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BACKGROUND
Chapter 2
Regulatory History
Since the earliest days of Confederation, Canada's vast size, long winters and fragmented population have necessitated a well-developed communications network. At first it was the printed word and the railways that helped serve this function. Later, the telegraph and the telephone were added. In the early years of the twentieth century it was radio, followed in the 1950s by television, and since the mid-1990s, the Internet. Over time, Canada's broadcasting system has become one of the principal ways through which Canadians have developed a sense of community and identity. In parallel, Canada's broadcasting infrastructure has become a multi-billion dollar industry, offering valuable opportunities for tens of thousands of Canadians in countless areas of the broadcasting, telecommunications and technology sectors.
A strong point of the Canadian broadcasting system is the elaborate physical infrastructure its trustees have developed to deliver radio and television services to potential audiences. Its weakness has always been the amount of original Canadian programming written and produced by Canadians, for Canadians.
Some have argued that the absence of adequate Canadian programming combined with the pervasiveness of the popular American variety represents a force that undermines Canadians' social, cultural, economic, public and national interests. This is why successive governments for more than 70 years have developed and funded a national public broadcaster, an independent production industry and an arm's-length regulator to oversee the practices and activities of those who deliver our programming services.
The introduction of radio created at least as much and perhaps more excitement than the development of railroads. It was now possible for communities to share information across vast distances without having to worry about the state of the roads, the railroads or the weather. All that was needed was electricity — a crystal in the early days — and, later on, a four or five tube radio set.
From the beginning, the benefits of broadcast programming were imagined to be considerable. Indeed, the Aird Commission of 1928-29 believed that:
... broadcasting should be considered of such importance in promoting the unity of the nation that a subsidy by the Dominion Government should be regarded as an essential aid to the general advantage of Canada rather than as an expedient to meet any deficit in the cost of maintenance of the service.1
It also observed that:
... the potentialities of broadcasting as an instrument of education have been impressed upon us; education in the broad sense, not only as it is conducted in the schools and colleges, but in providing entertainment and in informing the public on questions of national interest.2
Thus, education, information, entertainment and national unity were the core reasons why Aird's Commission recommended the creation of a national public broadcaster. And it is these same motivations that have informed every Canadian review that has considered broadcasting since that time.
For example, in 1932, Prime Minister R.B. Bennett spoke of an:
... enduring fellowship ... founded on the clear and sympathetic understanding which grow out of closer mutual knowledge. In this stage of our national development, we have problems peculiar to ourselves and we must reach a solution ... through the employment of all available means. The radio has a place in the solution ... It becomes, then, the duty of Parliament to safeguard in such a way that its fullest benefits may be assured to the people as a whole.3
Similarly, in 1951, the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (known as Massey-Lévesque) concluded that:
In Canada ... the principle that radio broadcasting is a public trust has been followed consistently for twenty years [therefore] broadcasting in Canada, in our view, is a public service directed and controlled in the public interest by a body responsible to Parliament.4
Nearly 20 years later, in 1970, the Special Senate Committee Report on Mass Media agreed that:
... broadcasters [use] public property in transmitting their signals through the air, and ... Canadians [have] a right to expect that broadcasters [will use] that public property to strengthen our culture, rather than dilute it.5
This view was reaffirmed by the 1986 Task Force on Canadian Broadcasting when it stated that:
Those who are granted the right to use radio frequencies are given an important responsibility. Contributing to the dissemination of Canadian culture is a duty inherent in the privilege they are granted as a public trust on behalf of Canadians.6
Ten years later, the report of the Mandate Review Committee arrived at a similar conclusion when it argued that:
We need Canadian programs and films to enable our citizens to understand one another, to develop a national and community consciousness, to help us shape our solutions to social and political problems, and to inspire the imagination of our children and express their hope.7
Remarkably, the Aird Commission made much the same point — albeit more provocatively — in 1929 when it noted that:
... the majority of the programs heard are from sources outside of Canada. It has been emphasized to us that the continued reception of these has a tendency to mould the minds of young people in the home to ideals and opinions that are not Canadian.8
Thus, while not all studies of broadcasting have necessarily used the expression "public trust," it is clear that they have consistently embraced a vision of a broadcasting system that serves the public interests of all Canadians. For this reason, it is both fitting, not to mention somewhat troubling, that the 1929 Report of the Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting — which is a mere nine pages, with 19 pages of
appendices — seems as timely today, more than 70 years after it was written.
That said, the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage Committee faces a far more complex world than any of our predecessors could possibly have imagined. This makes it inevitable that this Committee's report cannot be as concise as Aird's was in 1929, but in no way precludes it from being as daring and provocative.
The following sections briefly describe the circumstances underlying the legislation that has entrenched broadcasting in Canada as a public trust.9 As will be seen, this evolution can best be described as a series of stages triggered by government studies and successive Acts of Parliament. A few short biographies of key individuals who contributed to this process are also provided to add a human dimension to what might otherwise be seen as a mere history of published reports.10
The Beginnings: 1913-28
Under the Radiotelegraph Act of 1913, a government minister was authorized to licence radio broadcasters and to charge a small licence fee for each receiving set. Starting in 1922, radio administration became the sole responsibility of the Radio Branch of the Department of Marine and Fisheries. At this time, most broadcasting, except for the military, was in the private sector and was used by hobbyists, commercial broadcasters and non-profit groups. Popular programming included: music, news, weather, sports, entertainment and live events. A radio network operated by the Canadian National Railways (CNR) provided the only national programming during this time. |
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By 1928 about 68 radio stations and some 400,000 battery-operated radio receivers were in operation across Canada, including CKUA, Canada's first educational broadcaster. Radio set licence fees were one dollar and regulations restricting content were minimal.
