Pierre Juneau (October 17, 1922 – February 21, 2012) was a Canadian film and broadcast executive, a one-time member of the Canadian Cabinet, the first chairman of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) and subsequently president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. He is credited with the creation, promotion, and championing of Canadian content requirements for radio and television. Juneau is the namesake of the Juno Awards.
Early life
He was born in Verdun, now part of Montreal, to a working-class family. After graduating from the Université de Montréal, he studied at the University of Paris where he met Pierre Trudeau, with whom he co-founded the dissident political magazine Cité Libre upon returning to Montreal.
He was the Jeunesse Étudiante Chrétienne (JEC) Canadian representative at the International Young Catholic Students (IYCS) Centre for International Documentation and Information (CIDI) in 1947–49. He is considered as one of the key men behind the creation of IYCS which today is present in over 80 countries with millions of members.
National Film Board of Canada
Juneau joined the National Film Board of Canada in 1949. Hired as the NFB's French Advisor by commissioner Albert Trueman to see how the NFB could better meet the needs of francophone filmmakers and contemporary Quebec society, Juneau was one of the original proponents for the creation of a French-language production branch at the NFB.
In the 1950s, he was the NFB's assistant regional supervisor in Quebec, and then became the chief of international distribution, the assistant head of the European office, and the NFB's secretary. In 1964, he became the board's Director of French-language production.
Film festival founder
In 1959, Juneau was a co-founder of the Montreal International Film Festival, and served as its president until 1968.
Political career
In 1975, Juneau left the CRTC to accept an appointment by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to the cabinet as Minister of Communications. Since Juneau did not have a seat in the House of Commons of Canada, he attempted to enter parliament through a by-election, but was defeated in the Montreal riding of Hochelaga by the Progressive Conservative candidate, Jacques Lavoie. Following constitutional convention which requires that a cabinet minister have or obtain a seat in parliament shortly after his appointment, he resigned from cabinet.
Electoral record
Honours
In 1975, he was made an officer of the Order of Canada He was 89.