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00:00In a place called Snag, which is in the Yukon, in northern Canada,
00:08they once recorded a temperature lower than the temperature on the surface of Mars.
00:15You ready?
00:16I am, yeah.
00:17It's time to find out about coldness in Canada.
00:23See you later.
00:30Come with me as I travel across an immense and mighty land.
00:38I'm on my way across Canada.
00:42A journey of discovery.
00:44Let's go, now my puppy.
00:45From east to west.
00:49There we are, from the mountains to the sea.
00:53Extreme landscapes.
00:55You never told me about the traverse.
00:56Oh, yeah.
00:58Of breathtaking natural wonder.
01:00One of the most astounding encounters of my life.
01:04I'll be exploring the past.
01:06Oh!
01:07And celebrating the future.
01:09So startlingly great.
01:11As I uncover what it means to be Canadian.
01:15That a bit better, Bob.
01:16And embrace the character.
01:18That's my size, is it?
01:19Heart.
01:20That was awesome.
01:21And soul.
01:22It's amazing.
01:23Of this immense and exciting place.
01:26This truly is Canada.
01:28It's not widely known that the average temperature in Canada for the entire year, including summer, across the whole of the country, is actually minus five degrees.
01:54That average explains why 90% of Canadians live within 100 miles of the American border in the south.
02:02And only 10% live their lives in the extremes of the true north.
02:10And I'm about to join them.
02:13Because leaving Ontario in Canada's south, I'm going some 3,000 miles due north.
02:19This will take me across the province of Manitoba, from Winnipeg to the frozen wastes of Churchill on the edge of the Arctic.
02:29But not before getting some expert advice on living in the cold.
02:33I'm in here to assist Professor Gordon Gibracht, who is known as Professor Popsicle, in an experiment to see how the human body reacts to extremely low temperatures.
02:49More Canadians die from exposure to extreme cold than any other natural event.
02:55Luckily, I'm enduring no more than minus 15 degrees Celsius.
02:59Hey, how are you doing?
03:01I'm cold.
03:02You're looking cold. Your face is red.
03:04Now maybe we should go and talk about how we can make you do better in the cold.
03:09Okay.
03:10But winters here can drop to as low as minus 40.
03:13That was good.
03:14Good. Oh, this is better though.
03:17The Professor's lab motto is Vitas Salvantes, or saving lives.
03:22And his work helps search and rescue teams do just that.
03:26We started freezing people in 1986, and we've been freezing people ever since.
03:32I thought being a human ice block was brave enough, but some volunteers really take the plunge.
03:39It works out really well.
03:40You start with an average adult body in here, and about 150 pounds of ice brings it to just about the right temperature.
03:46And then you can work out what the reactions are when people are frozen solid and stimmed in water.
03:53And then if you want to see what shivering is like, when we're done, we take them off here and we put them on a bed, they actually bounce.
03:59Shivering, which you were doing a bit there, is actually involuntary exercise.
04:03The brain says, don't worry about running around, we'll take care of it.
04:06And they get you to, you know, contract the muscle, relax, contract, relax, and you do it like that.
04:11You do that for 15 seconds, and you'll actually feel warm.
04:16As a professor of thermophysiology, Dr. Giesbrecht is an authority on preparing for the cold.
04:22You have to have the right clothing, and you have to understand how clothing works and use it properly.
04:28First of all, you obviously would not go to church or dress like this.
04:31Is that a cotton shirt?
04:32It is a cotton shirt.
04:33Yeah, so that thing you got in the garbage immediately.
04:36We call cotton the death fiber, because it sops up water.
04:40The main rule to survive in the cold is to keep water out of your stuff.
04:46Seems simple enough.
04:48I hope the clothing's not too complicated.
04:51We're going to start with the boots, your feet.
04:53Very important.
04:54When you're up there, it's not the time to be wearing running shoes.
04:57You know, most people want to wear gloves because you can do more things with them, right?
05:00You get better dexterity, but you should always have some mitts.
05:04These four fingers together are going to keep warmer better than these four fingers separate.
05:11So you need to have something against your skin, not cotton.
05:14This is the best kind of stuff there is.
05:15It's merino wool.
05:16Your middle layer could have a pile jacket or a sweater.
05:19You could have two or three of these.
05:20Here, put this on.
05:21You need to have some kind of outside shell.
05:23You don't want it to be waterproof.
05:26You want to have it waterproof, breathable.
05:28So liquid will just run down, but if you have vapour, it'll get through.
05:34And you want to have a hood.
05:35If you have the right clothing and you wear it properly, you can actually enjoy yourself
05:40in, you know, minus 40 degrees.
05:44Enjoy yourself in the freezing cold?
05:48Is the effort going to be worth it?
05:50If you want to understand Canada, you're just going to have to learn to love the cold.