CKUA: Canada's First Educational Broadcaster
In 1925, the University of Alberta's Department of Extension began broadcasting programs on CJCA, the radio station owned by the Edmonton Journal. These programs included short lectures by faculty members in classics, history and politics; symphonic music recordings with commentary; and live music. The provincial government provided a $700 grant in 1926 to build a transmitter on the campus and a year later the university established CKUA radio for the purposes of educational broadcasting. Not only was CKUA Canada's first educational broadcaster, it predated the CRBC by nearly six years. |
Public Ownership and Government Regulation: 1928-36
As already noted, the federal government launched the Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting in 1928 to study the state of the Canadian broadcasting system. Chaired by Sir John Aird, the Commission's stated purpose was to "determine how radio broadcasting in Canada could be most effectively carried on in the interest of Canadian listeners and the national interests of Canada."11 It was also expected to "make recommendations to the Government as to the future administration, management, control and financing thereof."12
The 1928 Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting
The Royal Commission's Report recommended that a public body regulate private broadcasters and air its own programs. As a result of these recommendations, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, the forerunner of the CBC, came into existence in 1932. The members of the Commission were: Sir John Aird, Charles Bowman and Dr. Augustin Frigon.
Sir John Aird was born in 1855 and died in 1938. In 1928, he was appointed head of the Royal Commission. Charles Bowman, who was editor of the Ottawa Citizen, was an early advocate of public broadcasting, having visited the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in 1926, and argued for a system controlled by Ottawa.
Dr. Augustin Frigon began a career that helped to shape Canadian public broadcasting as an electric engineer and later director general of technical education in Quebec. He argued for a strong provincial role in broadcasting. In 1936, he became the assistant general manager of the CBC, responsible for the broadcaster's technical expansion and in 1943, the general manager. In these positions he implemented the plan proposed in the Aird report, introducing new radio broadcasting services such as the FM network, international service and short waves, gaining an international reputation in the broadcasting science community. Dr. Frigon also became involved in the wartime debate over whether the CBC should give airtime to both sides during the plebiscite on conscription. Throughout, he played a major role in the development of Radio-Canada. |
Signal interference and overcrowded airwaves due to a relative lack of spectrum management was one reason for the launch of the Aird Commission study. Of paramount concern, however, was the disproportionate number of Canadians who were receiving and listening to American radio signals, a phenomenon which was not only slowing the growth of Canadian radio but was, as noted above, having "a tendency to mould the minds of young people in the home to ideals and opinions that are not Canadian."14
Graham Spry (1900-83) was an life-long advocate of public broadcasting. Together with Alan Plaunt, he co-founded the Canadian Radio League in 1930 and he was instrumental in mobilizing popular and political support for public broadcasting in Canada.
He served as chairman of the Canadian Radio League from 1930 to 1934 and later was chairman of the Canadian Broadcasting League from 1968 to 1973. The Canadian Radio League campaigned for the general recommendation of the 1929 Royal Commission on Broadcasting; that is, the establishment and the support of a national system operated as a public undertaking. |
Another issue for many during this era was the uneven availability of Canadian services and programming in different parts of the country. The Aird Commission recognized this problem and observed that: "In a country of the vast geographical dimensions of Canada, broadcasting will undoubtedly become a great force in fostering a national spirit and interpreting national citizenship."15 For this reason, the report proposed the creation of a publicly owned national broadcaster not unlike the BBC. Only by doing so, it explained, would "the interests of the listening public and the nation ... be adequately served."16
In parallel with the Aird Commission's efforts, the Quebec government took an active part in establishing a provincial role in broadcasting. It passed the first radio legislation in 1929, while the Aird Commission was still sitting, and strengthened it in 1931 with legislation concerning licencing and civil responsibility for broadcasting.17
The next year, in 1932, following judgments by the Supreme Court of Canada as well as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, it was confirmed that federal jurisdiction over the airwaves and programming content made it feasible to proceed with a national public radio broadcaster. Thereafter, a special parliamentary committee was created to implement the Aird Commission's recommendations, culminating with all-party support that same year for the passage of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act, an Act creating the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC).
In keeping with the Aird Commission's vision of a "national company which will own and operate all radio stations located in ... Canada"18, the CRBC was conceived as a three-man commission empowered to regulate, control and carry on broadcasting activities in Canada in the public interest. The CRBC was mandated to originate and transmit programs; lease, buy or build facilities; and, over time, assume complete control over all aspects of Canadian broadcasting. In other words, it was expected to create a monopoly situation similar to that enjoyed by the BBC in the United Kingdom.
The creation of the CRBC coincided, however, with the economic Depression of the 1930s, meaning that Prime Minister Bennett's government could not fund the CRBC as required. As a result, the Commission established stations in just five cities, and relied on private broadcasters to rebroadcast its network programming in other cities and regions. This had the effect of entrenching a public-private system, a mix that characterizes the Canadian broadcasting system to this day.
