Canada. Royal Commission on Energy : The Royal Commission on Energy was established under Order in Council (P.C. 1386, 15 October 1957) 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 made recommendations on: (a) the policies that will best serve the national interest in relation to the export of energy and sources of energy from Canada; (b) the problems involved in and the policies that should be applied to the regulation of the transmission of oil and natural gas between provinces or from Canada to another country, including the regulation of prices or rates to be charged or paid, and the financial structure and control of pipeline corporations in relation to the setting of proper prices or charges, and all such other matters as is necessary to enquire into to ensure the efficient and economical operation of pipelines in the national interest; (c) the extent of authority that might best be conferred on a National Energy Board to administer, subject to the control and authority of Parliament, energy policy, together with the character of administration and procedure that might best be established for such a board; and (d) whether, in view of its special relationship to the Northern Ontario Pipeline Crown Corporation and the nature of its financing and control, any special measures need be taken in relation to TransCanada Pipelines Limited, to safeguard the interests of Canadian producers or consumers. The original commissioners were Henry Borden, Chairman; J. Louis Levesque, George Edwin Britness, Gordon G. Cushing, Robert Dudley Howland and Leon Johnson Ladner. Gordon Cushing resigned from the commission on 10 April 1958 because he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister of Labour and Robert Macdonald Hardy was appointed to the commission early in 1958. (See Order in Council PC 58, 13 January 1958). The Secretary was Joseph Frederick Parkinson.
In the mid-1950s, the development and control of Canada's energy resources (including natural gas, oil, coal, water and uranium) was one of the most important issues facing the country. Energy groups (particularly oil and gas) were pressing the federal government for action and it decided to investigate the energy question. There was a need for a complete examination of federal responsibility for the regulation of inter-provincial and international movement of energy, including its import and export. The government wanted control over pipelines, export licensing and the regulation of prices or rates. In order that a comprehensive energy policy could be worked out, the federal government was considering the establishment of an agency to administer policy on the development, trade and consumption of all forms of energy. The formation of such a body, which became a central element in the terms of reference of the Royal Commission on Energy, had been recommended in 1956 in the preliminary report of the Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects. The Government of Canada also wanted to investigate the terms of financing and control of TransCanada Pipelines Limited which had been negotiated by the previous administration. In 1956 the Liberal government had used closure in the debate over a bill to provide funding to TransCanada, a company controlled by American financial interests, which was given a contract to build a natural gas pipeline from the Alberta border to Montreal. The Progressive Conservatives came to power in 1957, and as Kilbourn writes: "The new régime had a mandate, even a commitment, to investigate TransCanada and the arrangements that Howe [the former Minister of Trade and Commerce and Defence Production] had made with it." (See Royal Commission on Canada's Economic Prospects, Preliminary Report, Hull, Queen's Printer, 1956, p. 57; W. Kilbourn, Pipeline, Toronto, Clarke, Irwin, 1970, p. 157; Financial Post, 19 October 1957; and House of Commons, Debates, 10 December 1957, p. 2145).
Hearings of the commission were held in Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Victoria from 3 February to 22 July 1958. The commission received more than 100 submissions. RG33-39 General Invetory