05:57I've got to learn to love it up there and get up there into that winter touch.
06:00Yeah.
06:01Okay.
06:01And it's much easier love the cold weather, not love feeling cold.
06:06There's so many beautiful things to see and experience that happen to be where it is really
06:12cold, like in Churchill.
06:14Good luck.
06:15Have a great time.
06:16Yeah.
06:16Keep cool, but don't freeze.
06:18Keep cold, don't freeze, and learn to love the cold.
06:20And learn to love the cold.
06:22That's it.
06:23Okay.
06:23I guess that's my challenge.
06:25I love meeting Gordon.
06:28I love meeting a man with such enthusiasm for the frozen wastes.
06:33The trouble is I hate the bloody cold.
06:35I'm going to have to get some kit.
06:41Well, I'm off to the vast reaches of Canada's polar desert, but here in Winnipeg, I'm actually
06:46already in the country's coldest city, so I should be able to get what I need.
06:52There we are.
06:55What do you think?
06:56I've got wool next to my skin now, just stiffening up my nipples, several layers on top of that,
07:04and covered all with a bright red portable duvet, so I look like a Teletubby.
07:14Yep, a boil-in-the-bag, Teletubby.
07:17It's so cold the locals call this place Winter Pig, and it's a city where names are
07:22and names go a long way.
07:24Winnie the Pooh came from here.
07:26An orphan bear cub was named Winnie after Winnipeg and shipped from Canada to London Zoo.
07:31There, she became a firm favourite of A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Robin, and a storybook
07:37legend was born.
07:39You never knew that Winnie was a she, did you?
07:45The city itself's story is equally complex.
07:49Winnipeg means muddy waters in First Nation Cree language, and this rather aptly describes
07:55the area's complicated history.
07:57What I find intriguing is that as I move west, across the country, the story of modern Canada
08:04moves with me.
08:06By the end of the 1800s, all that fighting between the French and the English is left back
08:12there, and has been reduced to arguments in Parliament, but here, only 150 years ago,
08:19the guns were still out, and the fighting was still going on.
08:24The First Nations came here, where the Assiniboine and the Red River meet, and swapped furs, goods,
08:32and the French, when they arrived here, just used the same spot.
08:36And then, 150 years ago, the government bought the whole area, and the people who lived here,
08:44and didn't want to be bought, organised a rebellion.
08:49That rebellion was led by one Louis Riel.
08:53It began in 1869, and was something of a last stand by the Métis people.
08:59They were of indigenous and European descent, and they combined with the First Nation people,
09:04who didn't want to be incorporated into British Empire, Canada.
09:09Riel was eventually executed in 1885, but today, he's celebrated as a folk hero.
09:17The Esplanade Riel now spans the Red River in commemoration of that rebellion.
09:25It's not dawn yet, and I'm here at Winnipeg Airport to take a flight up to Churchill.
09:33The airline I'm travelling with, Calm, serves a lot of the outlying winter areas.
09:41They're not winter areas like snowy mountains.
09:46They're winter areas that, as the season goes on, will be enveloped in darkness.
09:53I'm hoping to find how a community lives at the edge of the Arctic.
09:59And I'm not the only one going.
10:02Churchill may be an isolated place.
10:05There are no roads into this town.
10:07But at this time of year, it attracts thousands of tourists for a very specific reason.
10:12Very, very rare to not see a polar bear.
10:14This is when they're coming up to the shore and, you know, getting ready for the freeze-up.
10:19So the numbers start to increase.
10:24This is because the town sits smack between the polar bear's summer home inland and the Arctic waters of Hudson Bay.
10:33As the bay freezes, a thousand hungry bears head out to hunt seals on the ice.
10:39So I might get to see one passing by.
10:41The landscape on the way in was planetary.
10:50It was like looking down on the earth in its naked form.
10:56This is a rugged, cold, flat, windy place.
11:03Churchill is perched right on the southern fringe of the Arctic.
11:14It was originally settled by fur traders.
11:16Now, around 900 people live here.
11:19And chances are, I'm about to see a parade of them.
11:23Trick or treating.
11:24I happen to have arrived in Churchill on Halloween night.
11:30Now, there are about a thousand polar bears out there and about a thousand people in the town.
11:38And that's one polar bear for every person.
11:41Or perhaps it's better to look at it as one person for every polar bear,
11:47given that they are a dangerous carnivore.
11:51A predator.
11:51And in order for the kids to engage in fake terror in there,
11:58the real terror has to be kept at bay out there.
12:03In summer, the bears patrol some 800 miles out into the vastness beyond Churchill.
12:10But as winter comes on, this town's tiny 54-square-kilometre footprint
12:15lies directly in their path.
12:18And so they formed a ring of steel around the perimeter.
12:24And the police and the fire department are on watch.
