Royal Commission on the Natural Resources of Saskatchewan (Canada) : The Royal Commission on the Natural Resources of Saskatchewan was established under Order in Council P.C. 2722, 29 December 1933, 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 inquire and report on whether any consideration - in addition to the sums provided in paragraph 21 of the Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the Province of Saskatchewan, scheduled to the Saskatchewan Natural Resources Act (20-21 Geo. V, c.41, 1930) - should be paid to the Province of Saskatchewan so that the province may be placed in a position of equality with the other provinces of Confederation in the administration and control of its natural resources from the first day of September, 1905. The Commissioners were Andrew Knox Dysart, Chairman; Henry Veeder Bigelow and George C. McDonald. The Secretary was Oliver Master.
In 1870, the Government of Canada acquired Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory from Great Britain and renamed them the North-West Territories. The federal government retained control of the natural resources (including all Crown lands, mines and minerals situated within the Territories and all royalties) long after the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta were created from these territories. At first the Government of Canada used the resources of the region mainly to subsidize railway construction by granting western lands to private railway companies. Later, it fostered settlement in Western Canada by intensively promoting free homestead land grants.
In the early stages the Prairie provinces displayed no common front on the question of control of their natural resources. Gradually, they became unanimous in their demand for the transfer of the unalienated resources to their control and for compensation for alleged losses resulting from federal control. The situation for each of the Prairie provinces, while similar in fundamentals, presented distinct differences. Their claims were based on constitutional rights enjoyed by the original provinces of Canada which were given control over their natural resources in 1867.
The Province of Saskatchewan, from its inception in 1905, was given an annual federal subsidy in compensation for land the federal government retained. In two successive provincial elections the voters of Saskatchewan endorsed the political party that had supported the resources arrangement of 1905. In 1911 a change in boundaries of some of the provinces was contemplated by the Government of Canada. At that time the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan passed a resolution favouring negotiations with federal authorities to transfer to the province control of the hinterland and natural resources not required for national purposes. Subsequently, the federal general election of 1911 resulted in a new ministry under Prime Minister Borden, who had previously favoured the transfer of the natural resources to the Prairie provinces. A short time later, the Saskatchewan Legislature passed another resolution, in 1912, urging the provincial government to negotiate with the Government of Canada on transferring control of unalienated resources, with compensation for that portion disposed of by Ottawa. Resolutions of a similar nature appeared almost annually until 1929 when a suggestion was added that a conference be arranged on the transfer issue.
Finally a conference of 20 March 1930, between the Government of Canada and the Government of Saskatchewan, resulted in the 1930 resources agreement which was ratified by an act of Parliament (20-21 Geo. V, c.41, 1930). This agreement furnished the basis for an imperial statute (20-21 Geo. V, c.26, 1930) which resulted in the transfer of the unalienated natural resources to the Province of Saskatchewan on 1 October 1930. Although the resources agreement of 1930 provided that a commission be appointed to work out details of the transfer, the appointment of the commission was delayed for more than three years. This delay was caused because the claim of Saskatchewan to compensation for resources alienated before it became a province on 1 September 1905 was submitted to the Supreme Court of Canada, and was then appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The courts concluded that the Province of Saskatchewan had no right to the resources now lying within its boundaries before it became a province in 1905. As a result of the outcome of the court case, the federal royal commission, which was appointed on 29 December 1933, dealt only with resource issues after 1905. (See Report of the Royal Commission on the Natural Resources of Saskatchewan, Ottawa, King's Printer, 1935, pp. 8-16).
Hearings of the commission were held in Ottawa and Regina from 7 February to 26 May 1934. There were 276 exhibits filed with the commission. RG33-50 General Inventory
