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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 November 2014
Students of Canadian agricultural policy encounter many anomalies. Even superficial study indicates that Canadian farmers have not influenced governmental policy in any measure proportional to their share of Canadian population. Very little effort has been made to understand and explain the historical place of the Canadian farmer's voice in the councils of the nation. The hardy perennial verdict that agriculture is Canada's basic industry adds nothing to our understanding of the question.
Within the scope of a brief paper only a few points can be touched upon. This analysis is limited to a consideration of the use of royal commissions of inquiry in the formulation of Canadian agricultural policy. It is further limited to the period after 1900. In fact the second limitation is embodied in the first, for, with negligible exceptions, only after 1900 were royal commissions used in the formulation of Canadian agricultural policy.
We are to consider, then, the period during which the central economic fact for the Dominion of Canada was the establishment of the prairie wheat economy. The most cursory examination of the relationships which existed between farmers and the governments of this period calls attention to the very considerable number of royal commissions of inquiry appointed by Dominion and provincial governments to deal with some phase or other of what we loosely call “the agricultural problem.”
1 Unless some investigation or series of investigations is being unintentionally overlooked the only significant exception to this statement was the Ontario Agricultural Commission of 1881. See Report of the Commission (Toronto, 1881).Google Scholar
2 As cited in Clokie, H. McD. and Robinson, J. W., Royal Commissions of Inquiry: The Significance of Investigations in British Politics (Stanford, Cal., 1937), p. 80.Google Scholar
3 Comment by the Honourable W. R. Motherwell in House of Commons, Ottawa, Debates, 1938, 4449, as cited by Hodgetts, J. E.. “Royal Commissions of Inquiry in Canada: A Study in Investigative Technique” (unpublished M.A. thesis, Toronto, 1940), p. 86.Google Scholar
4 The book: Clokie and Robinson, Royal Commissions of Inquiry; The Master's thesis: Hodgett's. “Royal Commissions of Inquiry in Canada.” Articles on Canadian royal commissions include the following: Brady, A., “Royal Commissions in the Dominion: A Note on Current Political Practice” (University of Toronto Quarterly, vol. VIII, no. 3, 04, 1939. pp. 284–92)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Magill, Robert, “Private Business and Royal Commissions” (Dalhousie Review, vol. I. no. 3, 10, 1921, pp. 233–42)Google Scholar; Sellar, Watson, “A Century of Commissions of Inquiry” (Canadian Bar Review, vol. XXV. no. 1, pp. 1–28).Google Scholar Reviews of Canadian royal commissions include the following: Report of the Royal Commission to Inquire into Trading in Grain Futures, by Fay, C. R. in the Economic Journal, vol. XLI, 12, 1931, pp. 649–53Google Scholar; Report of the Royal Commission on Dominion-Provincial Relations, by Innis, H. A. in The Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, vol. VI, 1940. pp. 562–71CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Report of the Commission on the Textile Industry, by H. R. Kemp. ibid., vol. V, 1939, pp. 70-80.
5 Hodgetts, , “Royal Commissions of Inquiry in Canada,” pp. 39–46.Google Scholar
6 Reports of the grain inquiry commissions are as follows: Report of the Royal Commission on the Shipment and Transportation of Grain, Canada, Sessional Papers, 1900, nos. 81, 81a; Report of the Royal Commission on the Grain Trade of Canada, 1906, Canada, Sessional Papers, 1908, no. 59; Interim Report of the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission (Ottawa, 1924)Google Scholar; Report of the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission (Ottawa, 1925)Google Scholar; Report of the Commission to Enquire into Trading in Grain Futures (Ottawa, 1931)Google Scholar; Report of the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission, 1938 (Ottawa, 1938).Google Scholar In addition to the grain commissions the reports of which are listed above a commission inquired into the inspection of grain in Montreal in 1901, and the Hyndman commission was appointed in 1921. The latter commission did not report. The commission on the disposal of public lands can be cited as follows: “Report of T. R. Ferguson, K.C., on the Disposition of Dominion Lands, etc., since 1896,” Canada, Sessional Papers, 1915, no. 281 (not printed). Commissions reported on the transfer of natural resources as follows: Report of the Royal Commission on the Transfer of the Natural Resources of Manitoba, Hon. W. F. A. Turgeon, Chairman (Ottawa, 1929); Report of the Royal Commission on the Natural Resources of Saskatchewan, Hon.Dysart, A. K., Chairman (Ottawa, 1935).Google Scholar An additional federal report is the following: The Sheep Industry in Canada, Great Britain and United States: Report of the Commissioners (Ottawa, 1911).Google Scholar