12:32Good evening.
12:33What a great truck.
12:34It's nothing but the best.
12:35But there's another one just up there.
12:37Yeah.
12:38Tonight, you're keeping watch.
12:40Have you done it before?
12:42Many times.
12:42About 12, 13 times.
12:44And in that time, have you ever seen a polar bear?
12:48Just one.
12:49On the night of Halloween, just one.
12:53But sometimes they do come in the chair.
12:54Yeah.
12:55Most of them pass through without a problem.
12:57And some of them just decide to go right down the streets and through the town.
13:01And you get out from time to time, do you?
13:03Yeah.
13:03I'll get out behind the truck, have a little look over the rocks, see if you can see any movement.
13:07Should we go and have a look now?
13:08Let's go check it out.
13:08Yeah.
13:11And if you spotted one, will the polar bear come itself quietly and secretly, or does it
13:18just sort of roll on in?
13:20They sneak up on things.
13:21Do they?
13:22Yeah, and you shouldn't sneak up on things that sneak up on things.
13:24So you've got to be careful.
13:26So have friends of yours had close encounters?
13:28Mm-hmm.
13:29Have you had a close encounter?
13:30Couple.
13:31How close?
13:33No.
13:34Yeah.
13:35When it got up and it sprinted.
13:36So there's a significant chance that a bear might come?
13:40There's a decent chance.
13:41But I mean, this is our town.
13:42This is where we live.
13:43We still, we have to take reasonable chances.
13:46We just get on with our daily lives.
13:53I've arrived in Churchill on the 31st of October, the night of Halloween.
13:59It's currently minus two degrees.
14:01And the children of the town are preparing to go trick-or-treating, knocking on doors in
14:07the darkness.
14:09Here I am, walking around Churchill, in the midst of polar bear season, perfectly safe,
14:17thanks to the fact that it's Halloween.
14:19And there's a cordon of watchmen keeping an eye out for any predators.
14:23Hello.
14:38Oh.
14:40Hi.
14:41Hi.
14:42The last reported polar bear attack was in 2013, and the residents are determined to keep
14:49things that way.
14:50Thank you, Billy.
14:53I stood on.
14:54Great costume.
14:59Events like a night just like tonight
15:02require the entire community to get round to help.
15:05Yeah, and we do. Yeah, we do.
15:07What about the other things in Christmas?
15:09Does that, is that also...
15:10I mean, by then the bears have gone.
15:12Yeah.
15:13But by then it's also freezing cold.
15:15Yeah, yeah.
15:16Our temperatures averaged negative 30s
15:18for about six months out of the year.
15:19And by that time it's only about four to five hours of light
15:22and then it's dark after that.
15:23Don't you get to a point, Adam, where you say,
15:25I can't stand it anymore, we've got to go south?
15:28You know what? I love it.
15:29I'm out in this type of weather and I love it.
15:31So when it's negative 30, that's when I thrive.
15:33How does it affect the community?
15:35You have a relationship with other people here.
15:37You have to know other people, don't you?
15:38Absolutely, yeah.
15:39A very tight-knit community.
15:41You ask for help, it's immediate.
15:43And is there anything that you feel you can't get
15:46as a result of being...
15:47Well, there's immediacy toward food, for example,
15:50is a very big one.
15:51The expense towards food.
15:52It's very expensive to live here and eat.
15:54And eat well.
15:56For tonight, at least, there are treats.
15:59Mr. Astronaut.
16:00Unit two to chief.
16:01Oh, one second.
16:02And no polar bear incidents to report.
16:06The streets are full of kids trick-or-treating, despite the cold,
16:13and despite the idea that there might be a polar bear threat.
16:18The fact that there isn't is all dependent on the community spirit
16:23that this place engenders.
16:26This is the sort of town where you leave your car unlocked
16:30so that if there were a polar bear, somebody could jump into that car as a refuge.
16:36I have to admit, the whole idea of being in a very cold place makes you a very warm person.
16:47Despite all that excitement, I have to admit, I have yet to fall in love with the cold.
16:53This morning, my driver is local resident Kenny.
16:56He can tell me what it's like actually living here.
16:59Have you been here through sort of really, really bad blizzards?
17:03Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I spent my entire childhood here.
17:06I moved down south when I was 17.
17:08When you say down south, what do you mean?
17:10Winnipeg.
17:11Winnipeg? Down south? That's not really down south.
17:14Florida's down south. Winnipeg's just a little bit less north.
17:18It's down south for us locals.
17:20So, you grew up here and you have witnessed some sort of ice storms and blizzards.
17:26How bad does it get?
17:28We get 130, 140 km an hour winds here.
17:32You really got to hold onto your door handles when you're opening doors.
17:35Otherwise, they'll blow them away.
17:37And big snowdrifts?
