Canada. Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting : The Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting was mandated by its terms of reference to examine the broadcasting situation in the Dominion of Canada, and to make recommendations to the Government as to the future administration, management, control, and financing thereof. The Commissioners were John Aird, Chairman; Charles Arthur Bowman, and Augustin Frigon. The Secretary was Donald Manson. (Order in Council P.C. 2108, 6 December 1928, on the recommendation of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries. No indication of the authorizing statute is given in the Order in Council).
In 1913, an Act respecting Radiotelegraphy (3-4 Geo. V, c.43, 1913) gave the federal government the power to grant and renew licences for radiotelegraphy but not the power to control broadcasting. By 1928, several radio stations operated by churches and religious groups carried broadcasts that involved the government in a controversy over their programme content. The main controversy centred around the government's decision not to renew the licences, after 31 March 1928, of four radio stations operated by the International Bible Students Association. This was an organization of Jehovah's Witnesses whose broadcasts were, in the words of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, P.J.A. Cardin, "unpatriotic and abusive of all our churches". As a result, letters, petitions, and deputations demanding a renewal of these licences poured into the Department of Marine. The controversy sparked a debate in the House of Commons which led to the questioning of the entire broadcasting system in Canada. In a speech in the House of Commons, on 31 May 1928, J.S. Woodsworth, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg North Centre, protested the arbitrary action of the government in not renewing the licences. Concerned about the exercise of censorship and freedom of speech, Woodsworth expressed a need for a comprehensive national policy on broadcasting. The controversy forced the government to act. Other issues had to be addressed as well such as the inadequate radio coverage to isolated regions of the country; the tendency of Canadians to listen to American rather than Canadian radio stations; and the interference of Canadian radio stations by those in the United States. With these issues in mind, the Government of Canada appointed a Royal Commission to investigate the broadcasting industry (E.A. Weir, The Struggle for National Broadcasting in Canada, Toronto, McClelland and Stewart, 1965, pp. 100-103 and F.W. Peers, The Politics of Canadian Broadcasting, 1920- 1951, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 1969, pp. 29-34). Hearings of the Commission were held in twenty-five towns and cities in Canada from 17 April to 3 July 1929. The Commissioners also visited New York City and nine cities in Europe. RG33/14 General Inventory
