Royal Commission on the Transfer of the Natural Resources of Manitoba (Canada) : The Royal Commission on the Transfer of the Natural Resources of Manitoba was established under Order in Council P.C. 1258, 1 August 1928, 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 into and report on what financial readjustments must be made so that the Province of Manitoba be placed in a position of equality with the other provinces of Confederation in the administration and control of its natural resources, as from its entrance into Confederation in 1870. The Commissioners were William Ferdinand Alphonse Turgeon, Chairman; Thomas Alexander Crerar and Charles Martin Bowman. 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 distinctive differences. Their claims were based upon constitutional rights enjoyed by the original provinces of Canada, which were given control over their natural resources in 1867.
The Province of Manitoba, created in 1870, having neither control of its public lands nor a subsidy in lieu of lands, began a campaign to secure one or the other. In 1881, the boundaries of the province were increased quite considerably, and the next year the province was granted an annual subsidy of 5,000 by the Government of Canada in lieu of its public lands. This subsidy continued until 1885 when it was increased to 00,000 a year. It remained at that figure until 1912, at which time the boundaries of the province were extended to Hudson Bay. Beginning from that date, the subsidy was to be calculated by the same formula, based on area and population, as that for the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. The 1912 arrangement was made retroactive to 1908. In return for this settlement, the Government of Canada required an adjustment to the swamp and university lands of the province. The demand by the Province of Manitoba for control of its natural resources, though quieted by the 1912 settlement, had not ended. It continued with regularity until 1928. On 3 and 4 July of that year, the Government of Canada entered into an accord with the Government of Manitoba whereby the administration and control of the unalienated resources were to be transferred to the province. To work out the arrangements, it was agreed "to appoint a commission of three persons to inquire and report as to what financial readjustment should be made to effect this end." On 1 August 1928 a federal royal commission was appointed for this purpose.
Following the commission's report a meeting of 14 December 1929, between the Government of Canada and the Government of Manitoba, resulted in the 1930 resources agreement (20-21 Geo V, c.29, 1930). After passage of an imperial statute relating to this agreement (20-21 Geo V, c.26, 1930), the formal transfer of the unalienated natural resources to provincial control took place on 15 July 1930. The Manitoba settlement formed the basis for subsequent agreements of the Government of Canada with the Provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. (See Order in Council P.C. 1258, 1 August 1928 and Report of the Royal Commission on the Transfer of the Natural Resources of Alberta, Ottawa, King's Printer, 1935, pp. 7-14).
Hearings of the Commission were held in Ottawa on 19 October 1928 and from 12 February to 9 April 1929. RG33-52 General Inventory