The CBC as Regulator and Operator: 1936-58
By the early 1930s, more than one million Canadian homes had radio licences and listeners were accustomed to receiving several hours of CRBC network programming each day, not to mention a handful of private stations that offered music, local news, sports and rebroadcasts of popular American entertainment shows. At the same time, Canadians in border regions were continuing to enjoy over-the-air broadcasts from the United States.
Following the election of a new government in 1935, Prime Minister Mackenzie King decided that the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act of 1932 should be revised to more fully capture the essence of the Aird Report and to address concerns that the CRBC was not sufficiently arm's-length in its functioning. Soon thereafter, in 1936, a considerably revised Act was adopted by Parliament, which enshrined the principle that the public broadcaster was a public, not a state broadcaster. It also created a more autonomous body, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), as a replacement for the CRBC.
The new Act gave CBC the mandate to licence and regulate all parts of the national broadcasting system, including those private stations that it did not directly own or operate. Funded by an increased licence fee, it was therefore able to take swift action to enlarge its reach through the construction of a network of regional transmitters. It also increased its programming hours by importing American shows. As a result, within eight years, the CBC was operating two English networks (TransCanada and Dominion) and one French network. At the same time, despite not being allowed to form national networks, private radio stations were flourishing.
Arnold Davidson Dunton was born in 1912 and died in 1987. He was a public servant and educator. In 1945, he was appointed the first full-time chairman of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He was a strong advocate of the need to fund publicly a television system that would be of great national benefit and was a persuasive defender of the corporation's independence.
André Laurendeau: From 1932 when he started a Quebec nationalist youth movement until his death in 1968, André Laurendeau was a journalist and intellectual who lived at the heart of nationalist debate in Quebec. As the secretary of the Ligue pour la Défense du Canada, he debated the role of the CBC's role of promoting government policy during the conscription controversy in 1942. He argued for a bi-cultural Canada in which English and French cultures co-existed before the Massey Commission, and criticized its report for its centralist approach. His career included serving in the Quebec Legislative Assembly. While editor of Le Devoir, he frequently published influential articles on broadcasting issues. From 1963-68, he was the co-president of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism with Davidson Dunton. |
As already noted, the Massey-Lévesque Commission identified and affirmed the public trust characteristics of Canadian broadcasting activities in 1951. This report — which was issued just months before the introduction of television to Canadians — did not and perhaps could not have foreseen the speed with which this new technology would make the CBC's dual role as a broadcasting monopoly and broadcast regulator untenable.
Charles Vincent Massey was born in Toronto in 1887 and died in London, England in 1967. He was a politician and diplomat and was Canada's first native-born governor general. He was head of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, and his report in 1951 recommended the formation of a Canada council, which was established in 1957.Father Georges-Henri Lévesque was a Dominican priest and educator. As an intellectual precursor to the sweeping social change of Quebec's Quiet Revolution, his avant-garde ideas led to difficulties with Quebec Premier Maurice Duplessis. Father Lévesque brought such stature to the Massey Commission in 1949, that it was often called the Massey-Levesque Commission, although he was not a co-chair. He was the founder of the Social Sciences Faculty at Laval University and served as its first Dean until 1955. Later, he founded and became the director of Montmorency House, a centre near Quebec City devoted to cultural, social and religious debate and activism. In 1963, he left for Rwanda to found the Rwanda National University and served as its rector until 1972. He died at the age of 96 in 2000.
Hilda Neatby, a pre-eminent Canadian historian and author, was acting head of the Department of History, University of Saskatchewan when she was recruited to join the Massey Commission from 1949 to 1951. This intensive investigation of learning and culture led her to publish So Little for the Mind in 1953, a controversial attack on Canadian education based on four decades as a student and teacher. In addition to her deep concern with education, Ms. Neatby was also known for her outspoken views on subjects ranging from religion to politics. She was a feminist before it was fashionable and an historian who studied the role of Quebec in Canada. |
In September 1952, CBC television went on the air in Montréal and Toronto. At first, each Canadian market was limited by CBC broadcast regulators to one television station (typically a private-station licensee) that was expected to carry the CBC's national programming. It soon became clear, however, that the public thirst for more choice and content could not be fulfilled under a policy regime in which the system's sole public broadcasting trustee was also its regulator. This issue was so contentious that a Royal Commission on Broadcasting, to be chaired by Robert M. Fowler, was established in 1955 with a view to recommending new broadcasting legislation.
Robert MacLaren Fowler (1906-80) was a lawyer and executive. He served as chairman of a royal commission and federal committee on broadcasting. In 1955 Fowler was named to head the Royal Commission on Broadcasting. His report, which was tabled in March 1957, was strongly supportive of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation but called for a new regulatory authority to administer public and private broadcasting. The government of the day did not accept all the recommendations, and in 1965 Fowler again headed a new federal committee investigating broadcasting. This committee again recommended changes, and this led to the creation of the Canadian Radio Television Commission (CRTC) in 1968. |
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The First National Radio Network in Canada
When, in 1922, the Canadian government put Sir Henry Thornton to the task of creating the new Canadian National Railways (CNR) out of the remains of several failed railways, it could not have imagined that the results would include the creation Canada's first national broadcasting network.
With the benefit of hindsight, it seems logical that the railroads — the technology that allowed Canada to conquer its distances and come into being — would also pioneer the new electronic link. But Thornton's reasons for developing radio were much more prosaic: he needed good publicity for his rebuilt company, and he saw the new, exciting medium of radio as the way to get it.
