Canada. Royal Commission on Price Spreads of Food Products : The Royal Commission on Price Spreads of Food Products was established under Order in Council (P.C. 1632, 10 December 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: (a) the extent and the causes of the spread between the prices received by producers of food products of agricultural and fisheries origin and the prices paid by consumers; (b) whether these price spreads in general or in particular cases are fair and reasonable, or are excessive, in relation to the services rendered; (c) making recommendations if any such price spreads are found to be excessive; and (d) the adequacy of price information currently available. The Commissioners were Andrew Stewart, Chairman; Dorothy Walton, Howard MacKichan, Romeo Martin, W.M. Drummond, Cleve Kidd and Bernard Couvrette. The Secretary was John A. Dawson.
The indexes of farm prices and of retail food prices show that, between 1949 and 1958, farm prices declined while food prices increased. The widening gap began in 1952 when farm prices broke sharply, and the greatest increase occurred in 1952 and 1953 when farm prices declined rapidly. During the federal election campaign of 1957, John Diefenbaker promised that he would do his utmost to alleviate the detrimental effects of rising costs of production and falling prices. When the Progressive Conservatives assumed office on 21 June 1957, Diefenbaker was at last in a position to do something about the imbalance. About the same time, there was increasing concern over the effect of inflation on the fishing industry. For example, H.J. Robichaud, Member of Parliament for Gloucester, New Brunswick, suggested in the House of Commons on 22 October that either a special committee or a royal commission investigate the price spread between the prices paid to fishermen, particularly for cod, and the price asked by retailers. On the government side, L.R. Crowse, Member of Parliament for Lunenburg, Nova Scotia called on 13 November for a similar inquiry on the fishing industry. On 10 December 1957, the Prime Minister announced the appointment of a royal commission to examine price spreads of both agricultural and fisheries food products. (See Report of the Royal Commission On Price Spreads Of Food Products, Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1959-1960, Vol. 1, p. 9; One Canada, Memoirs of the Right Honourable John G. Diefenbaker, The Years of Achievement, 1957-1962, Toronto, Macmillan, 1976, p. 26; and House of Commons, Debates, 15, 16 and 22 October 1957, and 13 November 1957, pp. 16, 51, 285-286, 1079).
Hearings of the commission were held in St. John's, Halifax, Charlottetown, Fredericton, Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Edmonton and Vancouver from 9 April to 21 November 1958. The commission received 100 submissions. RG33-40 General Inventory
