Canada should look to its past and Europe for guidance on media policy — but not south

Seventy years ago, Canadian leaders turned away from the British model of media policy that rejected advertising-supported private broadcasting. The honourable early history of media policy in Canada needs to be embraced anew. Aird Commission findingsIn 1928, the Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting, also known as the Aird Commission, was created to consider alternative models for the future of Canadian broadcasting. Creation of the CBC/Radio-CanadaIn 1936, the Canadian Broadcasting Act created the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Radio-Canada as a Crown corporation funded through fees known as receiver set licences (initially $2.50 per licence) with limited financing from advertising. Social media policy in the United States has generated echo chambers of misinformation and conspiracy and has certainly not curtailed the erosion of civic knowledge.