
‘Inbound’ documentary shines light on how immigration has shaped Canadian basketball
A new documentary makes the case that a change in Canada’s immigration policy more than 50 years ago has fuelled the country’s current boom in NBA players.
“Inbound,” a short film on how Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s multiculturalism policy in the early 1970s brought an influx of immigrants to Canada whose children and grandchildren are now becoming professional basketball players premiered in Toronto last week. After a limited engagement in Cineplex theatres across the country, it’s now available to be streamed online through TSN, Crave and the NBA app.
The family of Montreal’s Chris Boucher, a backup forward for the Toronto Raptors, is prominently featured in “Inbound.” He said that the documentary’s thesis reflected his lived experience.
“My family was definitely part of the immigration program and it definitely shows the opportunity it gave us,” said Boucher, whose mother Mary MacVane emigrated from St. Lucia to Montreal.