W5, Canada’s #1 documentary series, returns for its 46th season with three weeks of back-to-back, hard-hitting stories in keeping with its pedigree as North America’s longest-running and Canada’s most-respected investigative series. With Host and Chief Correspondent Lloyd Robertson at the helm, W5 kicks off with CTV National News’ Chief Anchor and Senior Editor Lisa LaFlamme’s in-depth interview with former media baron Conrad Black, premiering Saturday, September 17 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV. W5repeats Sundays at 1 p.m. ET on CP24, at 7 p.m. ET on CTV Two, and then on demand on the CTV News Video Player at CTVNews.ca (visit CTV.ca for local listings).
The following two weeks of W5 feature all-new stories. On Saturday, September 24 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV, W5 and Seamus O’Regan takes viewers to Africa along with K’naan, as the Canadian musical artist joins W5 in lands where famine and drought threaten millions with starvation. And on Saturday, October 1, W5’s Victor Malarek takes an investigative look at what has been described as one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in Canadian history, asking where were authorities who had been tracking the alleged perpetrators?
“Long-form documentary is a powerful medium, and one that I am excited to bring my story-telling skills to with W5,” said Robertson. “Viewers have long illustrated their fascination and interest in W5’s award-winning investigative reports, and I’m thrilled for the opportunity to get beyond the headlines with its thorough, and often controversial stories that advance the dialogue on subjects that resonate with Canadians.”
More details on the first three episodes of W5’s 46th season are below:
Conrad Black – Saturday, September 17 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV
Lisa LaFlamme, CTV National News’ Chief Anchor and Senior Editor, is on special assignment for W5, delivering a candid interview with the once-powerful media mogul, Conrad Black. The corporate titan’s spectacular fall from grace has been played out in the media: a stunning tale of power and hubris. Convicted of obstruction of justice by an American court, LaFlamme interviewed Black just weeks before he returned to prison in the U.S. W5’s special one-hour season premiere takes viewers beyond the daily headlines, offering an intimate glimpse of a somewhat humbled tycoon with startling admissions about his past and future.
Fame & Famine: K’naan in Africa – Saturday, September 24 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV.
K’naan is an award-winning international hip-hop star. He also has a powerful voice to bear on what has been described as the biggest human-created disaster in decades: the famine facing the Horn of Africa. Joined by CTV’s Seamus O’Regan, K’naan returns to his famine-stricken homeland and to Dadaab, a Kenyan refugee camp bigger than most Canadian cities, where many Somalis fleeing war, drought and famine seek refuge. O’Regan takes viewers inside a journey through K’naan’s unique lens: he fled Somalia in the early stages of a 20-year civil war, and returns as a survivor and a beloved African superstar, widely recognized for Waving Flag, the song that became Africa’s unofficial anthem and the official song of the 2010 World Cup. O’Regan reports from refugee camps and the new world of entertainment that has embraced K’naan, with his desire is to give back to a devastated region and to use the power of his music and poetry to focus the world’s attention on a humanitarian crisis.
Canadian Con – Saturday, October 1 at 7 p.m. ET on CTV
It may be the biggest ponzi scheme in Canadian history: two Canadians accused of defrauding thousands of Canadian and Americans in a scheme that some say was worth as much as five billion dollars. But it might have been prevented. W5 reveals that the Alberta Securities Commission and the RCMP knew about the scheme for five years before they moved in to shut it down. Victor Malarek investigates why Canadian authorities turn a blind eye to financial fraud.
