Royal Commission Relating to Canadian Pacific Railway (1873) : The Royal Commission to Inquire into a Certain Resolution Moved by the Honourable Mr. Huntington, in Parliament, on April 2nd, 1873, Relating to the Canadian Pacific Railway, was established under Order in Council P.C. 1058, 14 August 1873, under An Act Respecting Inquiries Concerning Public Matters (31 Vict., c. 38, 1868) and on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice. The Commission was mandated to inquire into and report upon certain matters relating to the Canadian Pacific Railway stated in the resolution proposed in the House of Commons by the Hon. Lucius S. Huntington on 2 April 1873. The Commissioners were Charles Dewey Day, Chairman, Antoine Polette and James Robert Gowan. The Secretary was Salter Jehoshaphat Vankoughnet.
On 2 April 1873, Lucius S. Huntington, the Liberal Member of Parliament for Shefford, Quebec, moved in the House of Commons that a select committee be appointed to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the grant of the charter for the Canadian Pacific Railway to Hugh Allan's company. Huntington asserted that the Canadian Pacific Railway Company, ostensibly a Canadian organization, was in reality financed with American capital. He further claimed that its president, Hugh Allan, had advanced large sums of money, including American funds, to some Canadian ministers to assist them in the general election of August 1872. In return, the ministers promised to award the contract for the construction of the railway to Allan's company. Huntington's motion, regarded as a vote of want of confidence in the government, was rejected by a majority of 31. On 8 April, a week after Huntington first made his charges, Prime Minister John A. Macdonald moved that the House of Commons appoint a select committee to investigate the charges. After some uncertainty as to the power of a parliamentary committee to examine witnesses under oath, an oaths bill was introduced in Parliament. Early in May the committee met for the first time. Because of the uncertainty over the legality of the Oaths Act (36 Vict., c. 1, 1873), and the absence of several key witnesses from Ottawa, the committee adjourned to 2 July. By that time the committee learned that the Oaths Act had been disallowed by the Imperial government and that it would be unable to operate in the way Parliament had intended. On 3 July further deliberations of the committee were suspended until Parliament reassembled on 13 August. In the meantime, evidence of American influence and campaign contributions during the general election of 1872 appeared in the press. In these circumstances Parliament met briefly on 13 August but was prorogued the same day. The following day a royal commission was established to investigate the substance of Huntington's resolution. (See Donald Creighton, John A. Macdonald: The Old Chieftain, Toronto, MacMillan, 1955, pp. 153-167). Hearings of the Commission were held in Ottawa from 4 September to 30 September 1873. Thirty-six witnesses testified, including Prime Minister John A. Macdonald. RG33/1 General Inventory
