There was another Canadian show, The Beachcombers, about a guy named Nick Adonidas, who ran a lumber salvage operation on the coast of British Columbia.
The series was insanely gritty for its day, and dealt frequently with Nick's alcoholism problem, which was treated as being - in our terms - horrormirthy. Nick had a particular weakness with ouzo, and often was shown puking drunk, hung over, or in dire financial straits due to this.
The foil was a guy named "Relic", who used unscrupulous means to swipe lumber off of Nick, who wasn't above some shady dealings himself. Many of the characters were North American Natives, and their issues in dealing with Whites were explored fairly often, though they were also portrayed as "noble", in that they were virtually flaw-free (for example, they were the only characters that weren't horrid drunks).
Funny thing: In the 80s, the show was revamped, using more suspense and action, and tanked. The audience wanted sordid and awful social problems rubbed in their faces, which only proves that Canada is still very British.
