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Pierre Juneau was president of CBC and presided over the launch of the national network’s all-news channel. (CBC)

Pierre Juneau, who championed Canadian content on radio and TV as the first chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, has died. He was 89.

As head of the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., Juneau also presided over the creation of CBC Newsworld, now CBC News Network.

“Pierre Juneau was a passionate defender of public broadcasting and a fervent promoter of Canadian content,” current CBC president Hubert Lacroix said in a statement mourning Juneau’s death. “He was instrumental to shaping policy that allowed Canadians to build their own industry and their own content. We still feel his influence today.”

Juneau started his career in 1949 at the National Film Board, where he rose to become head of its French-language production.

Appointed CRTC head in 1968 by his longtime friend Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Juneau made the first minimum standards for homegrown fare on television and radio. The rules were controversial – private AM radio stations objected to a requirement of 30 per cent Canadian music content.

‘Canadian broadcasting should be Canadian.’— Pierre Juneau

Juneau, a cultural nationalist, stuck to the policy saying, “Canadian broadcasting should be Canadian.”

It was a philosophy he applied throughout his career, which included vital positions throughout the Canadian broadcasting hierarchy.

Pierre Juneau was a longtime friend of Pierre Trudeau and briefly a member of his cabinet. (CBC)

Juneau’s CRTC regulations, soon called “Cancon,” helped build both the music and television production industries in Canada.

Junos named for Juneau

The Juno Awards, Canada’s music awards launched in 1970, were named after Juneau because he implemented the Canadian content regulations.

As CRTC chair, he also insisted on 80 per cent Canadian ownership of radio and television networks and the fledgling cable industry.

“At that time, just to give you a few examples, the main anglophone station in Montreal was British-owned,” Juneau said in a 2011 interview with industry group CARRT.

“The main francophone station in Quebec City and the anglophone station belonged to an American organization – and it was like that all over the country.”

Acting CRTC chair Leonard Katz said Canadians are “indebted to the leadership [Juneau] provided” to the agency as its first president.

“We join Canadians in celebrating his legacy as the architect of Canadian content regulations and the dynamic cultural industry that has since flourished,” Katz said.

Friend of Trudeau

Born Oct. 17, 1922, in Verdun, Que., Juneau met Trudeau while studying at the University of Paris and co-founded political magazine Cité Libre in Montreal with the former prime minister.

Juneau was also a co-founder of the Montreal International Film Festival and served as its president until 1968.

Trudeau wanted Juneau in his government and appointed him as communications minister in 1975 even though he did not have a seat in the House of Commons. Juneau was forced to leave his post within a few months after losing a byelection, but he later became a civil servant in the communications department.

Launched CBC Newsworld

He went on to become CBC president in 1982. In 1987 he spearheaded the creation of CBC’s 24-hour English-language news channel, then called Newsworld, in his drive to promote Canadian content.

Closely allied with the Trudeau Liberals, Juneau clashed with former prime minister Brian Mulroney over budget cuts to the CBC and over Mulroney’s choice to split his job and appoint both a part-time president and a full-time chair of the CBC. He was twice invited to step down but stayed until the end of his seven-year term in 1989.

Under Juneau, the CBC consolidated its reputation for news and public affairs, increased its Canadian content, brought and shifted towards independently produced dramatic content. But, the broadcaster lost viewers as cable TV offered more options to audiences and became more dependent on advertising.

In 1994, after he had retired as CBC president, Juneau was appointed to head a government inquiry into the future of the CBC.

Juneau is an officer of the Order of Canada.