7 Reports of the more important of these special committees are as follows: Proceedings (Revised) of the Select Special Committee of the House of Commons to Inquire into Agricultural Conditions (Ottawa, 1924)Google Scholar; Report on Agricultural Credit, by H. M. Tory, Canada, Sessional Papers, 1924, no. 142; Supplementary Report on Agricultural Credit, by H. M. Tory, Canada, Sessional Papers, 1925, no. 152; Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, Special Committee on Canadian Grain Board Act, 1935 (Ottawa, 1935)Google Scholar; Minutes of Proceedings and Evidence, Special Committee on Marketing of Wheat and Other Grains under Dominion Guarantee, 1936 (Ottawa, 1936)Google Scholar; Minutes of Proceedings and Report of the Special Committee on Farm Implement Prices (Ottawa, 1937).Google Scholar One further report should be listed: Report on Rural Relief due to Drought Conditions and Crop Failures in Western Canada, 1930-1937 by Stapleford, E. W. (Ottawa, 1939).Google Scholar
8 Following are the reports of the more important provincial agricultural investigations in Alberta: “Report of the Beef Commission,” Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture, Alberta, 1907, pp. 30–46 Google Scholar; “Report of the Pork Commission” Annual Report of the Department of Agriculture, Alberta, 1908, pp. 29–40 Google Scholar; Report on the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District, Alberta (Edmonton, 1920)Google Scholar; Report of the Survey Board for Southern Alberta (Edmonton, 1922)Google Scholar; “Report of the Commission on Banking and Credit with respect to the Industry of Agriculture in the Province of Alberta” (mimeo., 1922); An Examination into the Conditions on the Lethbridge Northern Irrigation District, by Widstoe, John A. (Edmonton, 1925)Google Scholar; Report of the Commission Appointed to Report on the Lethbridge Northern and Other Irrigation Districts in Alberta, Wilson, M. L., Chairman (Edmonton, 1930)Google Scholar; A Report on the Rehabilitation of the Dry Areas of Alberta and Crop Insurance 1935-1936 (Edmonton, 1936)Google Scholar; Report of Commission Appointed in 1936 to Inquire into the Various Phases of Irrigation Development in Alberta (Lethbridge, n.d).
Among the more important of the reports of provincial investigations into agricultural conditions in Saskatchewan are the following: Report of the Elevator Commission of the Province of Saskatchewan (Regina, 1910)Google Scholar; Report of the Agricultural Credit Commission of the Province of Saskatchewan (Regina, 1913)Google Scholar; Report of the Grain Markets Commission of the Province of Saskatchewan, 1914 (Regina, 1914)Google Scholar; Report of the Farm Machinery Commission of the Province of Saskatchewan, 1915 (Regina, 1915)Google Scholar; Interim and Final Reports of the Live Stock Commission of the Province of Saskatchewan, 1917 (Regina, 1917 and 1918)Google Scholar; Report of the Royal Commission into Farming Conditions (Regina, 1921)Google Scholar; Report to the Government of Saskatchewan on Wheat Marketing (Regina, 1921)Google Scholar; Report of the Saskatchewan Overseas Livestock Marketing Commission (Regina, 1928)Google Scholar; Reports of the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission, 1928 (Regina, 1929)Google Scholar; “An Economic Survey of the Dairy Industry in Saskatchewan” (Regina, mimeo., 1929)Google Scholar; Report of the Saskatchewan Royal Commission on Immigration and Settlement (Regina, 1930)Google Scholar; “Saskatchewan Royal Milk Inquiry Commission, 1933: Summary and Observations from Report of Dr. William Allen” (Regina, 1934); “Report of the Debt Survey Committee, 1934” (Regina, 1935); Report of the Select Special Committee on Farm Implement Prices and Distribution (Regina, 1939)Google Scholar; A Survey of Agricultural Land Debt and of Ownership and Tenancy in Saskatchewan as at December 31st, 1943 (Regina, n.d.).
