Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences
National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences, Royal Commission on
The Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences (Massey-Lévesque Commission), established by order-in-council 8 April 1949, was the broadest investigation of its kind ever undertaken in Canada. Its 5 commissioners were Vincent MASSEY (chairman), Henri Lévesque (co-chairman), Arthur Surveyer, a Montréal engineer, Norman MACKENZIE, president of UBC, and Hilda NEATBY, historian. Its final report was submitted 1 June 1951 and its recommendations covered all aspects of education, culture and the mass media.
The commission's work was pursued against the backdrop of a major transition in Canadian cultural affairs. Although the country's prewar cultural life was primarily focused on amateur, community-oriented, voluntary activities, the commission foresaw that these activities were giving way to a more urban, impersonal and national orientation; the overall character of the final report is a strange mixture of mourning for an age that was rapidly passing and of excitement at the new era of professional "mass culture" that lay ahead. It is generally believed that the commission's most important accomplishments were the ultimate establishment of arms-length federal support for the arts through the CANADA COUNCIL and the creation of the NATIONAL LIBRARY OF CANADA. It may be, however, that its most enduring legacies are the very high standards of analysis and writing that it set, standards that have not been surpassed by any of its successors.
See also ARTS, HERITAGE AND CULTURAL INDUSTRIES FUNDING; EDUCATION.
Massey, Vincent
Massey was Canada's first native-born governor general and chaired the influential royal commission on the arts (courtesy Library and Archives Canada/NFB/Lund PA-144172).
Hilda Neatby, educator
Neatby was best known as the author of "So Little for the Mind" (1953), a critique of Canadian education (Saskatchewan Archives Board).
Author RICHARD STURSBERG
Links to Other Sites
Index to Federal Royal Commissions
A bibliographic index of federal Royal Commission documents. From Library and Archives Canada.
Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences
The full text of a report from the 1949–51 "Royal Commission on National Development in the Arts, Letters and Sciences." From Library and Archives Canada.
The story of the founding of Montreal is perhaps unique in history....
INSIDE TCE