Thornton established the CNR radio department in 1923, and it immediately launched a series of publicity "events," broadcasting radio programs to trains specially equipped with radio receivers in their lounge cars. In one of them, British Prime Minister Lloyd George listened to a special program of world news while travelling to Ottawa from Montréal, and was then interviewed by a number of newspaper correspondents, spreading word of the CNR's new radio service around the world.
In 1924 Thornton attacked the "content" problem, obtaining licences for three stations to be built and operated by the CNR, in order to have a regular supply of high-quality content to offer his passengers. Seven other stations presented CN programs from time to time.
By 1 July 1927, the 60th anniversary of Confederation, the electronic "last spike" was driven when the CNR network broadcast the celebrations from Parliament Hill across the entire nation, to the U.S. and overseas to Britain — the first national network broadcast in Canada. Regular network broadcast began the following year. Over time, the network grew to include over 25 stations in 22 cities. CN, of course, had a unique advantage, using its existing long-distance telegraph lines to carry its three hours of weekly programming to the participating stations. But it had extended that advantage by investing in carrier current technology — permitting the carriage of 24 signals over the same wire.
With success, however, came criticism of the government-owned system, much of it from the CPR, which had fallen badly behind. New policy issues were raised when American network programming arrived in Canada, culminating in the report of the Aird Commission on radio. Finally, the onset of the depression and a change of government in Ottawa brought the CNR's period of radio expansion to a close. The stations were sold to the new CRBC (Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission) which itself became the CBC in 1936.
After a Royal Commission into the railway companies, Thornton was forced to resign — many thought he was treated unfairly by the government. But his record of achievement on all fronts, including the building of a national broadcasting system, was unparalleled. Thornton's parting words to the editor of The Winnipeg Free Press ring true, "I shall leave my reputation to the future, feeling as I do that when the blood lust of political vindictiveness has run its course, justice will be done. At any rate, the successor administration will inherit a danged sight better property than was given me...."13 |
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Regulation by the Board of Broadcast Governors: 1958-68
The Fowler Commission's 1957 report on Canadian Broadcasting recognized the inherent conflict underlying the CBC's dual role as operator and regulator and recommended that its statutory broadcasting functions be separated from its broadcast regulation duties and that a separate and independent body be established to regulate broadcasting in the public interest. Its authors explained:
We think there have in fact been two public elements involved in radio and television broadcasting. This factual separation of powers should be more precisely defined in law. One of these elements should be an operating agency, engaged in the operation of publicly owned stations and national networks and in the production and distribution of a national programme service throughout Canada. ...
The other public agency in the Canadian broadcasting field should be a board created and authorized to act for Parliament, and responsible to Parliament, for the direction and supervision of the Canadian broadcasting system. This board should have responsibility for all elements in Canadian broadcasting. It should not, we suggest, be part of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and its members should not ... comprise the Corporation.19
Convinced by this argument, the government of Prime Minister Diefenbaker moved quickly to introduce and adopt the Broadcasting Act of 1958, which created a new policy framework for Canada's broadcasting system.
The Broadcasting Act of 1958 created a 15-member Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) that was responsible for regulating the activities, and relationships between Canada's public and private broadcasters and to ensure the efficient operation of national radio and television broadcasting. The BBG was to consider applications for new stations and make licencing recommendations to the minister responsible. The Act also created a board of governors to oversee CBC operations that would report separately to Parliament.
Joseph-Alphonse Ouimet (1908-88) was an engineer and president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He worked at a company developing television and built a prototype TV receiver in 1932. In 1934 he joined the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, which later became the CBC. As chief engineer there from 1948, he was responsible for the creation of Canadian TV broadcasting. In 1953 he became general manager of the CBC and president in 1958. Under his leadership the national television service was established from coast to coast and in both languages. |
Under the BBG, Canadian television expanded quickly while radio, for the most part, became a local or community service, with the exception of the CBC, which continued to maintain and expand its national network. Meanwhile, a private television network, the Independent Television Organization — soon to be known as CTV — began broadcasting in larger centres in the early 1960s. Around this time, broadcasting (both television and radio) ranked third in profitability among Canada's top 140 industries.
In 1964, the federal government created the Fowler Broadcasting Committee to study the increasing dominance and availability of American programming in Canada. Fowler's Committee was also asked to address and fine-tune some of the ambiguities in the Broadcasting Act that were causing disputes between the BBG and the CBC.
The Fowler Committee made its report to Parliament in 1965. The Committee roundly criticized the performance of the BBG, the CBC and private broadcasters and declared that Parliament should state broadcasting policy in firm and clear terms. That said, it was of the view that neither the government nor Parliament should be involved in the details of administration, finance and programming. For this reason, it proposed that a new broadcasting authority — which would be held accountable to Parliament for the achievement of stipulated goals — be formed.
In response, the government issued a White Paper on Broadcasting in 1966 and referred it to the Standing Committee on Broadcasting, Film and Assistance to the Arts. In it, the government declared that Parliament would be asked to enact new broadcasting policy and legislation that would establish the authorities and responsibilities for management of the CBC and the regulation of public and private broadcasting in Canada.
