Canada. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission : The Grain Handling and Transportation Commission was established under Order in Council P.C. 872, 18 April 1975 and Order in Council P.C. 1067, 9 May 1975, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1970, c.I-13) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Transport and the Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report upon the rail needs of communities, the economies of a modernized rail system and the probable conduct of producers and elevator companies in changing circumstances for the purpose of making recommendations concerning the future role of that portion of the rail network identified for further evaluation. The commissioners were Emmett M. Hall, Chief Commissioner; Reginald E. Forbes, Robert H. Cowan, Lloyd Stewart and Reinhold Lehr. The secretary was J.M. McDonough.
On 4 May 1967, the Government of Canada issued the "Abandonment of Branch Lines Prohibition Order" which guaranteed, that 6,283 miles of branch railway lines, in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta, would not be abandoned before 1 January 1975. At the time of the expiry of the prohibition order, the federal Minister of Transport, Jean Marchand, announced the government's designation of the "Prairie Rail Network" - a network of some 12,413 miles of railway lines which were protected from abandonment until the year 2000. The future of the 6,283 miles of railway tracks, protected since 1967, were to be determined by a federal inquiry. On 18 April 1975, the Minister of Transport, Jean Marchand and the Minister responsible for the Canadian Wheat Board, Otto Lang, jointly announced the appointment of a commission of inquiry, under the chairmanship of Emmett Hall to make recommendations on upgrading, maintaining or abandoning the lines. Hall was also asked to examine the impact the lines had on the transport requirements of the region and on the communities involved. The Government of Saskatchewan, for example, claimed that the abandonment of branch lines would adversely affect many communities. This opinion was shared not only by a number of farm organizations and municipalities in the prairie region, but especially by people living along the railway lines. There was little evidence to support this claim, however, and some even suggested that the community effect of abandonment was negligible or non-existant.
Before a decision could be taken, the responsible Ministers, Marchand and Lang, agreed that the commission should study the "quality and costs of the rail service now available as well as that required for the future ... and will examine alternatives to the present system". The Ministers also agreed that the inquiry, the so-called "Hall Commission", would examine the elevator service available, future plans of elevator companies, and road and community development plans in the area.
At the same time, the Ministers announced the appointment of the Commission on the Costs of Transporting Grain by Rail and the results of this inquiry were made available to the Hall Commission (See: Canadian News Facts, 16-30 April 1975, p. 1382; Order in Council P.C. 880, 4 May 1967; The Community Impact of Railline Abandonment, 1975-1976: Summary Report, Regina, University of Regina, Sample Survey and Data Bank Unit, 1976-1977, pp. 2-3; Grain and Rail in Western Canada, Ottawa, Supply and Services Canada, 1977, Vol. 1, pp. 54-61; and S.N. Kulshreshtha, A Current Perspective on the Prairie Grain Handling and Transportation System, Saskatoon, University of Saskatchewan, 1975, pp. 1, 19 and 20).
The commission held four types of hearings namely: global, regional, local and final. The purpose of these various types is explained in Volume 1 of the final report of the Commission (pages 13-17).
Global hearings were held at Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary, from 15 October to 26 November 1975, at which 37 submissions were received.
Regional hearings were held at 14 locations across the three prairie provinces, from 2 December 1975 to 30 June 1976, at which 111 submissions were received.
Local hearings were held at 77 centres across the three prairie provinces, from 5 January to 20 April 1976, at which 1180 submissions were received.
Final hearings were held at Saskatoon Edmonton and Vancouver, from 30 August to 15 September 1976, at which 80 submissions were received. RG33-111 General Inventory
