The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1936-1939

As Canadian as Possible: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1936-1939 Sean Graham Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies in partial fulfillment for the degree Doctor of Philosophy Department of History Faculty of Arts University of Ottawa © Sean Graham, Ottawa, Canada, 2014 Table of Contents Abstract …………………………………………………………………………… iii Acknowledgements ……………………………………………………………….. v Introduction ……………………………………………………………………… 1 Chapter One: The Road to Havana ……………………………………………… 40 Chapter Two: Building Expectations ……………………………………………. 79 Chapter Three: Cracks in the Shield ……………………………………………. 122 Chapter Four: Substance Over Style ……………………………………………. 162 Chapter Five: Controversy and Scandal ………………………………………… 205 Chapter Six: Laying the Cornerstone ……………………………………………. 244 Chapter Seven: Responding to the Outbreak of War ……………………………. 281 Conclusion ………………………………………………………………………... 316 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………. 333 iii Abstract As Canadian as Possible: The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 1936-1939 Sean Graham Supervisor: University of Ottawa, 2014 Prof. Damien-Claude Bélanger Since its inception in November 1936, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation has been a constant presence in Canada’s cultural landscape. In its earliest days, however, that longevity was far from guaranteed as there were plenty of issues threatening the survival of the national broadcaster. Following the demise of the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, Canada’s first public broadcaster, the CBC was given the responsibility of establishing and expanding Canada’s national radio network while also serving as the regulatory body for privately owned stations. In order to fulfill this mandate, the CBC’s first three years centred on building stations, expanding its programs, controlling its finances, and maintaining positive and productive relationships. This dissertation examines the CBC’s first three years and the corporation’s efforts to survive its tumultuous infancy while also establishing itself as an essential Canadian cultural institution. The CBC’s efforts during the Second World War have received plenty of scholarly attention, but a study of its formative period between 1936 and 1939 is essential to understanding the broadcaster’s role in Canadian life. The corporation’s handling of linguistic tensions, regional divides, and urban and rural separation were all critical to its early growth and played a significant role in providing the CBC the time to build its national network. Central to that plan was the corporation’s tacit policy of continental integration. Prior to the wide distribution of television in the 1950s, radio, which served as the primary source of iv mass entertainment in the home, was dominated in Canada by American stations and programs. Understanding the power and popularity of American radio, the CBC aired American programs and developed productive relationships with American radio networks in order to promote its place as Canada’s national broadcaster. Through these relationships, the CBC was able to reduce network interference while also using American content to reorient listeners towards Canadian stations. The CBC also sent Canadian programs to American networks, which it then used as proof that it was producing world-class programming. This study argues that the internal structure established between 1936 and 1939 allowed the corporation to position itself as a vibrant national broadcaster, an essential component of which was its successful integration into North America’s wider broadcasting system. v Acknowledgments This project would not have been possible without the tremendous financial support of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the University of Ottawa. I have also been fortunate to receive multiple Ontario Graduate Scholarships. Many thanks to the Department of History, in particular the administrative staff, for their invaluable assistance in this process. I am grateful for the assistance of Professor Damien-Claude Bélanger, whose edits and comments greatly improved this dissertation. In addition, I would not be at this point if not for the academic guidance of Steven High, Stephen Kenny, and Katrina Srigley. I owe a great debt of gratitude to the staff of Library and Archives Canada and the University of British Columbia Archives and Special Collections, without whom this project would not have been completed. A special thanks to Al and Ray for letting me stay all those late nights. I would also be remiss if I did not recognize the contributions of Enrico Palazzo. My parents provided unwavering support through this process and for that I will be forever grateful. I have a brother – his name is Scott. My grandfather may not understand the process, but he has always been supportive and while my other grandparents may no longer be here in person, their values have been passed on and have guided my life. Finally, this dissertation is dedicated to all those who have put up with me over the past five years as I continued to talk about the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Your indulgence has been appreciated. 1 Introduction On December 26, 1940, with the Second World War raging in Europe, George Wrong, former head of the history department at the University of Toronto, wrote a letter to Alan Plaunt, who had resigned from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Board of Governors in August. In his letter, Wrong highlighted radio’s significance in Canada by writing that “the radio is perhaps our greatest educator. The range of its influence is amazing. It has altered methods in politics, and every effort must be made to keep its operation on a high level. Even our mode of speech is influenced and improved by it. You can hardly be engaged in a more important task than that of the Radio.”1 At the time of his letter, radio in Canada was the responsibility of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and over the previous four years it had managed the industry and made significant progress towards putting the medium in the esteemed position described by Wrong. Occupying such an important place had been the dream of early radio pioneers at the start of the twentieth century. When Guglielmo Marconi sent the first wireless radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean in December 1901, it was the first in a series of major developments that slowly brought the possibility of commercial radio closer to reality. With Marconi competing with inventors like Canadian Reginald Fessenden, the technology continued to improve, proving its utility in March 1914 when the wireless telegraph system of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad was able to keep trains safe while a blizzard snarled traffic.2 Capitalizing on the advancing technology, several countries used radio during the First World War to 1 George M. Wrong to Alan Plaunt, December 26, 1940. UBC Archives and Special Collections Fonds of Alan Butterworth Plaunt, Box 5 File 8. 2 Tommy Meehan, “Fighting a Blizzard with the Wireless,” Railroad History no. 199 (Fall/Winter 2008): 42- 47. 2 communicate in the trenches and obtain intelligence from their enemies.3 With the technology in place following the war, North America’s first commercial station, XWA Montreal, went on the air in May 1920. From that point, the growth of the broadcasting industry was swift and within three years there were 590 North American stations, thirty-four of which were in Canada.4 That growth continued through the decade and in 1928 the Canadian government established a royal commission, named after its Chairman Sir John Aird, to investigate the possibility of creating a national broadcaster. After holding public forums across the country, visiting the United States, and travelling through several European countries, the Aird Commission reported in 1929 that Canada should establish a publicly financed national broadcasting body and predicted 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.”5 Nothing was done immediately, however, and the onset of the Great Depression in late 1929 clouded radio’s future in Canada. Despite that uncertainty, by the time George Wrong wrote to Alan Plaunt a decade later, radio was arguably Canada’s fastest growing industry. In 1932, R.B. Bennett’s Conservative government started to consider the radio situation, determined that Canada needed a national broadcaster, and passed the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Act of 1932. The Act created the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC), Canada’s first public broadcaster and gave the commission the power “to regulate and 3 For a case study in this see: William A. Morgan, “Invasion on the Ether: Radio Intelligence at the Battle of St. Mihiel, September, 1918,” Military Affairs 51 no. 2 (1987): 57-61. 4 J.L. Granatstein, Mackenzie King: His Life and World, ed. W. Kaye Lamb (Toronto: McGraw-Hill Ryerson, 1977), 74. 5 Report of The Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting, September 11, 1929, 6. 3 control broadcasting in Canada carried on by any person.”6 This included the ability to determine the number and location of radio stations, the number of national and local programs, and the distribution of channels. Perhaps more importantly, however, the commission was also given the power to “prohibit the organization or operation of chains of privately operated stations in Canada” and to “make recommendations to the Minister with regard

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