Royal Commission on Transportation of Canadian Products to the Markets of the World through and by Canadian Ports : The Royal Commission on Transportation of Canadian Products to the Markets of the World Through and by Canadian Ports was established under Order in Council P.C. 583, 19 May 1903 and on the recommendation of the Minister of Public Works. The Commission was mandated to inquire into: (a) the conditions of original shipment and the possibilities of improvement with the conditions surrounding such shipments; (b) the storage requirements of lake, river and ocean ports; (c) the harbour facilities of the inland lakes, rivers and Atlantic and Pacific ports; (d) the conditions with regard to the navigation of the St. Lawrence route; and (e) any improvement, enlargements, or other matters affecting the more economical and satisfactory uses of any Canadian channel of transportation by land or water. It was also to inquire into the forces operating against the attainment of all Canadian transport, namely: competition by United States railways; competition by United States vessels from Lake Superior ports, and diversion of Canadian products through Eastern outlets to Boston, Portland and other United States ports; and the best and most economical methods used by our competitors.
Hearings of the commission were held in 37 towns and cities in Canada from 9 January 1904 to 30 September 1905. The original commissioners were: William Cornelius Van Horne, Chairman, John Bertram and Harold Kennedy. As Van Horne and Kennedy were unable to act, Robert Reford and Edward Carey Fry were appointed commissioners, and John Bertram, chairman (Order in Council PC 1475, 26 August 1903). Bertram died 28 November 1904 and Fry resigned early in 1905. Replacements were made as Robert Reford was appointed Chairman and James Henry Ashdown was appointed Commissioner (Order in Council PC 2 and Order in Council PC 3, 7 January 1905). The Secretary was Charles Napier Bell and J.X. Perrault. Perrault died on 7 April 1905.
The great influx of people into the Canadian north-west at the turn of the century, and the rapid growth of agricultural settlement, created a need for improved transportation facilities to that area. In the speech from the throne, on 12 March 1903, the Government of Canada promised to appoint a royal commission to inquire into this matter. James Sutherland, Minister of Public Works, submitted a report to the governor general in council on 6 April 1903, in which he recommended an inquiry on transportation; on 19 May the royal commission was established. A week later the Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier explained in the House of Commons that the main reason for the inquiry was to formulate a comprehensive policy primarily on developing Canada's water transportation system, chiefly the improvement of terminal facilities, "to make the transportation of the products of the west, and of the products going from the east to the west cheaper to the producer and to the consumer" (See House of Commons, Debates, 12 March and 26 May 1903, p. 3 and pp. 3438-3439; and Order in Council PC 583, 19 May 1903). RG33-3 General Inventory
