You don't see a lot all-terrain vehicles in the big city, but get outside the GTA and they are a popular way to get around. W5 launches their 44th season (Saturday, 7 p.m., CTV) with a report on the safety of ATVs, machines reporter Paula Todd calls "the most unregulated vehicles in Canada." Todd spends a lot of time in rural areas, talking with parents whose children were killed when their ATV rolled over; with Alberta politicians about why there's no helmet law in the province; and with a man who got stuck under his ATV when it tipped - then lay in the woods for four days until he was found. Incredibly, he still takes his young granddaughter out for rides. To show viewers just how unstable the vehicles are, W5 has University of Alberta engineers rigorously test several different ATVs, from Honda to Kawasaki. The results make you wonder why anyone rides them, but a spokesman for the all-terrain industry disputes W5's findings and testing methods. Ultimately, it's a decision ATV riders will have to make.
Tonight's premiere also includes a story by Victor Malarek about women who pay big money to get married to Canadians so they can get citizenship.
Also airing this week:
Dear Zachary: A letter to a son about his father (airing on The Passionate Eye, Sunday, 10 p.m., Newsworld). This is one of the most shockingly raw and heart-breaking films you'll see. It attacks the Canadian justice system and Newfoundland's social services, which dramatically failed Dr. Andrew Bagby and his infant son. Filmmaker Kurt Kuenne was a friend of Bagby's and set out to make a memorial to Zachary about his dad and the circumstances of his death. It's charming and effective. Then the documentary changes dramatically when 13-month-old Zachary is killed in a murder-suicide by his mother, Dr. Shirley Turner, the prime suspect in Bagby's death. The film then becomes a startling story of grief-fuelled activism launched by Zachary's paternal grandparents, and it's a story of courage and sadness that will stay with you.