Harry J. Boyle, BBG, CRTC, CBC

[Dan Sayg]

On January 21 2005, Harry Boyle passed away. He was the first member of either the BBG or CRTC to have on-air experience. Harry was appointed Vice Chairman of the CRTC in 1968 and succeeded Pierre Juneau as Chairman in 1975. During his short tenure -- he retired in 1977 -- the CRTC was expanded to include regulation of telecommunications on April 1, 1976, and was renamed the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission, with a hyphen before "Television" to retain the CRTC acronymn. Harry was born in 1915 on a farm near Goderich, Ontario. His first job after high school was for the Goderich Signal Star and he freelanced for several western Ontario weekly newspapers. In 1936, he was covering a murder trial in Wingham, and listened to local CKNX. Hearing national and international News that was up a week old, he challenged the station owner "Doc" Cruickshank to carry local News. In turn, Doc challenged Harry to do it himself, on the air, that evening. Harry got a 24 hour extension so he would have a chance to actually dig up the News, and was at CKNX for the next five years. In search of a more regulated life, Harry went back to newspapers, as District Editor of the Stratford Beacon Herald. But Don Fairburn, who Harry befriended at a Wingham bookstore, was now working for the CBC, and convinced management to hire Harry the next year, in 1942. His CCF bio is at http://broadcasting-history.ca/personal ... oyle-harry