The Sudbury Catholic District School Board was the host site for the CBC-TV’s nightly news program, The National with Peter Mansbridge recently. Mansbridge (surrounded by a group of techies) recorded the news live from the back of a 5-ton truck in the board’s parking lot as part of the CBC’s mandate to take the National on the road to various cities in Canada.

Featured in this particular “Road Story” was the City of Greater Sudbury’s impressive environmental recovery and regreening record from the 1970’s to the present. “Sudbury is a logical fit for a series of shows revolving around the environmental restoration,” Mansbridge stated to the media before arriving in Sudbury to do the show. “The massive efforts made to put green back in the city’s landscape will serve as an example to the rest of the country.”

The one-hour news cast surveyed much of Sudbury’s mining history and its effect on the ecology from the 1960’s when the landscape was considered to be unappealing due to the effects of acid rain to the present day Sudbury that has made major inroads in the environmental restoration. Laurentian University environmentalist, David Peterson who was also a guest on the National News program noted that over the last 30 years the City of Greater Sudbury in conjunction with CVRD INCO has undertaken major efforts to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions and has planted millions of shrubs and grasses to restore the environment and regreen the city. “Impressive efforts have been made to restore the natural environment following decades of industrial damage,” stated Mansbridge. “The (City of Greater Sudbury) is showing that there are solutions for some of these issues and is on the road to recovery.”

Word that the CBC’s National News program was coming to Sudbury created a great deal of excitement in the city as crowds of spectators gathered around the CBC’s remote trucks and mobile units to watch the program live at 9:00 p.m. and to meet Peter Mansbridge. Mr. Mansbridge took the opportunity to explain why it was important for the CBC to take the news program on the road to visit cities such as Sudbury. His interaction with his outdoor audience included answering numerous questions, signing autographs and posing for photo opportunities.