In March 1967, the Standing Committee issued its Report. It declared that:
A distinctly Canadian broadcasting system is essential to our national identity, unity and vitality in our second century ... The Committee feels strongly that it is not a proper function of Parliament or government to be involved in the programming, or day-to-day operation or supervision of the broadcasting system. It is, however, the responsibility of Parliament to define the public interest to be served by our broadcasting system and to enunciate the national policy. It is also Parliament's duty to create a viable structure within which the service we seek can be assured to the Canadian people.20
With this in mind, the Standing Committee made a number of recommendations of lasting significance in the development of policy for the regulation and supervision of the Canadian broadcasting system. These include that: the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation become the prime instrument of public policy in broadcasting; the board of the regulator should not be involved in the day-to-day decision-making or policy-making of the CBC; the regulator should not be empowered to give directions concerning specific programs, other than by generally applicable regulations or in the conditions of licence, to any broadcasters; Canadian talent must be developed; undue concentration of ownership should be investigated by the regulator; and, foreign programming should be welcomed provided Canadians are assured access to Canadian programs of high quality.
Regulation by the CRTC: 1968-91
Based on the policy proposals of the Fowler Report, the White Paper and the Parliamentary Committee, Parliament adopted a new Broadcasting Act in 1968. In doing so, it created a new arm's-length regulatory body, the Canadian Radio Television Commission (CRTC),21 which was empowered to issue broadcast licences and a mandate to ensure that: ownership and control of broadcasting remain in Canadian hands; programming be of high quality with substantial Canadian content; Canadian broadcasting safeguard, enrich and strengthen the nation of Canada from sea to sea. The Act also brought cable television, already well established in some cities, under the authority of the CRTC. The CRTC's first Chair was Pierre Juneau. |
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Judy LaMarsh, the only woman in Lester B. Pearson's Cabinet from 1963 to 1968, was best known as an outspoken crusader in the war against poverty. In addition to overseeing the introduction of a national pension plan and the design of Canada's medicare system, she helped to modernize the Canadian broadcasting system. As the secretary of state, she signed the White Paper of Broadcasting and piloted the Broadcasting Act of 1968. Her legacy includes the appointment of Pierre Juneau as the Chair of the CRTC and the establishment of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada. In 1968, she wrote Memoirs of a Bird in a Gilded Cage, an account of her years in politics and went on to become a radio and television broadcaster. In 1976, she chaired Ontario's Royal Commission on Violence in Communications. |
From its inception, the CRTC was far more active than the Board Broadcast Governors (BBG) in its efforts to uphold Canadian content quotas. For the CBC, meeting or exceeding the CRTC's Canadian content quotas was not and has never been a significant challenge.22 For private broadcasters, however, meeting even the barest minimum — especially between the prime-time hours of 7 and 11 PM — was and remains difficult, particularly with the expansion of the television market due to the licencing of new Canadian services and the importation of foreign broadcasting services.
In 1980, the Minister of Communications, the Honourable Francis Fox, launched a Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee, to be chaired by Louis Applebaum and cochaired by Jacques Hébert.
Louis Applebaum was born in 1918 and died in 2000. He was a composer, conductor and administrator. He wrote and conducted hundreds of scores for film, theatre, and for radio and TV drama and was a consultant for various arts organizations. In addition, he served on numerous committees and was co-chairman, with Jacques Hébert, of the Cultural Policy Review Committee from 1980-82.
Born in 1923, Jacques Hébert worked as a writer, publisher and senator. He ran a newspaper, was the host of a public affairs program on television, and operated two publishing houses. In 1980-82 Hébert served as co-chairman, together with Louis Applebaum, of the Cultural Policy Review Committee. He retired from the Senate in 1998. |
The Applebaum-Hébert Report, which was issued in 1982, studied all areas of relevance to Canadian cultural policy, including broadcasting. In this regard, it made a number of recommendations concerning the Canadian broadcasting system, including that:
| • | the CBC discontinue all commercial advertising, phase out in-house and local programming, and rededicate itself to regional programming; |
| • | the CRTC require private broadcasters to allocate substantial percentages of their programming time and expenditures on new Canadian programming; |
| • | the CRTC licence new private local stations in markets able to absorb them; |
| • | a new Broadcasting Act be enacted by Parliament; |
| • | a new Act give clear authority to the CRTC in matters related to the CBC; and, |
| • | a new Act confirm the total independence of the CRTC from political intrusion, but permit direction by the Minister on the matters of general policy. |
In 1984, to address the ongoing challenges the Canadian broadcasting system was facing due to audience fragmentation, changes in technology and ongoing concerns over Canada's cultural sovereignty, the Task Force on Canadian Broadcasting, co-chaired by Florian Sauvageau and Gerald Caplan was created to advise the federal government on changes that should be made to Canada's broadcasting policy.
Florian Sauvageau (born in 1941) is a lawyer, journalist and professor in the Department of Information and Communication at Laval University. In 1985-86, he was co-chair, together with Gerald Caplan, of the Federal Task Force on Broadcasting Policy.
