Bell Fibe TV1 has greenlit Mark Harnett’s Indigenous mockumentary The Canoe Project for a second season just a couple of weeks after its season one premiere.

The series (pictured) was created by Harnett, who also serves as a writer, producer, and star. It premiered on Sept. 30 on Bell Fibe TV1 to honour National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, and was filmed in St. John’s in April.

The Canoe Project is directed, co-written and produced by Gaelen Patrick Condon (Incredible Violence) under his Newfoundland banner, The Hunting Party, and his other banner with Jimmy MacKinley (Trailer Park Boys) and Harnett, Canoe Productions. Kerri Leigh Oakey is also a producer. Paul Gardner of Bell Fibe TV1 serves as an executive producer. MacKinley, who also stars in the series, is also an associate producer.

The first season received financial support from Bell Fibe, Newfoundland and Labrador Film Development Corporation, and the City of St. John’s Arts Grant.

The Canoe Project follows an Indigenous man who is blackmailed by a low-level government employee to move from his reservation to the big city and document his indoctrination in the urban world.

Harnett said in a statement that he formed the idea for the series, based on his experience of growing up in a Newfoundland community of less than 400 people and moving to St. John’s, about five years ago. “It’s about the stereotypes I encountered… I wanted to show this wasn’t true, even though the adjustment was hard and bringing traditional ways and small-town living to the city was a cause for humorous situations.”

Condon tells Playback Daily in an email that they already have a solid outline of where they will go with season two, and “plan to start shooting in early spring of 2023 with hopes of releasing on Sept. 30 of that year again.”

Canoe Productions aims to produce comedy genre projects that serve as vehicles for Harnett and MacKinley, with special attention paid to the Indigenous experience and stories in the Atlantic region and Canada as a whole, according to a news release. Meanwhile, The Hunting Party recently licensed a TV documentary show about Petty Harbour.

Image courtesy of Canoe Productions Inc.