In the meantime, the Qablunait living in remote areas of the Arctic were growing more and more dissatisfied with their being deprived of television. Most of them worked for federal departments operating in the North or mining companies (extensive mining development had begun in the 50s) and originated from the south where they had grown accustomed to a plethora of entertainment outlets whereas there were very few of them in the North. Besides sports (mainly hockey and curling) and church socials (e.g. bingo), movies were the only recreational activity available and screenings were rather chaotic as a Concordia University researcher, Professor Gail Valaskakis, reports:

The films are constantly old, low-grade and comprised of prints that are worn and spliced to a remarkable degree. Two films received in spring 1974, were shipped with only three reels of a four reel film ... a circumstance that occurs more than occasionally.(7)

    Moreover, it has to be acknowledged that life conditions (especially weather) were quite hard. As a consequence, mines were facing annual staff turnovers of 200%. Something had to be done... Charles Feaver explains how the Government tried to find a way to keep workers in the North:

Television was seen as a modern means of reducing isolation and the various government agencies in Ottawa involved in northern development [...] became major proponents of the introduction of television to the North.(8)

    As for the Inuit, some of them had already experienced television, either as casual glimpses or more extensively during stays in the south (for medical treatment, training...) but did not feel concerned. However, the Inuit had already had a taste of the moving image on a regular basis since movies were quite popular among them indeed in spite of all the technical problems.

Other than church services, the only time the Inuit community comes together en masse on a regular basis is for film screenings. Films are extremely important to the social life of the community, and their presence is the first thing noted upon each mail delivery. The titles of incoming films are announced [...] before mail is sorted and children spread the news throughout the community.

(Valaskakis, 1975, p. 49)

    In fact, even monolingual Inuit, i.e. understanding Inuktitut only, would go to the English movies shipped by plane for the Qablunait. The silver screen exerted a great fascination over them regardless of the content.

    In May 1967, in response to business (mines) and administrative (federal agencies) pressures for northern television, CBC began the Frontier Coverage Package to serve communities above the 60th parallel. As Joel Neuheimer(9) notes, "this programming was intended to provide limited television services to northerners prior to more substantial services that would eventually follow".
    This service, made possible by the Ampex videotape recorder, consisted of a selection of programs taped from prime time on the English television network in Toronto and "trailed" across the North for playback over local transmitters. The first one was opened in Yellowknife, NWT. The programs were always undated and broadcast on a one to four week delay basis. Doug Kirkaldy details the content:

The package usually ran from 7:00 to 11:00 each evening. It began with an hour of programming for children. This was followed by an assortment of dramas, situation comedies and so forth.

(Doug Kirkaldy, 1984, p. 15)

    The Frontier Coverage Package was functional until live satellite feeds were made available via Anik A in 1972-73. By then, there would be fourteen of them in operation in the North. However, even at its height this truly pathetic system reached only a handful of communities.

    As we have seen previously, the longest microwave network in the world was not enough for such a huge territory, especially when it came to serve the North and by the late 60s, television coverage in the south was approaching the practical limits imposed by conventional methods of transmission. In 1970, CBC provided television to 96% of the population.

A domestic satellite communication system is of vital importance for the growth, prosperity and unity of Canada and should be established as a matter of priority.(10)

    Besides, it must be borne in mind that CBC is mandated to provide, in English and French, equal television services. Consequently, a satellite system was also seen as a convenient way to offer SRC to French minorities who received only the English network and vice-versa.

The Government can envisage a domestic satellite communication system which would introduce television services in English and French to areas which cannot be economically served by conventional systems.

(Ibid., p. 36)

    Research had been led in the early 1960s in the field of space satellite systems and in September 1966, in a presentation to the Science Secretariat of the Canadian Government, CBC engineers described in detail the ideal satellite system. In 1966 and 1967, a number of commercial proposals, special studies and reports were commissioned by the government who published a White Paper in 1968: A Domestic Satellite Communication System for Canada. This White Paper laid the foundations for a corporation owned both by the federal government and by the provincial telecommunication stentor operators (Bell, MT&T, Telus, BC Tel...) to develop and maintain a domestic satellite system.
    The Telesat Act was passed in 1969 creating the Telesat Corporation (now known as Telesat Canada) and in 1970 began the construction of the world's first synchronous-orbit satellite used for domestic communications : Anik A ("Anik" meaning "brother" in Inuktitut). Anik A was launched in November 1972.
    Still, although the satellite was named after an Inuktitut word, as regards objectives providing television above the 60th parallel was way down the list for southern "brothers":

Television service for Arctic residents was not at all the only reason for the whole project of launching the Anik satellite in 1972, and [...]television to home screens in the Far North was probably rather an oblique side-benefit secondary to other practical purposes in CBC policy [...] .

Service to northern audiences originally [...] was a by-product of the major decision to establish ANIK satellite transmission for other multiple all-Canada communication needs, foremost among which was the syndication feeds for southern TV stations coast to coast so that the satellite in this respect replaced the chain of microwave relay stations across the south.(11)

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