Gerald Lewis Caplan was born in 1938 and worked as a political administrator and historian. In 1985, he was named as co-chair of the Task Force on Broadcasting Policy, which reported the following year with a strongly nationalist series of recommendations. |
Echoing Massey's 1951 vision of broadcasting as a public trust, the Task Force delivered a unanimous report in 1986, which as noted earlier stated that: "[c]ontributing to the dissemination of Canadian culture is a duty inherent in the privilege [broadcasters] are granted as a public trust on behalf of Canadians."24 The Task Force therefore recommended that:
| • | all broadcasting undertakings be part of a composite system; |
| • | all licensees be regarded as trustees of the Canadian public; |
| • | the CBC play a central role in assuring that Canadians have a truly national broadcasting system, in radio and television, in English and French; |
| • | CBC funding be stable and secure for the duration of its licence period; |
| • | all American programming on CBC television be phased out as soon as possible; |
| • | a new national, public broadcaster, TVCanada, be created.25 |
As for private stations, the Task Force recommended that the CRTC set stricter conditions of licence to ensure that private stations and networks invest more in the creation and production of Canadian programs. The Report also called for some government support and protection for the private sector, in return for which the private sector (in their role as trustees) would contribute to fulfilling the objectives of the Act. |
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Pierre Juneau: a career dedicated to the production and distribution of Canadian cultural creations
Since the 1930s, one of the primary objectives of the federal broadcasting policy has been to ensure that Canadians have access to a variety of programs produced in Canada by Canadians — programs that reflect the cultural, social and economic aspects of the Canadian society. Pierre Juneau's career was closely tied to the federal government's broadcasting objectives. Throughout a twenty-year period, he held virtually every important position in the Canadian broadcasting hierarchy.
His association with the National Film Board (NFB) began in 1949 and allowed him to grasp, for the first time, the magnitude of the challenges involved in the production of films in Canada, as well as the limited resources available in Canada at that time to ensure the distribution of cinematographic productions. These early years were formative ones, and his numerous responsibilities at the NFB, an organization dedicated to the promotion of Canadian filmmakers and the production and distribution of their work, prepared Pierre Juneau for his role as chairman of the CRTC, a position he assumed in 1968.
Based on what he had done for the NFB, it was to be expected that the CRTC under the chairmanship of Pierre Juneau would energetically approach the issues of copyright and Canadian content that were of great concern to both the public and the federal government in the late 1960s. Order-in-Council decision 1968-1809 required that all broadcasting undertakings licenced by the CRTC be at least 80% Canadian-owned. Mr. Juneau told broadcasters that Canadian television must reflect Canadian life and that the CRTC would set maximums for foreign content. The 1971 CRTC decision to impose a minimum Canadian content threshold on broadcasters met with great consternation. Nonetheless, this decision, which was particularly controversial, especially among private broadcasters, proved to be extremely beneficial for Canadian writer-composers and performers in the field of popular music.
Following his appointment as president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1982, Pierre Juneau faced a double challenge: staying on course with the Corporation's major objectives for the varied production of Canadian content accessible in all parts of the country and in both official languages, and coping with the severe budget cuts imposed on the CBC by the government of the day. Caught between a rock and a hard place, the CBC had to adopt painful but necessary measures, and criticism of the Corporation increased, even going so far as to suggest the dismantling of the public broadcaster.
For the man whose career was devoted to promoting the production and distribution of Canadian projects, this was a particularly turbulent and demanding period. The times were hard, but Pierre Juneau did not give up the fight to ensure that the CBC came out unscathed. Despite the existing constraints, a new CBC Broadcast Centre was built in Toronto, centralizing previously scattered operations under one roof, and the Newsworld channel was launched. Under the direction of Pierre Juneau, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was able to defend its mandate and maintain its drive and energy. The Corporation's commitment to Canadian artists and artisans was once again confirmed.
In 1996, seven years after giving up the chairmanship of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Pierre Juneau was named Communicator of the Year by the Ryerson School of Radio and Television Arts in Toronto. Mr. Juneau was recognized "for his significant contribution to human values in Canadian broadcasting."23 |
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Flora McDonald served as a federal Member of Parliament from 1972 to 1988 and held three cabinet positions: Minister of External Affairs, Minister of Employment & Immigration and Minister of Communications. She replaced Marcel Masse as Minister of Communications in June 1986, just days after the Task Force of Broadcasting Policy submitted its report. Under her direction the Broadcasting Act of 1988 was developed and shepherded through the House of Commons, only to die on the order paper of the Senate when Parliament was dissolved for the general elections. The legislation was re-introduced in substantially the same form, by Marcel Masse and eventually adopted in 1991. In recent years, Ms. MacDonald has served on the boards of human rights groups and worked for world peace. She was awarded the Pearson Peace Medal in 1999.
Marcel Masse was born at St-Jean-de-Matha, Quebec on 27 May 1936. He was a student of history and political science at the Université de Montréal and abroad in London and Paris, and taught high school in Joliette, 1962-66. He was a member of the Quebec National Assembly between 1966-73 and held several ministerial posts. In 1974, he joined Lavalin, a Montréal engineering firm. He was elected to the House of Commons in 1984. As Minister of Communications from 1984 to 1986, he defended the cultural industries during the free trade negotiations with the United States. In 1985, he established the Caplan-Sauvageau Task Force. In 1988, he was reappointed as Minster of Communications and introduced the legislation that led to the passage of the Broadcasting Act of 1991. |
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Communications and Culture examined the Report of the Task Force between 1986 and 1988. Its all-party unanimous report, with more than 140 recommendations, contributed to a revamped Broadcasting Act adopted by the House of Commons in 1991.
Regulation by the CRTC since 1991
As noted above, an Act of Parliament established the CRTC in 1968. Since 1985, the Commission has operated as an independent public authority constituted under the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission Act and, since 1993, has reported to Parliament through the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Under the Act, the Cabinet may appoint up to 13 full-time and 6 part-time commissioners for renewable terms of up to 5 years. The Commission is also subject to orders from Cabinet and must take into account the needs and concerns of Canadian citizens, industries and various interest groups.
