Canada. Royal Commission on Italian Immigration : The Royal Commission to Inquire into the Immigration of Italian Labourers to Montreal and the Alleged Fraudulent Practices of Employment Agencies was established under Order in Council P.C. 1230, 20 June 1904, under the Act Respecting Inquiries Concerning Public Matters (R.S.C. 1886, c.114) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Labour. This Order in Council extended the mandate given to Judge Winchester by Order in Council P.C. 997, 23 May 1904. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and to report upon the circumstances which have induced Italian labourers to come to the City of Montreal from other countries during the present year, the persons engaged directly or indirectly in promoting their immigration, and the means and methods adopted in bringing about such immigration. The commissioner was John Winchester.
Early in 1904, the government received complaints about the influx of a large number of Italian labourers to Montreal. They had been induced to come there on the understanding that they would find immediate employment in construction with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway but for many of them there was no work available. Consequently, in April 1904, the Deputy Minister of Labour held an inquiry into this matter under the Railway Labour Disputes Act (2 Edw. VII, c.55).
As a result of this investigation, on 23 May 1904, the Government of Canada appointed a Royal Commission to Investigate the Alleged Employment of Aliens in Connection with surveys of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. (These surveys were undertaken for the proposed National Transcontinental Railway).
For a number of years, Italian labourers had been hired to work on railway construction, and on other public works in Canada. Since 1901, for example, George E. Burns, officer in charge of the special service department of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company had engaged Italian immigrants to work for that company. They were hired through arrangements made with Antonio Cordasco of Montreal, who represented himself as an agent for the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in Canada. In 1904, Cordasco advertised in La Patria Italiana and Corriere del Canada, two Italian newspapers published in Montreal, that 10,000 Italian labourers were required for employment in Canada. Cordasco had copies of these newspapers sent to Italy and also made arrangements with agents in Italy, and in the United States, to assist him in getting the required number.
It was alleged that upon their arrival in Canada, the immigrants could not obtain a job with the Canadian Pacific Railway without first going to Cordasco and paying him a fee for the promise of employment. Furthermore, it was alleged that Mr. Burns refused to employ any Italians with that railway company unless arrangements had been made with Cordaso. The evidence presented to the Commissioner shows that there were at least 6,000 Italian immigrants in Montreal in the month of May 1904, many of whom had no chance of finding employment with the railway at all. This situation caused considerable distress to the newscomers. It also caused dissatisfaction among the working classes of Montreal where the labour market was severely overcrowded.
As dissatisfaction grew, the Government of Canada, on 20 June 1904, decided to enlarge the mandate of Judge Winchester as Commissioner investigating employment practices of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. This gave him a broader mandate in his investigation of the circumstances by which Italian labourers had come to Montreal. (See the Royal Commission Appointed to Inquire into the Immigration of Italian Labourers to Montreal and the Alleged Fraudulent Practices of Employment Agencies Report of Commissioner and Evidence, Ottawa, 1905 and Government Archives Division, General Inventory Series, Records of the Department of Labour (RG 27), John Smart, National Archives of Canada, Minister of Supply and Services, 1988, pp. 5 and 6).
Hearings of the commission were held in Montreal from 30 June to 26 July 1904. Over 60 exhibits were filed with the commission. RG33-99 General Inventory
