The first version of the
Broadcasting Act received
royal assent on 23 June 1936, and was subsequently updated in 1958. The 1958 Act created the
Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) to replace the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation as the regulator for broadcasting in Canada. In 1968, the
Broadcasting Act would be updated yet again, this time creating the Canadian Radio and Television Commission (CRTC) to replace the BBG. This would be the last major reform of the
Broadcasting Act—prior to the wide availability of the
Internet. The Committee reported to Parliament in May, presenting a short report that emphasized the importance of radio broadcasting in regard to national needs related to educational, social, and cultural development. The Committee suggested the development of a new public broadcasting system that would include: a) nationally-owned high-powered stations, and b) secondary, low-powered stations to be used for community, educational, and experimental purposes. This new system would receive revenue from both advertising and licensing fees, and would be run by a three-person commission (as well as provincially-appointed assistant commissioners) that has the authority to regulate all aspects of the system. On 26 May 1932, the
Bennett government passed the
Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act, largely based on the recommendations of the Committee. This Act would create the first broadcasting regulatory body in Canada, the
Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), tasked with regulating and controlling all Canadian broadcasting, as well as with establishing a national service. The Act also stated that the air is a public asset and therefore the government has a role to play in monitoring its use. Amendments were made to the
Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act the following year, making the CRBC accountable to Cabinet rather than Parliament, and thus giving the Commission more power over hiring decisions, revenue spending, and station purchases. One of the first major decisions of CRBC would be to place a 40% limit on foreign programs.
Broadcasting Act, 1936 & 1949 In 1936,
C. D. Howe was appointed as the minister responsible for broadcasting, and in March, creates a new parliamentary committee on radio broadcasting that looks into the general performance of the CRBC. On May 26, the Committee tables its report, advocating a) the creation of a national corporation to oversee public broadcasting; b) making this new corporation the regulatory authority over broadcasting; and c) greater co-operation between this new public corporation and private radio stations The following month, Howe introduces the Canadian
Broadcasting Act to create a new broadcasting agency and dissolve the CRBC. This legislation received
royal assent on 23 June 1936 and created the CBC as the regulator for broadcasting in Canada. In 1949, a
Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (or the Massey Commission) is created, with the mandate to study radio and television broadcasting in Canada. Tabling its report, one of the suggestions made by the Commission would be to provide more funds to the CBC via a
statutory grant in order to resolve the corporation's negative financial situation. In accordance with this advice, among others, the
Broadcasting Act is amended, providing the CBC with a statutory grant for five years.
Broadcasting Act, 1958 & 1968 On 18 August 1958, the
Diefenbaker government introduced a new
Broadcasting Act. This legislation would include a plan to create a new regulatory body called the
Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) as well as to re-establish the role of the CBC, thereby making the main method of public intervention in broadcasting be done via regulation. The new Act would also affirm that, though the CBC operates a national service, the BBG would be in charge of the national system; therefore, the CBC must report to both its Minister and the BBG. Moreover, it would make private and public broadcasting services be seen as equal, and place a 25% limit on foreign ownership. In 1961, a Special Committee on Broadcasting is formed once again. One of the issues to be addressed by the Committee would be the prevalence of a new technology called
community antenna television, in which wired systems take
over-the-air programming and retransmit them to households via cable. The BBG's chair, among others, question whether cable could be considered as a type of broadcasting, while CBC president
Alphonse Ouimet argued that the definition of broadcasting found in the
Broadcasting Act ought to be expanded to include cable. Another suggestion would be to redefine the concept of broadcasting itself, changing it from something that is associated with the transmission and control of airwaves to the actual "end effect," whereby what really matters is the end reception of programs by households. Considering these issues, the Committee would suggest a
reference to the
Supreme Court on questions regarding a) constitutional jurisdiction over cable (i.e., wired systems), and b) whether such systems can be deemed as broadcasting under the
Broadcasting Act. Finally, in 1963,
Douglas Fisher introduced amendments to the
Broadcasting Act to cover "any system operated for a profit that took out of the air
Hertzian waves and rebroadcast them to wired systems in homes." Cable systems remain unregulated at this time and their growth continues to depend solely on the market. In March 1964, a committee consisting of BBG and
Department of Transport members suggests that one way to reassert federal jurisdiction for cable is to expand the mandate of the BBG. By extending the "objects and purposes" of the
Act to include both stations that receive
commercial broadcasting and stations that feed cable
relay systems, the BBG can regulate these entities so that they perform in a way "consistent with the public interest in the reception of a varied and comprehensive broadcasting service." In May, a Special Advisory Committee on Broadcasting is created to study the
Broadcasting Act and recommend changes. On 17 October 1967, the Canadian government introduced legislation designed to establish "a statutory policy for broadcasting in Canada and to assign the responsibility for interpretation and implementation of that policy to an independent public authority." Among other things, the bill sought to establish a new regulatory authority, the
Canadian-Radio Television Commission (CRTC), as well as laying the groundwork for the imminent regulation of cable by including the term "broadcasting undertaking" to include both transmitting and receiving enterprises. The
Broadcasting Act is passed on 7 February 1968, becoming law on April 1. As part of the new legislation, the newly created CRTC would replace the BBG as the entity to oversee all aspects of the Canadian broadcasting system.
1970s to 1990s On 15 January 1970, CRTC Chair
Pierre Juneau stated that regulating cable under a federal regulatory authority was in accordance with the objectives of the
Broadcasting Act. In 1973, with
Gérard Pelletier as
Minister of Communications, the Canadian government published a
green paper titled "Proposals for a Communications Policy for Canada." The paper warns against
direct broadcast satellites and
computer systems following the path of cable, which had gone unregulated for years before it finally came under the
Broadcasting Act. The 1968 Act would receive amendments in 1991, whereupon it would become the current Act. This would be the last major reform of the
Broadcasting Act—prior to the wide availability of the
Internet. == Structure ==