The CRTC's mandate is to ensure that the terms of the Broadcasting Act — particularly Canada's broadcasting policy (Section 3) — are fulfilled. The Commission does this by seeking to maintain a balance — in the public interest — between the social, cultural and economic goals of the Act. As the Commission's website explains:
Our mandate is to ensure that programming in the Canadian broadcasting system reflects Canadian creativity and talent, our linguistic duality, our multicultural diversity, the special place of Aboriginal people within our society and our social values. At the same time, we must ensure that Canadians have access to reasonably priced, high-quality, varied and innovative communications services that are competitive nationally as well as internationally.26
With all these interests in mind, the Commission today acts as the regulator for more than 5,900 broadcasters, including: over-the-air television; cable distribution; AM, FM and DAB radio; pay, specialty and digital television; direct-to-home satellite systems (DTH); multipoint distribution systems (MDS); and, subscription television and pay audio.27 In doing so, it holds regular public hearings, round-table discussions and informal forums to process applications and make decisions regarding broadcasting licences and related requests.28
The Broadcasting Act of 1991, which remains in force today, represents the culmination of more than 60 years of public consultation and negotiation with the system's stakeholders. This section summarizes two of the Act's most important elements: Section 3: Canada's broadcasting policy, and Part II: the "Objects and Powers of the [CRTC] in Relation to Broadcasting."29
Canada's Broadcasting Policy
For the purposes of this Committee's review of the Canadian broadcasting system, the most important public policy principles are found in Section 3(1) of the Act, where "the broadcasting policy for Canada" is spelled out in detail.
Section 3(1) begins by repeating the principle that the Canadian system should be "effectively owned and controlled by Canadians." It also reaffirms the long-standing perspective that the airwaves are a public trust to be used by its trustees in the public interest when it declares that:
| | (b) | the Canadian broadcasting system, operating primarily in the English and French languages and comprising public, private and community elements, makes use of radio frequencies that are public property and provides, through its programming, a public service essential to the maintenance and enhancement of national identity and cultural sovereignty; |
Section 3(1) then explains that:
| | (d) | the Canadian broadcasting system should |
| | (i) | serve to safeguard, enrich and strengthen the cultural, political, social and economic fabric of Canada, |
| | (ii) | encourage the development of Canadian expression by providing a wide range of programming that reflects Canadian attitudes, opinions, ideas, values and artistic creativity ... |
| | (iii) | through its programming and the employment opportunities arising out of its operations, serve the needs and interests, and reflect the circumstances and aspirations, of Canadian men, women and children, including equal rights, the linguistic duality and multicultural and multiracial nature of Canadian society and the special place of Aboriginal peoples within that society, and |
| | (iv) | be readily adaptable to scientific and technological change. |
Thereafter, it identifies the responsibilities of each element of the Canadian broadcasting system and how each one should: "contribute in an appropriate manner to the creation and presentation of Canadian programming." It also stresses that broadcasters have a responsibility to use Canadian talent and resources; the belief that programming should be of high quality; and that programming should represent the diverse nature of Canada's population.
Further on, expectations with regard to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's programming are described. Section (3)(m) states:
| | (m) | the programming provided by the Corporation should |
| | (i) | be predominantly and distinctively Canadian, |
| | (ii) | reflect Canada and its regions to national and regional audiences, while serving the special needs of those regions, |
| | (iii) | actively contribute to the flow and exchange of cultural expression, |
| | (iv) | be in English and in French, reflecting the different needs and circumstances of each official language community, including the particular needs and circumstances of English and French linguistic minorities, |
| | (v) | strive to be of equivalent quality in English and in French, |
| | (vi) | contribute to shared national consciousness and identity, |
| | (vii) | be made available throughout Canada by the most appropriate and efficient means and as resources become available for the purpose, and |
| | (viii) | reflect the multicultural and multiracial nature of Canada. |
Subsequent clauses note: the importance of Aboriginal broadcasting; the need to serve disabled persons; and the value of alternative television programming services that are complementary and cater to specific tastes and audiences.
Finally, with respect to private networks and programming undertakings, the Act makes it very clear in Section 3(1)(s) that these particular trustees are expected to "contribute significantly to the creation and presentation of Canadian programming" and that they should "be responsive to the evolving demands of the public.
The Objects and Powers of the CRTC in Relation to Broadcasting
The objects and powers of the CRTC extend between Sections 5 through 34. While it is unnecessary in this context to describe each of these sections in detail, those that relate most directly to the Commission's implementation of Canada's broadcasting policy include: Section 5, regulatory policy; Section 9(1), licencing authority; Section 10(1), general broadcasting regulations; and Section 21, rule-making authority.
