Peter Gzowski CBC Host and proud Canadian
Peter Gzowski: A Voice for Canada
On my walk through St. James-the-Less Cemetery in Toronto, I came across the family mausoleum of the great Peter Gzowski — perched on a hillside, quiet and dignified, much like the man himself.
Often called “Mr. Canada,” Gzowski was more than a broadcaster. He was a listener — to stories, to people, to the pulse of the nation.
His paternal great-great-grandfather, Sir Casimir Gzowski, a Polish nobleman turned Canadian engineer, left his mark through grand infrastructure projects like the Grand Trunk Railway and the Welland Canal.
Sir Casimir Gzowski crpyt in the family mausoleum at St. James the-less Cemetery, Toronto (photos of crypt by P. Crawford)
But Peter’s own contribution was one of connection — helping Canadians see themselves, and each other, more clearly.
As I continued walking through the cemetery, I found myself thinking about the two hundred and fifteen unmarked graves discovered at the site of a former residential school — children lost to a system designed to erase their language, their families, their culture.
What would Peter have said?
Perhaps nothing right away.
He might have simply listened.
But he would not have stayed silent.
Our country has been silenced in so many ways.
Peter Gzowski died in Toronto on January 24, 2002. He was 67.
But the conversations he started — and the ones we still need to have — continue.
1934-2002
