Sir John Aird was a Canadian banker.

Born in Longueuil

Longueuil

Longueuil is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie administrative region and sits on the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River directly across from Montreal. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census totaled 229,330, making it the third largest city in...

, Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

, he joined the Canadian Bank of Commerce

Canadian Bank of Commerce

The Canadian Bank of Commerce was a Canadian bank cofounded in 1867 by William McMaster. The Canadian Bank of Commerce opened in Toronto with a charter in 1866 that it purchased from the defunct Bank of Canada, which folded in 1858....

 in 1878, becoming president of that organization in 1924 and holding the position until 1929.

Aird Commission

Beginning in 1928 a public reaction to attacks made via radio on the Catholic Church by the Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The religion reports worldwide membership of over 7 million adherents involved in evangelism, convention attendance of over 12 million, and annual...

 lead the government of William Lyon Mackenzie King

William Lyon Mackenzie King

William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG was the dominant Canadian political leader from the 1920s through the 1940s. He served as the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921 to June 28, 1926; from September 25, 1926 to August 7, 1930; and from October 23, 1935 to November 15, 1948...

 to establish a Royal Commission

Royal Commission

In Commonwealth realms and other monarchies a Royal Commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue. They have been held in various countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and Saudi Arabia...

 on the subject of broadcasting. Aird was appointed head of the three-man commission which also included Augustin Frigon, an electrical engineer, and Charles Bowman, editor of the Ottawa Citizen

Ottawa Citizen

The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...

.

In 1929 the Aird Commission delivered its nine-page Report of the Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting

Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting

The Royal Commission on Radio Broadcasting, otherwise known as the Aird Commission, was chaired by John Aird and examined Canada's broadcasting industry. The report released its findings in 1929 when it concluded that Canada was in need of a publicly funded radio broadcast system...

to Parliament

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is the federal legislative branch of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in the national capital, Ottawa. Formally, the body consists of the Canadian monarch—represented by her governor general—the Senate, and the House of Commons, each element having its own officers and...

. Included in the report was the recommendation that broadcasting in Canada should benefit the people of the country. To this end, the report recommendeded a publicly owned system funded in part by a $3 annual licence fee, in essence the blueprint for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...

. Unfortunately, the stock market crashed

Wall Street Crash of 1929

The Wall Street Crash of 1929 , also known as the Great Crash, and the Stock Market Crash of 1929, was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its fallout...

 a scant six weeks after the report was issued, making government support for public broadcasting problematic. Eventually, however, under the government of R. B. Bennett

R. B. Bennett

Richard Bedford Bennett, 1st Viscount Bennett, PC, KC was a Canadian lawyer, businessman, politician, and philanthropist. He served as the 11th Prime Minister of Canada from August 7, 1930, to October 23, 1935, during the worst of the Great Depression years...

, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission

Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission

The Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission was Canada's first public broadcaster and the immediate precursor to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Origins:...

 was formed in 1932 under the chairmanship of Hector Charlesworth

Hector Charlesworth

Hector Willoughby Charlesworth was a Canadian writer, editor, and critic. From 1904 to 1910 he was an editor and critic at the Toronto Mail and Empire. In 1910 he went to Saturday Night and was its editor from 1926 to 1932...

, a journalist and music critic from Saturday Night magazine

Saturday Night (magazine)

Saturday Night was a Canadian general interest magazine. It was founded in Toronto, Ontario in 1887.The publication was first established as a weekly broadsheet newspaper about public affairs and the arts, which was later expanded into a general interest magazine. The editor, Edmund E. Sheppard,...

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