Harry Boyle made his career in broadcasting, but, given the ephemeral nature of radio and television productions, he may be remembered more as an author and humorist. Television historians, however, will likely see his accomplishments as a broadcast regulator as the most significant aspects of his long career. Boyle started his career on a radio station in Wingham, Ontario, and after a brief detour into the newspaper business, he joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1943 as a farm commentator. He advanced rapidly into executive ranks and joined the television service in the 1960s, serving as program director and executive producer. In both radio and television, he established a reputation as a creative programmer who launched the careers of many talented broadcasters, such as the comedy team of Wayne and Shuster, and the eclectic Max Ferguson. He was known for defending the independence of producers against management restrictions.

Boyle’s career as a regulator began in 1967. While serving as program supervisor at CBC-Toronto, he was appointed by the Board of Broadcast Governors (BBG) to an 11-member consultative committee on program policy, the only member from the CBC. The committee issued its report in 1968, just as the BBG was abolished by the 1968 Broadcasting Act, to be replaced by a new, more powerful regulatory body, the Canadian Radio-television Commission (CRTC), later called the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

Boyle was appointed vice chair of the commission, led by the formidable Pierre Juneau. He served with Juneau until Juneau resigned in 1975. Boyle was named acting head and then confirmed in the role in 1976, but he left after a year, by some accounts disenchanted with his limited influence on programming.

Throughout his career, Boyle promoted a vision of Canadian identity as an expression of a sense of place, best realized in specific communities. He argued that in pursuing national audiences, the CBC, and Canadian broadcasting generally, neglected local, regional, and multicultural programming. Boyle once commented that he agreed to the CRTC appointment in the hope of pushing the CBC into providing such coverage.

The team of Juneau, dapper and precise, and Boyle, rumpled and disorganized, accomplished much more than anyone expected in carrying forward the ambitious goals of the 1968 Broadcasting Act. They safe-guarded domestic ownership of Canada’s broadcasting industry, produced a strong set of Canadian-content quotas for television (regulations that contributed significantly to the development of Canada’s independent television production industry), supported the extension of the private network CTV, and formulated the first rules for the cable TV industry. Although rendered increasingly obsolete by new broadcast technologies, these initiatives provided important opportunities for Canadian expression.

Boyle’s most controversial legacy was a report tabled by the Committee of Inquiry into the National Broadcasting Service in 1977. Boyle presided over the inquiry, which was launched shortly after the 1976 Quebec election, in which a party dedicated to a sovereign Quebec received a majority in the provincial government. Not surprisingly, the event added to concerns about Canadian unity and led to accusations that the French-language news services of the CBC were biased in favor of Quebec independence. It has been suggested that Boyle accepted the task to forestall a more politically motivated investigation. He may also have been motivated by the fact that the committee’s mandate reflected his much-quoted view that Canada “exists by reason of communication.” The report expressed concern about the centralization of the Canadian television system, the lack of programming from regions outside central Canada, and, in particular, the gulf between French and English audiences. Although supportive of the CBC, Boyle also expressed the hope that new communications technologies, formats, and programming would bridge the divisions in Canadian society. One example was the multichannel possibilities presented by cable television and pay-per-view programming. The report, with others, helped to lay the foundation for the expansion of cable services.

With respect to content, the report characterized the CBC as “biased to the point of subversiveness” for its failure, in the committee’s view, to promote communication among the country’s regional and linguistic communities. The report was not received favorably by CBC journalists—who contended that it was inaccurate and unfair—but it was successful in turning attention away from accusations of “separatist bias” to the extent to which the English and French networks reflected Canada as a whole. Debate about the latter issue has continued. In the politically charged atmosphere of 1977, however, the tack taken by Boyle helped to defuse French-English tensions a little.

Boyle’s substantial personal archives have been deposited with York University in Toronto and will attract scholars interested in making sense of a crucial time in the development of Canadian television.