Collection search - Royal Commission on the Great Slave Lake Railway fonds [textual record]

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1
Royal Commission on the Great Slave Lake Railway fonds [textual record]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1954-1961

Reference:

R1120-0-6-E, RG33-41

Type of material:

Textual material

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

228

Context of this record:

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Royal Commission on the Great Slave Lake Railway fonds
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Record information – Details

Date(s):

1954-1961

Bilingual equivalent:

Click here

Place of creation:

No place, unknown, or undetermined

Extent:

1.5 m of textual records

Language of material:

English

Scope and content:

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Fonds consists of transcripts of hearings, analysis of hearings, exhibits, newspaper clippings, correspondence, drafts of the report of the Commission and related material.

Provenance:

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Royal Commission on the Great Slave Lake Railway (Canada)

Biography/Administrative history:

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Royal Commission on the Great Slave Lake Railway (Canada) : The Royal Commission on the Great Slave Lake Railway was established under Order in Council P.C. 705, 4 June 1959, under Part I 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 merits of the alternative routes that a railway line might follow from northern Alberta into the southern portion of the District of Mackenzie, Northwest Territories, for providing access to and contributing to the development of that portion of the territories tributary to Great Slave Lake. The Commissioners were Marshall E. Manning, Chairman; W.D. Gainer, and John Anderson-Thompson. The Secretary was A. Paterson.

During the election campaign of 1958, Prime Minister Diefenbaker promised, if re-elected, to build a railway from Northern Alberta to the south shore of Great Slave Lake. Diefenbaker was especially interested in opening up the large lead-zinc mining area at Pine Point, Northwest Territories, which was under development by the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company. When the Progressive Conservatives assumed office on 31 March, Diefenbaker made his proposal for a railway a government priority. On 12 May 1958, the government's intention of building the railway was announced in the speech from the throne, which read as follows:

"In order to promote our national development on the frontier in the north you will be asked to authorize the construction of a railway to Great Slave Lake. My ministers regard this as a major step in the establishment of productive industry on an economic basis in the Northwest Territories."

After some debate in the House of Commons, especially over the route of the proposed railway, the Government of Canada on 4 June 1959 appointed a royal commission to inquire into the scheme. (See House of Commons, Debates, 12 May 1958, p. 5; 9 March 1959, pp. 1763-1766; and 4 June 1959, p. 4315).

Hearings of the Commission were held in Yellowknife, Fort McMurray, Peace River and Edmonton from 2 September 1959 to 18 February 1960. RG33-41 General Inventory

Finding aid:

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(Electronic) Finding aid 33-36 is a typed file list. 33-36 PDF (90: Open)
http://data2.archives.ca/pdf/pdf002/33-36_228_vols_1-15_open.pdf

Additional information:

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General note:

The commission's report, Volume I, dated 30 June 1960, was tabled in the House of Commons on 13 July 1960 as Sessional Paper No. 274, 1960.
Volume II, dated July 1960, was tabled in the House of Commons on 28 November 1960 as Sessional Paper No. 182, 1960-1961.
The report was printed as: Report of the Royal Commission on the Great Slave Lake Railway, Ottawa, Queen's Printer, 1960, 2 vols., 113, 88 p.
Researchers may view a microfiche copy of this report by consulting finding aid 33-1, Henderson #368.
For more information about royal commissions, researchers should consult: Records of Federal Royal Commissions (RG 33) / James Murray Whalen. -- (General inventory series / Government Archives Division). -- Ottawa : National Archives of Canada, 1990).

Source of title:

Order in Council PC 705, 4 June 1959.

Accruals:

No further accruals are expected.

Source:

Government

Former archival reference no.:

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RG33-41
Ordering and viewing options

Conditions of access:

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Textual records

[Consultation90 Open]

Volume [RG 33 41] 1--15

[Consultation 90 Open]

Terms of use:

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Date modified:: 2024-05-10