This bold, dramatic series captures the epic struggles to open the Canadian West and at last join Canada from sea to sea. Based on the books The National Dream and The Last Spike by Pierre Berton, the programs chronicle the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the political fortunes of those who shaped the course of the railway and the destiny of Canada between 1871 and 1885.

Series includes:

Episode 1: The Great Lone Land
The government of Sir John A. Macdonald announces its intentions to build a railway to the Pacific, bring British Columbia into Confederation and preserve Canadian sovereignty from sea to sea.

Episode 2: The Pacific Scandal
Charges of corruption and intrigue ring out against the Macdonald government as the Pacific scandal comes to a head. The Prime Minister delivers an impassioned defence in the House, but independent MP Donald Smith breaks a Commons deadlock and Sir John resigns.

Episode 3: The Horrid B.C. Business
Canada reels in the throes of a depression as Prime Minister Mackenzie vainly tries to cope with inherited Pacific Railway frustrations. Mackenzie’s health wanes as surveyors squabble, contractors milk the public purse and B.C. clamours for the promised railway. If the railway is to be salvaged, Sir John A. Macdonald must rise from the political ashes.

Episode 4: The Great Debate
Back in power, Sir John A. Macdonald reluctantly agrees to name Donald Smith, Jim Hall and George Stephen as heads of the syndicate that will build the railway. Though capable, resourceful capitalists, they are tainted by U.S. railway connections. After an exhausting marathon debate, the House passes the government’s railway bill.

Episode 5: The Railway General
New cities spring up as the railway snakes across the prairies. Dynamic William Cornelius Van Horne is appointed CPR general manager, and he profoundly influences the future of Western Canada by his placement of railway stations.

Episode 6: The Sea of Mountains
Construction in B.C. is painstakingly slower than on the Prairies, and suave contractor Andrew Onderdonk lures thousands of coolies from China to help hack and tunnel through the Rockies. As the CPR creeps over the continental spine, trouble looms on the horizon.

Episode 7: The Desperate Days
Slow, arduous construction in the mountains and north of Superior sends costs soaring as the CPR faces financial calamity. Sir John A. Macdonald is distracted by mounting troubles in the West as farmers, First Nations and Métis groups cry for redress. In a desperate gamble, Van Horne offers to transport 9,000 troops from the East to quell the rebellion.

Episode 8: The Last Spike
Eastern militiamen begin the cruellest journey in Canadian military history and the national crisis is averted. The CPR faces riots, strikes and bankruptcy before an eleventh-hour government loan saves the day. In November 1885 Donald Smith drives the last spike in the CPR to link Canada from sea to sea.