Canada. Royal Commission on Government Organization : The Royal Commission on Government Organization was established under Order in Council 1269, 16 September 1960, under Part 1 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 and report on the organization and methods of operation of the departments and agencies of the Government of Canada and to recommend the changes that would promote efficiency, economy and improved service in the dispatch of public business, and in particular: (a) eliminating duplication and overlapping of services; (b) eliminating unnecessary or uneconomic operations; (c) achieving efficiency or economy through further decentralization of operations and administration; (d) achieving improved management of departments and agencies, or portions thereof, with consideration to organization, methods of work, defined authorities and responsibilities, and provision for training; (e) making more effective use of budgeting, accounting and other financial measures; (f) improving efficiency and economy by alterations in the relations between government departments and agencies, on the one hand, and the Treasury Board and other central control or service agencies of the government on the other; and (g) achieving efficiency or economy through reallocation or regrouping of units of the public service. The commissioners were John Grant Glassco, Chairman; Robert Watson Sellar and F. Eugene Therrien. The secretary was R.J. Grenier.
In March 1957 Arnold Heeney, the Canadian Ambassador to the United States, was appointed Chairman of the Civil Service Commission. He undertook a study of the Civil Service in preparation for a general revision of the Civil Service Act (8-9 Geo. V, c.12, 1918). In December 1958 Heeney submitted his report to the government, but none of his main recommendations were incorporated into the new Civil Service Act (9-10 Eliz. II, c.57, 1960- 1961) by the Progressive Conservative administration. Heeney's idea of an independent role for the Civil Service Commission was completely ignored in the Act. Selection and appointment procedures, as well as the merit principle in the civil service were not changed either. The new Act was soon rendered obsolete, however, by the recommendations of the Royal Commission on Government Organization. While in opposition, the Progressive Conservatives had repeatedly called for a detailed investigation of the civil service similar to the Hoover commissions established in 1949 and 1953 respectively, by the Congress of the United States. The 1949 commission dealt with the organization and methods of operations of government departments, and the 1953 commission was on the reduction of government expenditure and the elimination of overlapping government services and activities. As early as April 1950 the Leader of the Opposition, George Drew, made a proposal for a commission to inquire into the organization of departments and agencies of the Government of Canada in a speech broadcast by the CBC. Later, when the Conservatives came to power, they set up a comprehensive inquiry into government organization proceeding with a revision of Civil Service Act before the inquiry could be completed. On 18 January 1960, Prime Minister John Diefenbaker announced in the House of Commons the probability of a royal commission on this subject because the government was interested in promoting efficiency, economy and improvements in the civil service. Several months later, in September 1960, the Royal Commission was formally established. (See House of Commons, Debates, 18 January and 12 December 1960, p. 66 and p. 990 and D.C. Rowat, "Canada's Royal Commission on Government Organization," Public Administration, London, Summer 1963, pp. 196-198.)
No public hearings were held but more than 100 submissions were filed with the commission. The commissioners visited the United Kingdom and the United States to study government organization and administration in those countries. RG33-46 General Inventory