Reports of agricultural investigations established by the Manitoba government include the following: “Progress Report on the Manitoba Agricultural Survey, 1921” (Winnipeg, 1921); Some of the Charts and Maps Accompanying the Progress Report on the Manitoba Agricultural Survey, 1921 (Winnipeg, 1921)Google Scholar; Report of the Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Operation of “The Rural Credits Act” (Winnipeg, 1923)Google Scholar; Unused Lands of Manitoba: Report of a Survey Conducted by R. W. Murchie and H. C. Grant (Winnipeg, 1927)Google Scholar; Report of the Commission to Inquire into Charges against Manitoba Pool Elevators Limited (Winnipeg, 1931)Google Scholar; Report of the Manitoba Electrification Enquiry Commission, 1942 (Winnipeg, 1942).Google Scholar
9 Report of the Royal Commission on the Shipment and Transportation of Grain, Canada, Sessional Papers, 1900, no. 81a.
10 American experience with transportation and grain-handling monopolies, which was officially publicized by the Granger laws and the establishment of the Interstate Commerce Commission, undoubtedly was influential in Canadian thought at the policy level. The “trust-busting” phase of American development, highlighted by the decisions i of the United States Supreme Court in the Northern Securities Case, 1904, and in the Standard Oil and the American Tobacco Company Cases of 1911, kept the monopoly issue before the American and the Canadian public until the First World War.
11 The Dominion royal commission “on the Shipment and Transportation of Grain,” appointed in 1899, was headed by Judge Senkler of St. Catherines, but its three additional members were Manitoba farmers. Judge Senkler retired from the chairmanship on account of health and although he was replaced by A. E. Richards (afterwards Mr. Justice Richards) of Winnipeg, there is much evidence to suggest that C. C. Castle, one of the farmer members, assumed the dominance of the commission. The commission appointed in 1906 had three western farmers for personnel including its chairman, John Millar of Indian Head.
12 Statutes of Canada, 63-4 Vic., c. 39 (1900). H. S. Patton states that this act was “hailed by western grain growers as a veritable agrarian Magna Charta.” Grain Growers' Cooperation in Western Canada (Cambridge, 1928), p. 30.Google Scholar C. C. Castle was appointed the first warehouse commissioner.
13 The Manitoba Grain Act was amended in 1908 by Statutes of Canada, 7-8 Edw. VII, c. 45.
14 See Hodgetts, “Royal Commissions of Inquiry in Canada,” appendix, viii. The report, is indexed under “Report of Thomas R. Ferguson to Investigate All Matters re Dominion Lands, Indian Lands, Reserves, Water Powers, etc., since 1896,” Canada, Sessional Papers, 1915, no. 281 (not printed).
15 Report of the Royal Commission on the Grain Trade of Canada, 1906, Canada, Sessional Papers, 1908, no. 59, 38-9.
16 Ibid., p. 19.
17 For an analysis of the elevator experiment in Manitoba see Patton, , Grain Growers' Cooperation in Western Canada, pp. 79 ff.Google Scholar
18 Report of the Elevator Commission of the Province of Saskatchewan (Regina, 1910).Google Scholar
19 See note 8 above for citations of these investigations.
20 Canada Gazette, vol. LIV, no. 43, 04 23, 1921, p. 4441.Google Scholar
21 P. C. 1577, June 27, 1936, as cited in Report of the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission, 1938, p. 5.
22 Report of the Royal Commission on the Grain Trade of Canada, 1906, p. 14.
23 Report of the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission (1925), sec. 13. particularly p. 139.
24 Mr. Bennett's statement to the House, Canada, Debates of the House of Commons, 1931, p. 523.Google Scholar
25 Report of the Commission to Enquire into Trading in Grain Futures (Ottawa, 1931), p. 71.Google Scholar
26 Appendix VI to the Report of the Royal Grain Inquiry Commission, 1938. In another paper the writer of the analysis which is presented here commented as follows: “The Stamp Report and the Turgeon Report of 1938 add nothing to the analysis of futures trading as set forth by the Turgeon Report of 1925, and this for the simple reason that the application of sound logic to a given set of assumptions must always lead to the same conclusions … commissioners … might have used their powers to test more carefully some of the common assumptions on futures trading.” See Fowke, V. C., “Dominion Aids to Wheat Marketing. 1929-39” (Canadian Journal of Economics and Political Science, vol. VI, no. 3, 08., 1940, pp. 401–2).Google Scholar
