' In 1928, William Lyon Mackenzie King's government is concerned about the infatuation of Canadians for American radio station broadcasts. Is this not a threat to a distinctive Canadian identity, especially in a country of immigrants? The Aird Commission is appointed to inquire into radio broadcasting in Canada; it recommends setting up a national network.



The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission (CRBC) is established in 1932 under the Conservatives of Richard Bedford Bennett. Its mandate is to “produce and broadcast high quality programs from sea to sea and regulate private broadcasting in the country”. French-Canadians in the West are soon disappointed by the so-called bilingual broadcasts of the network, where they find too much instrumental music and not enough “words in French”. Furthermore, the private affiliate stations often “forget” to transmit these programs, in favour of broadcasts in English only. As the Commission's broadcasting increases, the proportion of hours in French drops. Matters get worse until the Liberals return to power in 1935 and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation is established the following year.