1958-1959: Two Years of Trouble at the CBC

The long and bitter strike of television producers who wanted to form a union in Montreal in the winter 1958-59 was a crucial event in the history of Canada. It turned the Quiet Revolution into a noisy one. Management denied the producers the right on the grounds that they were part of management. The producers eventually won. Before the strike, the future separatist leader René Levesque had been a popular television personality without any strong interest in Quebec nationalism. The strike, exposing CBC's largely English-speaking top managers as, in his view, biased and repressive, radicalized him.

In June, 1959, there was conflict in Toronto of much less importance, but dramatic nevertheless. Management had given in to the demand of prime minister John Diefenbaker, newly elected in a landslide, to take off the air the daily Preview Commentary, which displeased him. This was unacceptable to Frank Peers, head of Talks and Public Affairs, who rightly regarded it as blatant government interference. He and his staff across the country resigned, with overwhelming public approval. After a week, Management had to reverse itself.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Eric Koch
• Pierre Trudeau
• John Diefenbaker
• René Levesque
• George Nowlan
• Alphonse Ouimet
• Frank Peers
• Ernest Bushnell
• CBC
• unionization
• Preview Commentary