Commission to Examine and Investigate the Transactions of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners (Canada) : The Commission to Examine and Investigate the Transactions of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners was established under Order in Council P.C. 927, 15 June 1926, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1906, c.104) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries. The Commission was mandated to inquire and report on the matters set out in the following petition of the Corporation of the City of Toronto: "That whereas the Toronto Harbour Commissioners have by resolution passed on the 22nd day of May 1926, requested the Corporation of the City of Toronto to apply for an Order in Council under the Inquiries Act, appointing His Honour Judge Denton, a Judge of the County Court of the County of York, as a Commissioner to enquire into, examine and investigate the various transactions of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners in acquiring or disposing of property, the revenues and expenditures of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners, the performance of their duties by the members, officials, servants and agents from time to time of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners, the extent of the work done by them and the cost of same, and generally all matters pertaining to the business of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners from its institution in 1911 until the present time." The Commissioner was James Herbert Denton.
In 1911 the Government of Canada passed the Toronto Harbour Commissioners' Act (1-2 Geo. V, C.26) which extended the responsibilities of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners. All the property held or controlled by the commissioners was to be vested in the "corporation." Under the act, the corporation "... shall have the power to acquire, expropriate, hold, sell, lease and otherwise dispose of such real estate, building or other property as it may deem necessary or desirable for the development, improvement, maintenance and protection of the harbour..." The corporation was to consist of five commissioners: three were to be appointed by the Toronto City Council two by the Government of Canada, one of the latter to be chosen on the recommendation of the Toronto Board of Trade.
On 22 May 1926 the Toronto Harbour Commissioners passed a resolution requesting that the Toronto City Council petition the Government of Canada for the establishment of a royal commission into financial, real estate, and other transactions of the Toronto Harbour commissioners. They also requested that the performance of the commissioners, officials, servants and agents of the Harbour Commission be investigated. This came at a time when there had been a large turnover of personnel, especially commissioners.
As a result, a comprehensive public inquiry was carried out which included a financial survey of transactions of the Toronto Harbour Commissioners from its reorganization in 1911 up to 1926 (Order in Council P.C. 927, 15 June 1926 and 1-2 Geo. V, c.26, 1911.)
Hearings of the commission were held in Toronto from 3 September 1926 to 8 February 1927. There were 114 exhibits filed with the commission. RG33-54 General Inventory
