Document Record

Creator

Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada.

Title

Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada fonds
Commission royale d'enquête sur l'union économique canadienne et les perspectives de développement

Identifier

lac_mikan_173
589
RG 33 137
R1071-0-5-E
R1071-0-5-F
Government
Business and commerce
Labour
oocihm.lac_mikan_173

Document source

Library and Archives Canada / Bibliothèque et Archives Canada

Language

English
French

Description

The Royal Commission on the Economic Union and Development Prospects for Canada (Macdonald Commission) was appointed in 1982 to examine the future economic prospects of the country and the effectiveness of its political institutions. This commission was the largest in Canadian history and was chaired by Donald S. Macdonald (b. 1932), who had been a Minister of Finance. The commission was represented by regional and linguistic interests, as well as members from business, labour, the co-operative movement, the legal and academic communities, the public service and all three national political parties at the time. The commission was given three years to complete its onerous task. Two rounds of public hearings were held across the country, and a major research program was launched. The commission’s report was released in September 1985 and was supported by 72 research volumes. Essentially, the commission was formed after the economic recession of 1981 and 1982, and concern about the economy, which had been marked by inflation, unemployment, low-productivity growth and difficult labour relations, and about the nation's political process, which seemed increasingly incapable of generating effective policy responses to economic and social problems. The commission’s biggest impact was to give greater legitimacy to pursuing free trade with the United States, which is exactly what Prime Minister Brian Mulroney (b. 1939) did shortly after receiving the report.
This collection consists of the commission’s submissions, transcripts of hearings and the content analysis of submissions.

URL

https://heritage.canadiana.ca/view/oocihm.lac_mikan_173