Royal Commission on the Grain Trade of Canada : The Royal Commission on the Grain Trade of Canada was established under Order in Council P.C. 1475, 19 July 1906, on the recommendation of the Minister of Trade and Commerce. It should be noted that no indication of the authorizing statute is given in the Order in Council. The Commission was mandated to inquire into the Grain Inspection Act and the Manitoba Grain Act, with power to visit the grain growers and the elevators all over the wheat-growing region. The Commission was also to inquire into: (a) the methods of handling the grain at the various stations, farmers' elevators and companies' elevators; (b) the distribution of cars; (c) the methods of the grain dealers in Winnipeg, Toronto and Montreal; (d) the system of government inspection, collection of fees, selection of grades; (e) the methods of handling grain at Fort William and Port Arthur, at the lake ports, at Montreal, Saint John and Halifax; and (f) the methods of handling grain when it arrives in England. The Commissioners were John Millar, Chairman, George E. Goldie and William L. McNair. The Secretary was E. Nield. Hearings of the Commission were held in thirty towns and cities in Canada from 29 August 1906 to 25 May 1907. The Commissioners also visited the United States, Great Britain, and Ireland.
Even with amendments to the Manitoba Grain Act (63-64 Vict., c.39, 1900) and the Grain Inspection Act (4 Ed. VII, c.15, 1904), both enacted for their protection, grain growers in Western Canada remained unconvinced that they were protected in practice as well as in law, and they continued to voice their grievances. In the grading of grain, the growers believed that shippers at the terminals were being dealt with too leniently. They also charged that the Winnipeg Grain Exchange and the North-West Grain Dealers' Association were operating a combine. In 1906, a delegation of grain growers appeared before the Agricultural Committee of the House of Commons to discuss problems of grading, inspection and other unsatisfactory aspects of the grain trade. The growers requested that the federal government conduct a public inquiry into the grain trade. As a result, the government appointed a royal commission to investigate the concerns of the grain growers (see Charles F. Wilson, A Century of Canadian Grain, Saskatoon: Western Producer Prairie Books, 1978, p. 36). RG33-5 General Inventory
