Royce Frith


Royce Herbert Frith, was a Canadian diplomat, public servant, lawyer, broadcaster, and politician.

Education

He received a BA from the University of Toronto, an LL.B from Osgoode Hall Law School and a Dipl. d’études supérieures from the University of Ottawa. He was admitted to the Ontario Bar in 1949 and would become a partner in the Toronto firm of Magwood, Frith & Casey, specializing in litigation, municipal and broadcast and entertainment industry law.

Broadcasting

An amateur actor and performer, Frith found time to act in plays, perform on the radio, and sing and play several instruments, while concurrently building his legal career. In 1949, he hosted western music show Home on the Range on radio station CFRB in Toronto. He also sang in a choir as a youth that appeared regularly on CBC Radio and continued to appear on CBC singing in radio operas, acting in dramas such on the anthology series Wednesday Night and Stage and as a panelist on The Superior Sex and Live A Borrowed Life on CBC Television in the 1950s. In the 1960s he presented the public affairs show Telepoll on the CTV Television Network for several seasons.
Frith successfully applied to the Board of Broadcast Governors in 1963 for a license to operate a new radio station in Windsor, Ontario. Frith was awarded a license to operate CKWW-AM but sold the station to Geoff Stirling before it went on the air.

Early political career

A resident of the Toronto suburb of Leaside, Ontario, Frith was elected to Leaside town council in the 1950s first as councillor and later as Deputy Reeve before he and his law firm were appointed the town's solicitors.
Active in Liberal Party politics, Frith was president of the Ontario Liberal Party from 1960 to 1961.

Federal government and Senate

Frith first came to prominence as a member of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism in the 1960s. He served as a legal advisor to the Commissioner of Official Languages from 1971 until 1977 when he was appointed to the Senate of Canada by Pierre Trudeau. He sat in the Upper House as a Liberal and served in various positions including Canadian Senate">Canadians">Canadian Senate and led the Liberals' filibuster against the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax forcing Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to use an obscure section of the Constitution to appoint extra Senators and ensure passage of the measure.

High Commissioner

Frith left the Upper House in 1994 to become Canada's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Frith had a very high profile and used his flair for public performance to his advantage, particularly during Canada's Turbot War with Spain in which he played a crucial role in rallying British public opinion behind Canada. Frith also ensured the retention of Canada House in Trafalgar Square as the site of the Canadian high commission when the government had considered abandoning the location in order to save money. Frith returned to Canada in 1996 and resumed his law practice.

Later life

In his last years, Firth was a lawyer with the firm Ladner Downs in Vancouver and went into the office daily until just a few weeks prior to his death. He served on various boards including the Board of Trustees of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. Frith has also served on the governing bodies of the Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific and the Vancouver Symphony. In 2000 he was appointed a member of the Order of Canada.