Commission to Inquire into the Problems of Marketing Salted and Cured Fish Produced in the Atlantic Provinces (Canada) : The Commission to Inquire into the Problems of Marketing Salted and Cured Fish Produced in the Atlantic Provinces was established under Order in Council P.C. 1672, 29 October 1964, under the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1952, c.154) and on the recommendation of the prime minister. The part of the Act under which this inquiry is established is not indicated in the Order in Council. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report upon the export marketing problems of the salt fish industry in the Atlantic provinces, with particular reference to: (1) the advisability of establishing a Sales Agency or Board to control exports of cured fish from the Atlantic provinces, having regard to: (a) the market demand for, and competition among different forms of utilization for landings of cod and other species; (b) the competition that exists between salted cod and other salt fish products in world markets, and ways and means of improving the efficiency of the salt fish industry and of increasing returns to primary producers in the context of the overall economic development of the area; and (2) any other relevant matter which in the opinion of the Commissioner, should be included within the scope of the inquiry. The commissioner was Donovan B. Finn. The secretary was Roger W. Bedard.
From 24 to 27 September 1962, the Government of Newfoundland held a Fisheries Conference. The conference adopted a resolution which resulted in the appointment of the Newfoundland Fisheries Commission. This commission, which reported 17 April 1963, investigated the state of the fisheries and made recommendations for improving the industry.
About the same time, the Government of Newfoundland commissioned specialists in the fields of fisheries and agriculture to make a detailed study of fisheries policy. As a result, in February 1963, the Government of Newfoundland published a study, entitled National Fisheries Development, which called for the creation of a comprehensive fisheries development programme. It was their opinion that:
"the critical problems lie rather in the basic difficulties of any primary industry, that is, in the deficiencies in market development, orderly marketing and price stability; in the need for improvements in product quality; in the great deficiency in, and indeed in the almost total absence of, credit and in lack of equipment and technology that credit could buy; and in the need for rural community development in an industry undergoing rapid adjustment and painful change."
As a means of dealing with these problems, the National Fisheries Development study, which was submitted to the Government of Canada, went on to make the following recommendation:
"We ask therefore that immediate action be taken to initiate the necessary federal study and legislation and to co-ordinate arrangements with participating provinces, for a marketing and price stabilizing agency to serve the interests of salted fish producers in a manner similar to that of the Canadian Wheat Board in serving the Prairie wheat farmers."
The National Fisheries Development Study incorporated many suggestions and recommendations which were also included in the Report and Recommendations of the Newfoundland Fisheries Commission to the Government of Newfoundland of April 1963.
Further, in January 1964, the Government of Canada convened a Federal-Provincial Conference to discuss the creation of a national policy on salt fisheries along the lines that had been proposed by the Government of Newfoundland. At this conference the Government of Newfoundland once again recommended the creation of a national marketing agency for salt fish. It wanted to create an organization that would result in orderly marketing of salt fish and would stabilize prices to producers, reduce the market risks of processors and achieve the systematic delivery of a quality product to export markets.
The salting of fish as a means of preservation for export is one of Canada's oldest industries. Large quantities of salt fish have been exported from the Atlantic Provinces and Quebec to the Caribbean, Spain, Portugal, Italy and other countries for many years. For example, Canada's exports of salted and cured fish for the year 1963, which exceeded 135 million pounds, was valued at more than 25 million dollars.
Mainly as a result of the initiatives taken by the Government of Newfoundland, on 29 October 1964, the Government of Canada passed an Order in Council appointing a "Commission to Inquire into the Problems of Marketing Salted and Cured Fish Produced in the Atlantic Provinces." (See The Daily News (St. John's) 13 November 1964; National Archives of Canada, Records of Royal Commissions, RG 33/81, Vol. 1, file ASFC-10, National Fisheries Development, A Presentation to the Government of Canada by the Government of Newfoundland, St. John's, February, 1963, and Brief to the Federal Government Commission of Inquiry into Salt Fish Marketing by the Department of Economic Development, ARDA Division, 14 January 1964).
In 1970, the government established the Canadian Saltfish Corporation (R.S.C., 1985, c.S-4) to improve the earnings of fishermen and other producers of salt-cured fish, through production or purchase, processing and marketing of salt cod.
Hearings of the commission were held in St. John's, Halifax, Fredericton and Quebec City from 1 February to 15 February 1965. The commission received an undetermined number of submissions from provincial governments, associations representing the industry and fishermen. RG33-81 General Inventory
