PRESENT AT THE CREATION: The Telecommission Studies and the Intellectual Origins of the Right to Communicate in Canada (1969-71) by Aiiaa Ibrahim Dakroury, B.A., M.A. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Communication Program, School of Journalism and Communication, Faculty of Public Affairs and Management, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada © 2008, Aliaa Dakroury Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-40517-8 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-40517-8 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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Canada ABSTRACT Present at the Creation: The Telecommission Studies and the Intellectual Origins of the Right to Communicate in Canada (1969-1971) explores the creation of the Telecommission Studies, and the production of its final report: Instant World'in 1971. Although overlooked by Canadian scholarship, this dissertation argues that the Telecommission Studies pioneered the theme of "telecommunications and the people" as one novel attempt to change the Canadian communications public policy environment of the day, document its problems, and recommend a new perspective in the Canadian communications public policy discourses at the time by focusing on the concept of the right to communicate. Adopting a socio-historical approach, the dissertation begins with a critical examination of the different scholarly debates in the field of communication in an attempt to theorize the idea of the right to communicate within a group of intellectual threads—that vary from political, economic, public-policy, technological, and international studies. Then, it dissects the particular structure that existed in Canada during the work of the Telecommission Studies that helped creating a missed opportunity to sustain a new kind of public policy discourse focusing on the public interest and the right to communicate. With the use of textual archival records, newspapers, as well as in- depth interviews with key informants, the dissertation closely researches the Telecommission's conferences, seminars, and reports, as well as offering a reexamination of the Instant World report that is often misinterpreted or overlooked in the Canadian communication scholarship. The dissertation finally argues that the work of the Telecommission Studies represents a serious yet a missed attempt to advocate a concept that public interest advocates and communication rights activists support and campaign in our present days, as a result of conflicting policy priorities, political agendas, and bureaucratic infighting—not to say a significant failure of imagination. iii 4 O my Lord, gladden my heart, and make my task easy for me, and remove the impediment from my speech in order that they may understand what I say. )> (20:25-28) 4 Glory be to You, we have no knowledge except what you have taught us. Verily, it is You, the All-Knower, the All-Wise. )> (2: 32) *-$-$^ ^ My Lord! Increase me in knowledge. )> (20; 114) yarn. iv Dedicated to... My father and mother, They were my first great teachers and role models, who have always believed in, and supported me. I am indebted to them for their love, devotion, wisdom and continuous prayers that daily traverse land, sea and ocean from Cairo to Ottawa! My only hope is to bring smiles to their faces, laughter into their hearts and make them ever more proud of me. * * • My husband and soul-mate, Unlike my husband, I have never liked numbers, nor believed in the applicability of their rules outside boring textbooks. But everyday, both quantitatively and qualitatively, Mahmoud proves his equation of love: a sum of dedication, steady belief and support, especially on those days when I wondered, "What I am doing?!" He has cheerfully listened to talk of the Telecommission at dinnertime, TV time, and even shopping time with loving attention. All of this attests to "how much" he loves me, "to what extent" he believes in me and "to what degree" he can learn to like history, only because I like it! • • • My children, They are the true inspiration, soul and laughter in my life. Although Yomna, Ahmed, and Yassmeen have an absolute human right to a "full-time" mother; they have innocently accepted the part-time mom that I could offer during the preparation of this dissertation. They experienced daily, through me, the anxiety and worries of the researcher. My 10-year-old daughter Yomna shared with me the excitement of research, findings and writing, and she cheerfully catered to me, bringing her favourite iced juices to support me during the long hours of writing. My 5-year-old son, Ahmed, never gave up asking me everyday, "Maman, what chapter are you in today?" until I wrapped the chapter up and finally passed him the good news. As for my 2-year-old daughter, the littlest Yassmeen joined me on trips to the library and to the National Archives, running innocently through the library aisles yelling, "Books!"—her very first word! All three supported me with little drawings and fingerprints on hand-made cards—and unavoidably the walls of the house. Happy faces, specially picked flowers, and of course the surprise candies, were my tributes of support from them, for which I was grateful. I hope to pass on to them my fondness for knowledge and human rights, and make up to them for the long hours they waited for me to play with them, read a book, watch birds, go for a walk, or just join them to watch their favourite TV show. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am deeply grateful and indebted to my supervisor, Dr. Michael Dorland, whose knowledge, expertise, and "magic" direction greatly affected my way of thinking and writing. I will never forget how he believed in me and in my project. His continuous encouragement, support, close editing, rich insights, and understanding, throughout humid summer and frigid winter of "digging" in the "mines" of the National Archives of Canada, really gave me a boost, especially on those days when I found nothing! Recognition and appreciation are due to my supervising committee: Dr. Karim H. Karim and Dr. Sheryl N. Hamilton for their helpful comments, suggestions, encouragements, and constructive criticisms that I have benefited greatly. A sincere heart-felt "thank you" goes to Drs. Michele Martin, Dwayne Winseck and Paul Attallah with whom I have enjoyed bouncing ideas about the right to communicate in Canada. I would like to sincerely thank Drs. William Birdsall and Bill Mclver for their friendship, cheerful correspondence, and for sharing the excitement of this dissertation's findings. I also thank attendees at the Canadian Communications Association's annual conferences for their comments on my project since 2005; a special thanks to Drs. Marc Raboy, Yasmin Jiwani, and Leslie Regan Shade. From Carleton University, I sincerely thank Carole Craswell, whose patience, efficiency, and sincere help in facilitating any bureaucratic work hugely saved my time for my studies. I would like also to acknowledge Connie LaPlante and Elizabeth Dwivedi of the School of Journalism and Communication. This project would never have materialized without their efforts, and the tremendous help of librarians and archivists at the National Archives Canada and Carleton University library. A particular note of appreciation goes to archivists at National Archives Canada who facilitated my access to the archival fonds by allowing me after-hours services and lockers to store my treasures, so I could work over weekends and holidays. At Carleton University, I am grateful for the help of Frances Montgomery, the senior specialist in government documents, for allowing me the "special loan" of important documents and papers, and Nancy Peden, who has been a great and constant help to me in accessing, retrieving and ordering special materials for this project. Gratitude is expressed to my colleagues at Carleton University: Paula Romanow, Carrie Buchanan, and Jason Hannan for their abiding friendship. I am also grateful for the friendship and help of Jane Britten of the CRTC, and Kori Ghergari of the House of Commons during the research part of this project. I continue to be inspired by and benefit from communication with my students; it gives me great pleasure that my ideas appear sound to the next generation! VI An extended appreciation to Mrs.