Royal Commission on Employment of Firemen on Diesel Locomotives in Freight and Yard Service on the Canadian Pacific Railway : The Royal Commission On Employment of Firemen on Diesel Locomotives in Freight and Yard Service on the Canadian Pacific Railway was established under Order in Council (P.C. 52, 17 January 1957) under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1952, c.154) and on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report on the following questions: (a) Are firemen or firemen helpers required on diesel locomotives in freight and yard service of the Canadian Pacific Railway (including the Eastern, Prairie and Pacific regions and the Quebec Central and Dominion Atlantic Railways)? (b) If not, what terms and conditions would be fair to the firemen, to those who use the railway company, and to its other employees, which should be observed by the Railway for the purpose of protecting firemen now in its employ against the consequences of the loss of such employment and seniority? (c) Should the provisions in the present agreements between the Railway Company and the Brotherhood concerning "arbitraries" and the "mountain differential" be maintained, dropped or modified and if in the opinion of the commission they should be modified, how and to what extent? The Commissioners were Roy Lindsay Kellock, Chairman; Campbell C. McLaurin and Jean Martineau. The Secretary was Douglas N. Fraser.
During the 1950s a dispute arose over a proposal by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen to dispense with the employment of firemen on diesel locomotives in freight and yard service and to abolish "arbitrary" and "mountain differential" payments. In April 1956 the dispute came to a head during negotiation of renewal agreements. To bring about a solution, a conciliation board was established which reported in December of the same year. Canadian Pacific accepted the findings and recommendations of the conciliation board but the Brotherhood did not. Thereafter negotiations between the parties failed to bring about a solution and a work stoppage of several days occurred in January 1957. Work resumed when both parties agreed to renegotiate their collective agreements in the light of the findings of a federal royal commission into the dispute. (See Report of the Royal Commission on Employment of Firemen on Diesel Locomotives in Freight and Yard Service on the Canadian Pacific Railway, Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1958, p. 1.)
Hearings of the commission were held in Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary and Vancouver from 4 March, to5 November 1957. The Commissioners also visited France, Switzerland, Holland and England. There were 358 submissions filed with the Commission. RG33-37 General Inventory