17:39Eight foot tall snowdrifts.
17:41It's genuinely much colder than I thought it was going to be,
17:44but apparently this isn't as cold as it should be at this time of year.
17:47No, not at all.
17:49It's been getting consistently warmer each year and the ice has been taking longer to form.
17:55I love being here in the winter.
17:57When the ground is frozen, you can travel almost anywhere you want by snowmobile.
18:01Nobody just locks themselves away and waits for the winter to go.
18:05Not many people do that.
18:07Most of us enjoy using the land in the winter and being in the outdoors.
18:11You just got to learn to dress for it.
18:13Well, I've done that, but there is one accessory that I seem to be missing.
18:17I can't help noticing you've got a weapon.
18:19I carry a 12-gauge shotgun with me, especially in polar bear season.
18:23So if you saw a bear when you were with me, you'd use that just to give it a scare and send it on its way?
18:29Just to give it a scare, yeah.
18:31If you're on the ground with a bear close enough to where you might have to harm it, you're in the wrong area.
18:39Get prepared and then I guess...
18:41Always be prepared.
18:43A well-worn cliché, perhaps.
18:49But in this area, they have a distant past on their side.
18:55I've come here to the mouth of the Churchill River, to a place called Cape Mary, in order to get a handle on the extraordinary history of this place.
19:07This is Austin, who's going to keep guard for me.
19:11Shall we go on, Austin?
19:13Great.
19:14The Churchill River wasn't named after the famous Winston Churchill, but his ancestor, John I, Duke of Marlborough.
19:21And though the Cape is remote and today are minus ten degrees, it's a place of great intrigue.
19:27For there was bounty to be sought here four centuries ago.
19:31That is the Hudson Bay.
19:35In a few weeks, it'll begin to freeze solid, and it's not going to unfreeze until May or June of next year.
19:45It's an impossible place to reach from Europe.
19:50You have to go really up north and then come down into it under the most terrifying conditions.
19:58And yet, 450 years ago, they decided they had to do that because they smelt money and power.
20:09In the 1600s, two disgruntled French explorers came to see the King of England and told him about the great store of beaver they'd discovered here in Hudson Bay.
20:21And so 1.5 million square miles of Canada's true north was promptly incorporated by English royal charter.
20:29They called it the Hudson's Bay Company, and they declared, as only the British can, that they now ruled an area stretching away to the northwest,
20:41which was something like ten times the size of the Holy Roman Empire.
20:48They effectively established an armoured trading post here, and you can see the fort they built on the other side of the estuary there.
21:02And they started trading beaver skins.
21:07Churchill became, for the better part of the 18th century, the beating heart of Canada's once vital fur trade.
21:15Fur is no longer the main issue here, and you can't cultivate crops in the frozen ground.
21:26So, in the 1950s, Canada used this place to launch rockets for space study instead.
21:34Today, the team at the Northern Studies Centre is still involved in rocket science.
21:38The difference is that now it's of the hydroponic kind.
21:45Wow. Look at this. It's beautiful.
21:49So startlingly green in the middle of sort of arid desert.
21:56Yeah, super fresh.
21:57It's like being in a very upmarket deli.
22:02So, Kali, what are you growing here?
22:06So, this container is designed to grow leafy greens, also something cookable,
22:12because most northerners don't want to eat salad in the middle of winter.
22:14So we have the pak choys and the bok choys so that people can put it into, like, their mousse stew or caribou or things like that, you know?
22:20So more like comfort foods when it's minus 40 out.
22:23We do grow some herbs specifically for the chefs that come to town.
22:27I see. So there's a little bit of extra sophistication creeping in because of Churchill's tourist market.
22:33Yeah.
22:35As one of those tourists, I've now been tasked with delivering to one of those chefs.
22:39His kitchen is at a lodge out across the icy plain.
22:44I'm going to hook you up with some snips.
22:47What we're in is a container.
22:50That's right, yeah, it's a shipping container.
22:52It's kind of designed for remote communities, so you can put it inside of a plane, it can be on a ship,
22:57it can go on a train, and it's ready to go when it gets here, so...
23:01Ideal for a community with no road access, fresh food can take up to two weeks to arrive in Churchill.
23:07That's just bountiful.
23:08So this is a real boon for the health of its residents.
23:12Is it worth it economically?
23:14Are you actually producing salad more cheaply than it can be imported?
23:17We're operating it as a non-profit, so we're striving to keep prices low,
23:21and we're accessing food security grants and things to sort of boost the operation
23:26to make sure that it stays affordable for Churchill people.
23:29The groceries that do come into Churchill are subsidized by the government currently,
23:33where projects like this aren't really, so we're kind of almost competing against a food subsidy,
23:37but it is fresher than anything that you could ever get in Churchill.
23:41Locally grown year-round, because we can do this all winter long.
