Robert Guy Scully (born 1950)[1] is a Canadian television producer, interviewer and host, and a former journalist. He started as a TV broadcaster with the French "la Société Radio-Canada" (SRC) in Québec, and subsequently also joined the Canadian English language network, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). He has hosted the following programs: Bibliotheca, Scully RDI, Venture, Scully rencontre, Impacts and The Innovators. He also produced the vignettes known as Heritage Minutes.[2] He currently hosts an independent talk program distributed by American Public Television (APT).
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Robert Scully was born in 1950, in Ottawa, Canada—of Irish and French ancestry. Ironically, the surname Scully is derived from the Irish name "O'Scolaidhe," meaning either "descendant of the storyteller," who was a regular official at the courts of the old Irish kings,[3] or "descendant of the scholar," from the Gaelic 'scolaidhe' or ‘scholar’.[4] Scully grew up in the working-class district of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve[1] in Montreal, and was educated at McGill University.[5][6]
Encouraged by Claude Ryan to pursue journalism at the age of 19 years, Scully learned the ropes of journalism at Le Devoir, first as Latin American correspondent. He even landed an interview with Salvador Allende.[7][8] At the age of 21, he became the literary and arts editor at Le Devoir, the youngest journalist ever to hold that job. In 1975 he moved to the United States and wrote columns from New York and Louisiana for both The Gazette and La Presse.
In 1977, as a print journalist, Scully had been accused of harboring anti-Quebec sentiment, in the wake of a caustic article he wrote in the Washington Post,[9] that railed against what he viewed as a backward, empty Quebec society (as viewed from the world outside Quebec). The very well-written article uses exaggeration for effect, and some of the subtlety and insight might have been lost to Quebec readers whose grasp of English and of the use of caricature as a literary tool was limited.[10] He apologized five days later on the French program Ce Soir, for having offended some people with his article, claiming that the article had been written for an American (i.e. "not a Quebec") readership, primarily to stir up discussion over the Quebec issue in America.[1] Shortly thereafter, Scully strangely confided to a journalist from La Presse that he was a separatist (or at least had "indépendantiste" leanings)—as he had actually voted for the Parti Québécois around that time— and insisted that his sentiments had been misconstrued.[8] In 1978, however, he co-authored a book with the leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Claude Ryan, about the history of the Quebec independence movement, just two years before the first Quebec referendum on sovereignty.[11] In that referendum, Ryan successfully campaigned for the "No" (federalist) forces and won against the separatist forces in Quebec.[12]
To show how far Quebec society has evolved in the intervening 30 years, we need only to look at the recent debate over a motion put forward by the Harper government—"That this House recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada"—(Nov. 22, 2006 - Hansard Debates). During the final debate on the motion Jacques Gourde listed many of Quebec's socio-political achievements since Confederation. Gourde concluded "that [these] assets...are not characteristic of a paralyzed society incapable of taking charge of its own development and promoting its culture around the world. Rather, these assets are proof of a flexible federalism that takes into account and develops differences across the country. Quebeckers themselves can form a nation within a united country called Canada."[fn 1] Bill Graham, the interim Liberal opposition leader at the time, put his support behind Harper's motion: "For our part, we are devoted to this great country with its marvellous history and unlimited potential. We have committed ourselves to building a Canada with Quebec as a key component. For its part, the Bloc Québécois is dedicated to destroying Canada. Although we have the greatest respect for the members of this House, we fundamentally disagree on this point."[14]
In 1982 Scully was working in radio at Radio-Canada and by 1984, he was hosting the French TV program Impacts, also at Radio-Canada. In 1987, Scully took over from Patrick Watson as the host of the new CBC business program Venture. In 1988, the show was honored with a Gemini Award for Best Information Program or Series; also in 1988,[15] Scully twice won the Quebec equivalent of the award, the Gemeaux Award, for his work on Impacts.[5][16][17] Venture again won a Gemini Award in 1996 (Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television), for Best News Information Program or Series. In 1997, Dianne Buckner took over as host of the business news and current affairs program, which lasted for another 10 years, before it was cut from the CBC-TV lineup.[18] In 1998, Scully was nominated for a Gemeaux Award in the category "Best Host of an Information Series or Special" – for Le monde de Gabrielle Roy (Scully RDI).