Section 5 details the regulatory policy through which the Commission may fulfil its mandate to supervise and regulate the Canadian broadcasting system. In this regard, Section 5(2) states that:
| | (2) | The Canadian broadcasting system should be regulated and supervised in a flexible manner that |
| | (a) | is readily adaptable to the different characteristics of English and French language broadcasting and to the different conditions under which broadcasting undertakings that provide English or French language programming operate; |
| | (b) | takes into account regional needs and concerns; |
| | (c) | is readily adaptable to scientific and technological change; |
| | (d) | facilitates the provision of broadcasting to Canadians; |
| | (e) | facilitates the provision of Canadian programs to Canadians; |
| | (f) | does not inhibit the development of information technologies and their application or the delivery of resultant services to Canadians; and |
| | (g) | is sensitive to the administrative burden that, as a consequence of such regulation and supervision, may be imposed on persons carrying on broadcasting undertakings. |
Section 9(1) grants the Commission the authority to:
... in furtherance of its objects,
| | (a) | establish classes of licences; |
| | (b) | issue licences for such terms not exceeding seven years and subject to such conditions related to the circumstances of the licensee ... |
| | (c) | amend any condition of a licence on application of the licensee or, where five years have expired since the issuance or renewal of the licence, on the Commission's own motion; |
| | (d) | issue renewals of licences for such terms not exceeding seven years and subject to such conditions as comply with paragraph (b); |
| | (e) | suspend or revoke any licence; |
| | (f) | require any licensee to obtain the approval of the Commission before entering into any contract with a telecommunications common carrier for the distribution of programming directly to the public using the facilities of that common carrier; |
| | (g) | require any licensee who is authorized to carry on a distribution undertaking to give priority to the carriage of broadcasting; and |
| | (h) | require any licensee who is authorized to carry on a distribution undertaking to carry, on such terms and conditions as the Commission deems appropriate, programming services specified by the Commission. |
Section 10(1) provides the Commission with general regulation-making authority, including:
| | (a) | respecting the proportion of time that shall be devoted to the broadcasting of Canadian programs; |
| | (b) | prescribing what constitutes a Canadian program for the purposes of this Act; |
| | (c) | respecting standards of programs and the allocation of broadcasting time for the purpose of giving effect to the broadcasting policy set out in subsection 3(1); |
...
| | (g) | respecting the carriage of any foreign or other programming services by distribution undertakings; |
Finally, Section 21 identifies the scope of rules the Commission may make with respect to:
| | (a) | ... the procedure for making applications for licences, or for the amendment, renewal, suspension or revocation thereof, and for making representations and complaints to the Commission; and |
| | (b) | ... the conduct of hearings and generally respecting the conduct of the business of the Commission in relation to those hearings. |
The above extracts from the current Broadcasting Act not only set the tone for the functioning of Canada's broadcasting system but also impose remarkably high expectations and responsibilities on the trustees of Canadian broadcasting. Indeed, so great is the pressure placed on the Canadian broadcasting system that it prompted the Davey Committee in 1970 to declare that:
... broadcasting is so much a beast of burden that we have saddled it with responsibility for holding the country and our Canadian culture intact. No other communications medium has this charge laid upon it by Act of Parliament: "to safeguard, enrich and strengthen the cultural, political, social and economic fabric of Canada." We rely for this on the same medium that is the principal advertising mainstay for the soap industry.30
In light of these responsibilities, which were repeated in the 1991 version of the Act, this report makes proposals as to how these principles and objectives can still apply. Before doing so, the next chapter looks at the evolution of broadcasting technologies.
Endnotes
| 1 | Report of the Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting (Aird Commission) (Ottawa: F.A. Acland, 1929), p. 10. |
| 3 | Making our Voices Heard: Canadian Broadcasting and Film for the 21st Century, Report of the Mandate Review Committee, Department of Canadian Heritage, 1996, p. 21. |
| 4 | Report of the Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences: 1949-1951 (Massey Commission) (Ottawa: King's Printer, 1951), p. 279, 283. |
| 5 | The Uncertain Mirror, Report of the Special Senate Committee on Mass Media (Davey Committee) (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1970), p. 195. |
| 6 | Report of the Task Force on Broadcasting Policy (Caplan-Sauvageau) (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1986), p. 147. |
| 7 | Mandate Review Committee, p. 23-24. |
| 9 | Related to the notion of the "public trust" is "citizenship"; that is, the rights of citizens to have the information that they need to know to make decisions about their lives and communities; the rights of taxpayers to have money spent on their behalf in a responsible manner; the rights of access; and, the importance of democratic rights. |
| 17 | In 1945, Maurice Duplessis's government passed an Act to create a provincial broadcasting service, claiming Quebec had constitutional authority. The Act also created Radio-Québec. |
| 19 | Report of the Committee on Broadcasting (Fowler Committee) (Ottawa: Queen's Printer, 1965), p. 90-91. |
| 20 | Frank Foster, Broadcasting Policy Development (Ottawa: Franfost Communications, 1974), p. 229. |
| 21 | In 1976, the CRTC was renamed the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to reflect the expansion of its jurisdiction to include common carriers. |
| 23 | See Chapter 5 for an overview of what constitutes Canadian content under existing definitions. |
| 24 | Caplan-Sauvageau, p. 147. |
| 25 | The TVCanada proposal is also discussed in Chapter 7. |
| 27 | The CRTC also regulates over 61 telecommunications carriers, including major Canadian telephone companies. |
| 28 | In 1999, for example, the Commission processed 1,754 broadcasting and 1,533 telecommunications applications. It also issued 1,230 orders and granted 90 licences to telephone companies that provide international long distance services. It also responded to 8,900 electronically transmitted documents, as well as over 53,900 telephone calls and 16,000 letters and emails of requests and complaints. |
| 29 | See Appendix 3 for the full text of the 1991 Broadcasting Act. |
| 30 | Davey Committee, p. 194. |
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