, Molestar Communications, which were more in the entertainment business and more to my liking, like the Juno Awards, I’d escape for a month or two, or a syndicated series called “Starting From Scratch,” which I shot in Montreal. So I would leave the administrative behind and jump back into the trenches whenever I could.

Posner: You know, it’s okay you didn’t play so well in the third line in miniature. You did a little better, I would say. Now, you mentioned David Steinberg. And you produced his show, CTV’s “David Steinberg Show?”

Rosemond: Yes, that’s right.

Posner: Did you even write for that show?

Rosemond: I wrote for it.

Posner: How many scripts would you have written for?

Rosemond: We did one season only, but we had an incredible guest list. David grew up a block away from me, and we knew each other forever. And I’ve done so much with David, and I admire him so much. And David attracted a huge guest list of John Voight and Ethel Merman and Milton Berle, and he also was able to bring out John Candy for his first show and Martin Short and Dave Thomas and Joe Flaherty and all of those people.

Posner: No, I don’t think David Steinberg’s memories of Winnipeg are as warm as yours are. They are kind of, you know. I’m quite surprised to hear you say that because I think in the beginning maybe, you know, when you were a young kid you hate where you came from. Maybe there was some of that. But now he cherishes it.

Rosemond: He does. I also had a lot of clout in being able to, if I may say so, book enormous talent because we had Marty Short and Andrea Martin, and I was able to book Howie Mandel, because I gave him his first shot in America on Norm Crosby’s “Comedy Shop.” And I got to tell you this really boring story, but I’ll try to make it quick.

Posner: Okay.

Rosemond: My partner and I on Norm Crosby’s Comedy Shop could veto any act that appeared on the show. So Howie’s manager was Saul Holliff’s nephew, and Saul was Johnny Cash’s manager, who was very good to me on “The Johnny Cash Show.” So he said, could you put my act on? And I said, send a tape. So he sent the tape of Howie, you know, with the faucet on the forehead and the diaper and God knows what else. And before we were 15 seconds into it, my partner Joe Sigmund raised his hand and he said, “I veto.” I said, “Joe, it’s Saul Holliff’s nephew’s act. We’ve got to put him on. Let’s tape him. We won’t use it.” And six months later, to make a long story even a little longer, Phil Kives from Winnipeg of K-Tel came to order a DVD from us. And he said, “make sure that you put on the DVD the kid with the diaper.”

Posner: Okay. You know, I’m just barely starting and we’ve got to finish this. Tell me, Perry.

Rosemond: Yeah.

Interviewer: What’s the story? Are you into retirement mode or you’re still going at it?

Rosemond: My dream is that it’s “ready camera.” I want Ingmar Bergman to shoot this, by the way. My dream is “ready camera one” and aneurysm, and in slow motion my head starts to descend to the console and I’m dead before I even hit it.

Posner: You’re still working. Still working. And I guess you still connect to Winnipeg.

Rosemond: Absolutely. I was there several times to do specials in Winnipeg, and I still would go back today, especially with the tax credits.

Posner: Perry, it’s a joy to have you. I tell you, we barely scratched the surface, and I appreciate your taking the time to come and do this.

Rosemond: Can I tell you, and I say this in all honesty, you are one terrific interviewer.

Posner: Well, thanks very much. I enjoy doing it.

Post script (added by Bernie Bellan): Some of the things that Gerry omitted from his interview were that Rosemond also produced the terrific documentary, “When Jews Were Funny,” which was named best Canadian Feature Film at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival.

As his obituary on the Benjamin’s Parrk Memoria Chapel website also notes: “In 2003, Perry was appointed a member of the Order of Canada, a national recognition for a career that entertained, educated, and made Canadians laugh.

“But Perry never measured his life by accolades, he measured it in smiles. He lived to spread laughter and joy. It was his way of making people feel seen and valued. He will be dearly missed and forever loved.”

---