23:44The cold and the general feelings, it's going to get cold.
23:48Yeah, yeah.
23:49It's going to get quite dark.
23:50Yeah, it does.
23:51And the days are going to get short.
23:53Mm-hmm.
23:54And you still find that excitement of being here works for you.
23:57Yeah, yeah, the cold exhilarating.
23:59I came here when I was 20. Being here feels like home to me.
24:02Well, I'm trying to love the cold. Churchill's people thrive on it.
24:07But not so much my greens. Time to get a move on.
24:12All right, happy delivering.
24:13Thank you. Bye-bye.
24:14What a great place.
24:17It's almost like you've been looking at the future of these settlements out here in the frozen tundra.
24:24I've only got two problems left.
24:26One is, how do I get my precious cargo out to where I'm going?
24:30The lodge is 25 kilometres out there.
24:34And the other one is, can I get it there without eating it?
24:40Time will tell if I can outlast the salad,
24:43but as for my first problem, I think I can see the solution.
24:48Tundra buggies.
24:52Like viewing tanks with human-sized tyres,
24:54they're the only way to traverse this terrain.
24:58It's like some moon unit.
25:00It looks like something designed by Ridley Scott for Blade Runner.
25:04Buggy 11, we are in the parking dock.
25:08I feel like I'm finally getting out for a taste of...
25:12the true north.
25:15There's frozen water everywhere.
25:17Stunted trees.
25:19This is an astonishing landscape.
25:23The true inhabitants of this place, the polar bear, they are out there somewhere.
25:30They begin to come towards Churchill at this time of year,
25:34because they sense that the sea is about to freeze,
25:38and they want to get onto the sea and out to get to the seals.
25:42They've been here, in this wasteland, starving for the last four months.
25:52They cross the tundra to gather in what becomes the largest concentration of polar bears on the planet.
25:58But perhaps we've missed it.
26:00I've seen beavers. I've seen a fox.
26:03If we can finally see a bear, that will cheer everybody up, no end.
26:09The first nation for bear is Naluk, or...
26:12the animal that must be respected, or the lone wandering one.
26:21I'm wondering if we're ever going to see any.
26:23Oh, yeah. There they are.
26:36Yeah, that's an amazing thing to see.
26:40I should never have doubted.
26:43Oh, look.
26:44This is extraordinary.
26:46The bears are actually walking straight towards us.
26:50Fully grown males can stand at three and a half metres, or over eight foot,
26:58tall enough to peek in at the top window of a double-decker bus.
27:03While most bears remain aloof,
27:05curiosity has got the better of this young fellow.
27:09My goodness.
27:12It's almost as if mum, standing over there by the shore,
27:15is going, don't do that. Come back.
27:18Come back.
27:23The male carp is right underneath us now.
27:26I can see him.
27:28Yeah, he is.
27:29Down below us.
27:31Interesting in close encounters,
27:33and various meetings with aliens.
27:37There's a lot of signalling going on,
27:39and attempting to communicate.
27:41Here it comes.
27:42Oh.
27:43He's come right up to sniff the bottom of my boot.
27:58Maybe we'd be walking in moose dung.
28:00That.
28:01That was polar bear breath.
28:18Well, one of the most astounding encounters of my life.
28:22I'm at the edge of the Arctic, in Churchill, Manitoba,
28:35amidst a celebration of polar bears
28:37as they cross the frozen tundra
28:39towards their winter hunting grounds on the Hudson Bay.
28:43They're actually not quite the polar white, shiny bears of your imagination.
28:51They're a little bit dull-coloured.
28:53Apparently they have black skin,
28:55and the hair is simply transparent and reflects the light.
28:59Which is ideal for camouflage.
29:04The problem is that to camouflage in ice and snow,
29:06you, of course, need ice and snow.
29:10You have to feel for the bears.
29:11One of the terrible effects of climate change
29:14is that that ice freezing gets later and later.
29:19It's cold, but everybody tells me mild, really,
29:23for this time of year.
29:25For the bears, it's a fateful change.
29:30If the ice goes forever, that's the end of the bears.
29:37For now, at least, there's just enough ice
29:39for these magnificent hunters.
29:41Which reminds me.
29:44As a bona fide gatherer,
29:46I need to deliver my precious greens to the lodge,
29:48and pretty quickly.
29:50There's a very patient chef waiting at his very remote kitchen.
29:54Here's the lodge up ahead.
29:57We're approaching like an interplanetary truck.
30:01Trying to find our way to make contact and dock.
30:04It's like visiting something out of a science fiction movie.
30:10And it only gets more otherworldly.
30:13Up here on the 58th parallel is an ideal spot
30:16to witness aurora borealis.
30:18The northern lights.
30:25Churchill lies directly beneath the northern hemisphere's aural oval.
