The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1957, Blaðsíða 13

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
11
(a) the principles upon which tire
policy of Canada should be based,
in the fields of radio and tele-
vision broadcasting;
(b) such agencies and activities of
the government of Canada as the
National Film Board, the Na-
tional Gallery, the National
Museum, the National War Mu-
seum, the Public Archives and the
care and custody of public re-
cords, the Library of Parliament;
methods by which research is aid-
ed including grants for scholar-
ships through various Federal
Government agencies; the even-
tual character and scope of the
National Library; the scope or
activities of these agencies; the
manner in which they should be
conducted, financed and control-
ed, and other matters relevant
thereto;
(c) methods by which the relations
of Canada with the United Na-
tions Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organization and with
other organizations operating in
this field should be conducted;
(d) relations of the government of
Canada and any of its agencies
with various national voluntary
bodies operating in the field with
which this inquiry will be con-
cerned.
The Committee further advised
that the Right Honourable Vincent
Massey, PC., C.H., be chairman of the
Commission.
During the course of its two-year
inquiry, the Commission held 114
public hearings throughout Canada at
which some twelve hundred witnesses
appeared. The Commission received
462 formal submissions, and many
hundreds of letters from Canadian cit-
izens.
In addition to the other numerous
recommendations by the Commission
was the following:
“That a body be created to be
known as the Canada Council for
the Encouragement of the Arts,
Letters, Humanities and Social
Sciences to stimulate and to help
voluntary organizations within
these fields, to foster Canada’s
cultural relations abroad, to per-
form the functions of a national
commission for UNESCO, and to
devise and administer a system of
scholarships.”
As a result of this recommendation,
during the Fifth Session of the Twenty-
Second Parliament, 1957, The House
of Commons of Canada passed Bill 47.
This is no ordinary bill of routine
government procedure, but is rather
a bill that should touch the heart of
every Canadian citizen interested in
the progressive development of Can-
ada into a full and culturally-rich na-
tion. This bill became “An Act for the
Establishment of a Canada Council
for the Encouragement of the Arts,
Humanities and Social Sciences”, or as
it is known by its short title” The Can-
ada Council Act”.
The purpose of this Act is to estab-
lish a Canada Council for the encour-
agement of activities and works that
will further the cultural attainments of
the Canadian nation. These activities
and works are included in section eight
of the act, namely;
(1) “The objects of the Council are
to foster and promote the study
and enjoyment of, and the pro-
duction of works in, the arts,
humanities and social sciences,
and, in particular, but without
limiting the generality of the
foregoing, the Council may in
furtherance of its objeots,
(a) assist, co-operate with and enlist