Over the past 20 years, hundreds of studies have examined how violent programming on television affects children, young people and adults. While a direct "cause and effect" link is hard to establish, a growing body of evidence indicates that violent media images do have a negative influence on children and youth. Most Canadians believe that, when it comes to children, access to violent programming should be controlled, if not eliminated.
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has maintained that this is best done through self-regulation by the broadcasting industry, and that there should be a level playing field for all members of the industry - that is, the same programming standards should be observed by broadcasters, satellite distributors and cable companies alike.
In 1992, the CRTC released two studies on media violence: Scientific Knowledge About Television Violence and Summary and Analysis of Various Studies on Violence and Television. The same year, a young Quebec girl presented Prime Minister Brian Mulroney with a petition against television violence with 1.2 million signatures. In February 1993, people from the industry, government, education and the community sectors met at a conference sponsored by the Hincks Institute for Children's Mental Health. At this meeting, industry participants formed the Action Group on Violence on Television (AGVOT) to develop a classification system, to liaise with parent and education groups, and to devise a communications strategy for the industry. In June 1993, the government called for a full review of the media's portrayal of violence. This resulted in the report Fraying our Social Fabric, which made 27 recommendations to the government and the CRTC.
In 1993, the Canadian Association of Broadcasters (CAB) and the Pay and Pay-Per-View industry revised their voluntary conduct codes defining:
- what kinds of programs (those containing violent images, for instance) should not be shown in Canada.
- after what time of the evening programming with violent content (designed for adults) may be aired - known as the "watershed hour."
- what kind of cautionary viewer advisories should be used.
In 1994 the Coalition for Responsible Television was formed, and in 1995 it established a 1-900 telephone number so that people could register complaints about violence in specific TV programs. During this same period, the cable television industry began its first tests on the V-chip, a device that allows users to block out television scenes they consider unsuitable.
The issue that prompted the CRTC Hearing on Television Violence in October 1995 was the November 1994 decision on the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (CBSC). In response to two complaints, CBSC agreed that the program depicted excessive violence. As a result of that decision, Global aired a modified version of Power Rangers and YTV dropped it entirely. However, children in the same cities could still watch it through foreign services distributed by cable. Since there was evidently not a "level playing field" for the Canadian industry, the hearing was called to get public and industry input.