30:31Which means this wonder occurs here over 300 nights a year.
30:37The green skies are something that the 40 guests here at the lodge
30:40will no doubt be hoping to see, along with their green salad.
30:44Eve?
30:46Griff?
30:47Hi.
30:48It's about time, mate.
30:49Been waiting for this all day.
30:51I hope it hasn't wilted.
30:52It's just we had to stop for polar bears.
30:55As we do.
30:56How does it look?
30:58Perfect.
30:59Thank you for getting those, man.
31:00Thank you very much.
31:01All right, well...
31:02I'll see you.
31:03See you.
31:04Gonna go make a salad, Griff.
31:05I'd love to stay to explore this place, but the light is going.
31:16And there's one more tundra experience I want to squeeze in,
31:19if my guide, Dylan, will let me.
31:22Can I have a go?
31:23You want to give a drink?
31:25Yes, please.
31:26What do you drive, Griff?
31:27Well, I drive a tundra buggy, actually.
31:42We'd better not show too many pictures of it,
31:44because it will catch on for the school run in London.
31:48All over St John's Wood, people are driving tundra buggies.
31:52I'm just taking the kids off to school in the tundra buggy, darling.
31:55OK?
32:05It seems that every manner of vehicle imaginable
32:09has been brought into Churchill,
32:11which is pretty remarkable,
32:13given that there are no roads in and no roads out.
32:17And the difficulty of access isn't just restricted to land.
32:21My dad was the contract ice pilot,
32:23so he would go out into the harbour on a tugboat
32:26and pilot the ships back into the harbour.
32:29Through the ice? Through the holes in the ice?
32:31Well, the ice wasn't completely formed yet.
32:34Yeah?
32:35But there would be ice flows out there
32:37when he was piloting the ships back into the harbour.
32:40My dad piloted the latest ship into Churchill Harbour ever recorded,
32:44which was December 2nd, 1995.
32:47What that means is, after that,
32:49the Hudson is completely frozen and no ship will get through.
32:53Yes.
32:54It's not the most inviting piece of water, is it?
33:04The Hudson Bay.
33:06That's the SS Ithaca.
33:08And about 60 years ago at this time of year,
33:12it lost its rudder coming out of Churchill Harbour
33:17with a load of iron ore.
33:19It's ironic.
33:20There's been an elusive search for the Northwest Passage.
33:25And now, with global warming, it's opening up.
33:30And it may be that the same climate change
33:33that is going to...
33:35going to cause trouble for the polar bears and their future
33:39will mean a future for Churchill
33:43as a deep-water port at the north of Canada.
33:50A bittersweet possibility.
33:52Global warming now adds an additional challenge
33:55to living in the north
33:56and is a reminder that the forces of nature
33:59have to be respected.
34:01You can't underestimate the threat from polar bears here in Churchill.
34:06In fact, I'd be pretty nervous myself now
34:08if I didn't have Kenny standing over there with his gun and firecrackers.
34:13But the real killers that nature throws at Canada
34:19come from the cold itself.
34:25And in 2017, Churchill itself was dealt a massive blow.
34:29The train coming in there is a genuine lifeline.
34:33There was an ice storm, a blizzard.
34:35It lasted for 57 hours.
34:38And it was so extreme that when it melted,
34:42it washed away for the supports for this railway line.
34:47The result was that for a year there was no contact,
34:52nothing coming in.
34:54The only way into this town was by air.
34:57The line took 18 months to repair,
35:02but it was touch and go.
35:04For a time, the whole community was threatened by the cold.
35:08I don't recall seeing that much snow dumped in that period of time.
35:12There was people in the community
35:14who were shoveling each other out.
35:16I've never seen anything like it.
35:18It was very difficult.
35:19It affected everyday living,
35:21price of food and lumber,
35:23and everything went up.
35:24Like, you know, basically you were flying everything in, right?
35:27How do people feel about staying in a place
35:30which is subject to such demands on them?
35:33Well, it's home, right?
35:35Do you witness it? Do you experience it?
35:37Do you live through it?
35:38And it's part of the community.
35:40You know, we're a hardy bunch,
35:41so we're always up for the challenge,
35:43regardless of what it is.
35:44That's no exaggeration.
35:49To force a repair,
35:50the wrecked rail line was bought by a consortium of groups
35:53in an arrangement that involved amongst many 30 First Nations
35:58and 11 other communities of northern Manitoba,
36:01including Churchill itself.
36:03I have to admit, I have been on a lot of railways in my time.
36:08Some beautiful railways, scenic railways, trains,
36:10alpine railways, commuter railways, even freight trains.
36:14But I've seldom encountered a railway
36:17that really means as much to its community as this one does.
36:23What really strikes me about Churchill, even more than I'd expected,
36:31is the determination and resilience of the people who live here.
