Toronto: City of Dreams is a rollicking romp through three centuries of history, revealing "Toronto the Good" in all of its contradictions. From muddy backwater to pulsing metropolis; from pioneer booziness to the Temperance League; from Orange Order to the most multi-cultural city in the world, this is where English Canada's national identity is forged. Always there is the smaller citizen pleading for tolerance; the haunting, individual voice that moves a city to be better. This is provocative, entertaining viewing for all Canadians.

Episode One: A Colony Up for Grabs takes us from the raw beauty of geography and native settlement, to the smoke stacked Toronto of post Confederation. European history begins with the French and English jabbing their flags into Toronto's flank. Lt. Governor John Simcoe founds York in 1793, then abolishes slavery. Black Americans, Loyalists, Germans, and British immigrants carve out roads and businesses. By 1800, taverns outnumber churches 6:1 and Toronto's first brothel keeper is put into stocks.

The Americans ravage the town in the War of 1812, creating the first local heroes; but their politics turn nasty. The city is stunted by the stranglehold of an elite clique of men called the "Family Compact;" by the agony of cholera epidemics, and the political turmoil of the 1837 Rebellion. Ten years later, the Irish famine spits out thousands of refugees - Catholics who startle the Protestant town. Order and tolerance keeps the place from exploding. Egerton Ryerson brings in compulsory education, George Brown of the Globe newspaper champions the cause of runaway American slaves, and Alexander Muir pens the new nation's anthem, "The Maple Leaf Forever."

EPISODE 2      EPISODE 3

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