ABSTRACT
The evolution of national telecommunications policy in Canada has been hampered by several historical and political factors. The federal constitution is based on the British North America Act, a statute of the British Parliament, and can be changed, in effect, only by unanimous consent of the federal Parliament and the legislatures of the ten provinces. A series of judicial decisions has extended the constitutional provision for ‘telegraphs’ to telephones and other modes of telecommunication. In broadcasting, the evolution of national policy has been more positive. Radio broadcasting started as a private venture, but a vitally important decision in favour of a parallel public broadcasting system led to the establishment in 1932 of a body that shortly evolved into the CBC. The recommendations of a Royal Commission led to the assignment of regulatory authority to a separate body in 1958.