36:36You can't just nip to Churchill or zip around it.
36:39The infrastructure and planning required to live in the north,
36:43in a place of extremes, is astonishing.
36:46Love of the cold or not, it's a wonderful place to visit,
36:50but its residents are in for the long haul.
36:54One thing I've learned is that all the people I met
36:57really love being here.
36:59They want to be in Churchill.
37:02They love the winter more than they love the summer.
37:07But there's another thing.
37:09I think Canada wants them to be here.
37:14The Queen has been to Churchill.
37:16The Prime Minister visits Churchill.
37:19It's really important for the soul of Canada
37:25to believe in the true north.
37:36Since we arrived in Churchill, there's been a little dusting of snow.
37:40I love snow!
37:42It gives me the opportunity, perhaps, to take a cold-weather transport
37:47that I like the idea of.
37:54And it involves a howling companion for a howling waist.
37:57Dog sledding has long been used as a mode of transport in the north.
38:02Today, it's also associated with racing.
38:05Ria, come!
38:06Meti, Dave Daly, founded Wapusk Adventures.
38:09He and his dog team are pros.
38:11I've done 16 long-distance races over 200 miles long.
38:14And in 2010, I ran my dog team from Churchill all the way to Winnipeg.
38:18So I've seen this province from one end to the other on the back of the dog team.
38:22I wish I could have come with you.
38:24It was quite the adventure.
38:26I got a lot of stories from that one.
38:28That adventure involves sledding a trail that hadn't been run for over a hundred years.
38:33Dave credits his dogs with getting the job done.
38:36And just like humans, it seems it's important for these dogs to pick the right career path.
38:42We're going to have two lead dogs, two team dogs, and two wheel dogs.
38:45The biggest thing is having good dog psychology.
38:48You've got to get to know your dog.
38:49They're just like people.
38:50They all have different talents, different likes, different dislikes.
38:53So a musher has to know which dogs have that ability to be a lead dog,
38:57which ones have that spark, because that's the most important dogs.
39:00And the team dogs are dogs that just like to work from within the team.
39:03They don't want the responsibility of working up front.
39:06And then your wheel dogs are your toughest dogs.
39:09And what sort of dogs are these? Are they a mix of breeds?
39:12Well, these are the long-distance dogs in the dog sledding world.
39:15In the north, we call them northern huskies.
39:17In Alaska, they call them Alaskan huskies.
39:20And these dogs have a mix of dog in them to become these superstars.
39:26And like superstars, this lot know how to get attention.
39:29Yeah, yeah, soon, soon. We're nearly ready.
39:33If you can't beat them...
39:34OK!
39:40But I'm barking up the wrong tree.
39:42OK, well, let's go.
39:43Let me just run you through the sled.
39:45This is what we call our musher training sled.
39:48You're going to stand on the runners like a dog musher.
39:50You're going to hold on to the driving bow right here like this.
39:53You're going to bend your knees because it...
39:55Well, not that, you know, like you're skiing.
39:57Just to take...
39:58You ever been skiing?
39:59How have you?
40:00Any time if I say hold the brake, you jump on that pad with both feet.
40:03I'll be back here.
40:04Just hang on.
40:05Ready?
40:06Hike!
40:07Hike!
40:08Hike!
40:09Hike!
40:10Hike!
40:11Hike!
40:12Hike!
40:13Hike!
40:14Hang on.
40:15Let's go now.
40:16Good advice.
40:17Woohoo!
40:18How are my puppies?
40:19Easy.
40:20Easy now.
40:21Whose idea was it first to do this with dogs?
40:23I mean, did the Sami do it or did the First Nations do it?
40:28Who was the...?
40:29I think the first ones that did it were the Inuit, using sleds with seal skin runners on
40:37them.
40:38You know, this goes back historically thousands of years.
40:41All the way back to 1000 AD, the bond forged between man and dog by the First Peoples of
40:48Canada aided their survival in the northern terrain and paved the way for our enduring
40:54relationship with dogs today.
40:56Come on, Luke.
40:57Come on, Rhea.
40:58Come on, Chewbacca.
40:59Come on, Clegan.
41:00Come on, Nugget.
41:01Let's go.
41:02I guess you have to be careful not to show favouritism with your dogs.
41:05Oh, yeah, for sure.
41:06I mean, everyone always asks me, who's your favourite dog?
41:08And I say that the dog musher basically has to just know his dogs just like you know
41:12your kids.
41:13Ah, my pup-pups.
41:14Let's go now.
41:15They're just keeping the pace going here.
41:17Yeah.
41:18But how long can they run for before you, you know, you know that they've had too much?
41:22Yeah, well, these dogs can run 70 miles straight and then we have to rest.
41:26But 70 miles is a hell of a distance.
41:28It is.
