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Information about Graham Spry

Graham Spry, CC (February 20 1900 - November 24 1983) was a Canadian broadcasting pioneer, business executive, diplomat and socialist. He was the husband of Irene Spry and father of Robin Spry.

Profile

Graham Spry was born in St. Thomas, Ontario. While a student at the University of Manitoba Spry became an editorial writer at the Manitoba Free Press, where he was mentored by editor and Canadian nationalist Allan Dafoe. He also edited the student newspaper, the Manitoban. He then studied history at Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Upon his return to Canada, he became Secretary of the Canadian Clubs, and organized a nation-wide broadcast to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Canadian Confederation. The accomplishment, achieved despite the lack of a national radio network, convinced Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King to appoint the Aird Commission on Radio Broadcasting, a royal commission which recommended the creation of a national broadcaster.

Following the defeat of King's government Spry and Alan Plaunt formed the Canadian Radio League to rally support behind the Aird Commission's recommendation, arguing that it amounted to a choice between two alternatives, "the State or the United States".[1] The League mobilized public opinion in both English- and French-speaking regions of Canada, and convinced the Conservative government of R.B. Bennett to form the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission, which later became the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

A socialist, Spry cofounded the League for Social Reconstruction (LSR), contributed to the writing of the Regina Manifesto, and purchased both the Farmer's Sun (publication of the United Farmers of Ontario), renamed the New Commonwealth, and the Canadian Forum to propagate the LSR's views. He served as chairman of the Ontario Cooperative Commonwealth Federation from 1934 to 1936. He twice ran unsuccessfully for the Canadian House of Commons in a 1934 by-election and the 1935 general election as a Cooperative Commonwealth Federation candidate. He lost on both occasions to Conservative Tommy Church.

In 1938, Spry married Irene Mary Biss. Unable to find work in Canada because of his socialist convictions, however, Spry accepted a job offer from an old Oxford friend and served as a British-based executive for Standard Oil from 1940 to 1946, managing subsidiaries operating in the Middle East and elsewhere. From 1942 to 1945, he also served as personal assistant to Sir Stafford Cripps, a Labour minister in the wartime British cabinet, and travelled with Cripps to India. After the war, Spry was named agent-general of Tommy Douglas's CCF government, representing the province of Saskatchewan from 1946 to 1968 in Britain, including responsibility for Europe and the Middle East.

Spry played a crucial role during the 1962 Saskatchewan Doctor's Strike against Medicare by recruiting British doctors to move to the province. In 1968 he reactivated his involvement with broadcasting, founding the Canadian Broadcasting League over which he presided until 1973. In 1970, Spry reputedly turned down Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's offer of a Senate seat. That same year, he was made a Companion of the Order of Canada. Graham Spry died in Ottawa on November 24, 1983.

A federal government building dedicated in the name of Graham Spry is located at 250 Lanark Avenue in Ottawa. It houses several directorates of Health Canada.

References

  1. ^  Peers, Frank. (1969) The Politics of Canadian Broadcasting, 1920-1951. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, p. 91. ISBN 0-8020-5214-2

External links

Further reading

Babe, Robert. (2000) "Graham Spry" in Canadian Communications Thought: Ten Foundational Writers. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-7949-0.

McChesney, Robert W. (1999) "Graham Spry and the Future of Canadian Broadcasting", Canadian Journal of Communication 24(1).
Order of Canada is Canada's highest civilian honour within the Canadian system of honours, with membership awarded to those who exemplify the Order's Latin motto Desiderantes meliorem patriam, which means "(those) desiring a better country" (Hebrews 11:16).
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February 20 is the 1st day of the year (2nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 0 days remaining.

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Socialism

Currents
Communism
Democratic socialism
Eco-socialism
Guild socialism
Libertarian socialism
Market socialism
Revolutionary socialism
Social democracy
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Irene Mary Spry (née Biss: Standerton, Transvaal, South Africa, August 28, 1907 - Ottawa, Canada, 1998) was an economic historian and social democrat awarded two honorary doctorates and named to the Order of Canada for her contributions to Canadian intellectual and public life.
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Robin Spry (1939-2005) was a Canadian filmmaker and television producer best known for his documentary about Quebec's October Crisis.

Profile

Robin Spry was born in Toronto, Ontario on October 25, 1939, to Canadian broadcast pioneer Graham Spry and economic historian Irene
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St. Thomas, Ontario
Circus mural with Jumbo on the northwest corner of the Manitoba St. and Talbot St. intersection.
Motto: Strength through progress

Coordinates:
Country Canada
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University of Manitoba, in Winnipeg, Canada, is the largest university of the province of Manitoba, and its most comprehensive and only research-intensive post-secondary educational institution. It was founded in 1877, making it Western Canada’s first university.
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Winnipeg Free Press

Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet

Owner FP Canadian Newspapers
Publisher Bob Cox
Editor Margo Goodhand
Founded November, 1872
Headquarters 1355 Mountain Avenue , Winnipeg, Manitoba

Website:
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Manitoba


Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Gloriosus et Liber (Latin: Glorious and free)

Capital Winnipeg
Largest city Winnipeg
Official languages English
Government
- Lieutenant-Governor John Harvard
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University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. for post-nominals, from "Oxoniensis"), located in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world.
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Rhodes Scholarship is a highly prestigious international award for study at the University of Oxford. Rhodes Scholars may study any full-time postgraduate course offered by the University except for the MBA – whether a taught Master’s programme, a research degree, or a
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Canadian Confederation, or the Confederation of Canada, was the process by which the federal dominion of Canada was formed beginning 1 July 1867 from the provinces, colonies, and territories of British North America.
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William Lyon Mackenzie King, PC, OM, CMG (December 17, 1874 – July 22, 1950) was the tenth Prime Minister of Canada from December 29, 1921, to June 28, 1926; September 25, 1926, to August 6, 1930; and October 23, 1935, to November 15, 1948.
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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
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Conservative Party of Canada has gone by a variety of names over the years since Canadian Confederation. Initially known as the "Liberal-Conservative Party", it dropped "Liberal" from its name in 1873, although many of its candidates continued to use this name.
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Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (English)
Société Radio-Canada (French)

Type Broadcast radio network
Television network
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Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (English)
Société Radio-Canada (French)

Type Broadcast radio network
Television network
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The League for Social Reconstruction was a circle of Canadian socialist intellectuals formed in 1931 by academics advocating radical social and economic reforms and political education as a response to the Great Depression.

Its leading members were F.R.
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Regina Manifesto was the programme of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation and was adopted at the first national convention of the CCF held in Regina, Saskatchewan in 1933.
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The United Farmers of Ontario (UFO) were a political party in Ontario, Canada. A social democratic party, the UFO was the Ontario provincial branch of the United Farmers movement of the early part of the 20th century.
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The Ontario New Democratic Party, formally known as New Democratic Party of Ontario, is a social democratic political party in Ontario, Canada. It is a section of the federal New Democratic Party.
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Canadian House of Commons
Chambre des communes du Canada (French)

Type Lower House

Speaker Peter Milliken, Liberal
since January 29, 2001
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