Canada. Royal Commission on Administrative Classifications in the Public Service : The Royal Commission on Administrative Classifications in the Public Service was established under Order in Council P.C. 563, 15 February 1946, under Part I of the Inquiries Act (R.S.C., 1927, c.99) and on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. The Commission was mandated to into and make recommendations on: (a) the scales of renumeration, classifications and conditions of employment of the principal officials of the public service, including deputy heads and senior administrative officers in departments and agencies of government; (b) the relationship of scales of remuneration and conditions of employment, between such officials (i) in government departments and agencies, and (ii) in permanent and temporary positions; (c) the number of officials required for the efficient administration of public business; (d) the opportunities and procedures for appointments, promotions and transfers of such officials; (e) the continuing methods and procedures by which these questions may be kept under review to meet changing requirements; and (f) such other matters as may, in the opinion of the commissioners, relate to the maintenance of efficient standards of administration in the public service. The Commissioners were Walter Lockhart Gordon, Chairman; Edouard de Bellefeuille Panet and Horace Hamilton. In February 1946, Hamilton resigned due to ill health and was replaced by Thomas G. Gardiner. (Order in Council P.C. 641, 21 February 1946). The Secretary was John James Deutsch.
At the end of World War II, the shortage of personnel in senior levels of the public service of the Government of Canada became acute. Due to opportunities in private industry and the learned professions, including universities, the government lost substantial numbers of highly qualified personnel. This came at a time when the complexity and responsibilities of government had greatly expanded. In late 1945 an interdepartmental committee on technical and professional personnel employed by the government reported to the Cabinet that salary levels for these categories were inadequate. The committee referred to "delays in procedure employed in hiring personnel and to the desirability of improved general arrangements for promotion and for transfer between departments". Although this committee did not deal with administrative classifications, it did suggest that this was an area that the government should explore. W.C. Clark, Deputy Minister of Finance, and officials in that department, as well as Norman Robertson, the Under Secretary of State for External Affairs, strongly recommended that the top positions in administration should be examined as a first step toward increasing the general efficiency of administration in the government. As a result, Walter Gordon was approached and he agreed to head a royal commission to inquire and report on this subject (See J.E. Hodgetts, et. al., The Biography of an Institution: The Civil Service Commission of Canada, 1908-1967, Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1972, p. 209).
Hearings of the Commission were held in Ottawa from 13 March to 2 May 1946. The Commission received 10 submissions and 66 interviews were conducted, mainly with ministers, deputy ministers and senior civil servants. RG33-26 General Inventory