41:29If you could know, he created the annual Hudson Bay Quest, a 200-mile sled race which
41:35attracts musher's from all over the world.
41:37Do you change teams for another leg in a race?
41:40No, no.
41:41It's the same 10 dogs for the whole race.
41:42There's no leaving a dog behind until the halfway point if a dog has a sore wrist or a
41:46sore shoulder.
41:47It's all about how you take care of your dogs.
41:49Yeah.
41:50Like, you have to know doggy physiotherapy, too.
41:52You've got to know doggy yoga, doggy massage and doggy chiropractic.
41:55You're a foot specialist because their feet are their tyres.
41:57And in return, they show you this incredible enthusiasm for their job.
42:02Exactly.
42:03I think that dogs are the greatest gift to us from the animal world.
42:07Oh.
42:08Because there's no other animal that has a relationship with us like dogs do.
42:12And they're energy sponges, eh?
42:14They feel everything.
42:15They know when you're sick.
42:16They know when you're sad.
42:17They know when you're mad.
42:18They're just the most joyous animal that has a relationship with us.
42:21Ria.
42:22Gee.
42:23Gee.
42:25That's thank you and mjiff.
42:28Agapapa.
42:29Whoa.
42:30Whoa.
42:31Whoa.
42:32Whoa.
42:33Whoa.
42:34Whoa.
42:35Whoa.
42:36Whoa.
42:37Whoa.
42:38What an incredible gift these dogs give to the humans who take that sledge.
42:43All their energy, all their work.
42:46And then just all they want is a big bowl of water.
42:52Or somebody else's water.
42:55You couldn't be an animal lover and not love these animals.
42:58And I'll tell you what I've done, which I'm sorry I've done,
43:02is I'll have made my daughter so incredibly jealous.
43:05Sorry, Catherine.
43:09But in my defence, if there were ever a reason for me to love the cold,
43:13this would have to be it.
43:15And as great as it would be to follow in Dave's sled tracks
43:18and mush my way from Churchill back to Winnipeg,
43:22I've chosen the warm ocean as I continue my journey across Canada.
43:27But not before one last stop here in Winnipeg,
43:32where I've been told I must experience a profoundly unexpected favourite
43:36of this coldest of cities.
43:39Hello.
43:40Welcome to Chai Ban.
43:41Hi.
43:42I hear that you have a fantastic reputation for wonderful ice cream.
43:46Oh, thank you.
43:49Joseph and his wife Zainab opened now wildly popular Chai Ban ice cream in 2017.
43:56And in true North Canadian style, no one was deterred by the cold.
44:01The first day that we opened our shop was actually minus 20,
44:05and it was the first day of winter.
44:07And people thought we were crazy, and I think we are.
44:11But it was amazing because there was a line-up outside at minus 20.
44:15To buy ice cream?
44:16To buy ice cream.
44:17And this neighbourhood and this province really wanted to support us,
44:22and they got behind us.
44:24And we're still here four years later.
44:30Originally from the Middle East,
44:31the couple opened the store as a debt of gratitude to the city of Winnipeg.
44:35My wife, she is from Syria and I'm from Lebanon,
44:40and her family were actually refugees.
44:43And this neighbourhood brought them all to Canada.
44:46So we wanted to thank this neighbourhood,
44:49and my expertise is I'm a second-generation cheese maker and dairy scientist.
44:54And we thought about ice cream.
44:57That's fantastic.
44:58Well, the one I really liked is the one that gives me the flavours of the Mediterranean.
45:04Oh, thank you.
45:05And the flavours of the Middle East.
45:06So could I have a cone of that one, please?
45:08Yes, this is the Abir al-Sham, the flavours that we won an award for for Western Canada.
45:14Thank you very much.
45:15Oh, thank you.
45:19Mm-hmm.
45:20Mm.
45:21This is the sort of cold I like.
45:25Everyone tells me the same thing.
45:26The cold is exhilarating, invigorating, exciting.
45:30But, you know, if you ask me, it's still bloody freezing.
45:33I didn't think I have learned to love the cold,
45:35but I have rather learned to like the things that the cold produces.
45:43In fact, it was a Canadian who said,
45:47Canadians feel deep down that anybody can live in a gentle climate.
45:53It takes a very special people indeed to live through a Canadian winter.
46:01Join me next time as I head to the vast open spaces of the Northwest.
46:08They're fantastic beasts.
46:10They got something really wild and amazing.
46:12Abandoned them.
46:13Honestly, it's not steering a ship.
46:15It's the ship of the Probeys.
46:17I'm on my way now to go back in time.
46:22Welcome to what feels like a moon of Jupiter.
46:24These are the Badlands.
46:26So you've actually found T-Rexes here?
46:28That's utterly astonishing.
46:47There we go.
46:48This is absolutely unknown.
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