Scully is listed as a Producer of a TV mini-series, Les Beaux Dimanches - Maurice Richard: Histoire d'un Canadien, a 4 hour compilation of archive footage and dramatic scenes, which was first broadcast in October 1999 (Beautiful Sundays: The Maurice Rocket Richard Story [Canada: English title]). It won the 2000 Gemeaux Award for Best Biographical Documentary, 6 months after Maurice Richard’s death at the age of 78. It has since been tarnished, however, by association with the anti-corruption inquiry of the Gomery Commission[19][20] (2004 to 2005; also refer below).
In 2000, Scully quit the CBC, after it was discovered that the Canada Information Office had been the major source of funding for one of his programs, Canada du Millénaire, and that the federal government (Department of Canadian Heritage) had channeled funds through a private foundation to support the vignettes called Heritage Minutes.[fn 2][22][23] By leaving 'journalism', Scully was able to spend more time on his cable television program Scully: The World Show, which first aired on November 5, 1983 ('Guy' Fawkes Day), and which he still hosts.[24] Although distributed by an American public broadcasting network, the show is produced in Montreal, QC. Scully is considered an erudite bilingual former journalist, who even speaks French in the passé simple tense. His melodious delivery as a broadcaster sounds so natural, that he is allowed to get away with stylish language and obsolete expressions that would sound pompous, coming from someone else.[25] Scully is proficient not only in English and French, but also in Spanish and German.[5]
In the February 2004 report that prefaced the Gomery Commission, Auditor General Sheila Fraser said the Sponsorship Program created in 1997 by the Jean Chrétien government was designed to generate commissions for private companies—while hiding the source of the funding—rather than to provide any benefit for Canadians. One of the offenders, Canada Post, was asked why it paid $1,625,000 to a production company, L'Information essentielle Inc. to produce a television series on Maurice Richard, despite the fact that no contract was signed and there was no documentation provided to show how the corporation would benefit. Robert Scully was part owner and the executive producer of L'Information essentielle Inc. In another instance of questionable money transfers, Fraser's audit showed that Via Rail Canada Inc. was used by Lafleur Communication Marketing to handle the transfer of nearly $1 million towards the same television series on Maurice Richard, using what the auditor general called a "fictitious contract." Via was reimbursed all but $160,000 of the money; of that, Lafleur kept $112,500 as an agency commission.[26]
Although Scully was not personally involved with the Sponsorship Scandal, his testimony as a witness, during the inquiry known as the Gomery Commission, did reveal his role in selling federalism, a role which did not endear him to the Quebec media.[27]
Comedians have tried to imitate Scully's interviewing style, with some success, both in French[28] and in English: on Royal Canadian Air Farce, Paul Martin (guest) once appeared on a spoof of Venture when he was Minister of Finance, and threatened to audit the host, Robert Scully (played by Don Ferguson) when he tries to hand-deliver his tax return to save on postage (aired on Political Hot Shots - Friday, November 12, 1999). Known at the time as Royal Canadian Air Farce, when the show first appeared weekly on TV, it frequently parodied Scully starting with the 7th episode in November, 1993.[29]
The history of Quebec is distinguished by the desire, reaffirmed by successive generations of women and men, to build a better society while defending their rights and to preserve their cultural and linguistic heritage. Quebeckers can be proud of the society they have built and their extraordinary contribution to building Canada.
Quebeckers' distinct character is already recognized in several ways in Canadian institutions. For example, Quebec controls its own education system; it has its own Civil Code, which makes its legal system unique in North America; it has its own charter of rights and freedoms; it collects its own income taxes; it selects its immigrants and has its own immigrant integration programs; and it has a presence on the international stage.
Quebec has numerous delegations and offices abroad. It sits, with Canada, as a participant in the Francophone Summit and on other bodies of la Francophonie. It is part of the Canadian delegation to UNESCO. In addition, under framework agreements between Canada and foreign powers, Quebec can sign agreements directly with those foreign governments in certain areas.
Quebec has put in place its own pension plan, a deposit and investment fund, a general investment corporation and Hydro-Québec—key strategic tools in its economic development. It created its own television network, Radio-Québec, which is now known as Télé-Québec. It has its own student financial assistance program. It has passed its own language laws, enabling it to protect and promote the French language.
There can be no doubt that the assets I just listed are not characteristic of a paralyzed society incapable of taking charge of its own development and promoting its culture around the world. Rather, these assets are proof of a flexible federalism that takes into account and develops differences across the country. Quebeckers themselves can form a nation within a united country called Canada.