Commissions dealing with transportation by rail and by sea were important to Manitoba Pool Elevators, as the cost and effiecincy of transport affected the cost of service to its members.
See also fonds level description of RG 4 for history/bio of MPE
Scope and Content
.This sub-series contains the following:
Box 1:
1. St. Lawrence Seaway 1961-1971
2. Royal Commission on Transportation - excerpt from the evidence of Sir Henry Thornton 1931-1932
3. Royal Commission on Transportation 1949-1950
4. Report of the Royal Commission on Transportation February 9, 1951
5. The Royal Commission on Transportation 1960
6. The Royal Commission on Transportation 1960-1967
7. The Canadian Transport Commission 1985
Box 2:
8. The Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1975-1976
9a. Submissions to the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1975-1977
9b. Submissions to the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1975-1977
10. Submissions to the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976
11. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976
12. Submissions to the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976
13. Submissions to the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976
14. Appendix to Final Submission of CN Railways to GH&TC 1976
15. Submission by the Province of Manitoba to the GH&TC 1976
16. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1975-1976
17. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1974-1976
18a. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976-1977
18b. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976
19. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission Public Hearings 1976
20. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976
21. Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1976
22. MPE Submission to the Grain Handling and Transportation Commission 1975
See also fonds level description of RG 4 for history/bio of MPE
Scope and Content
.This sub-series contains the following:
Box 1:
1. Canadian Agricultural Miscellaneous 1967-1972
2. Canadian Agricultural Miscellaneous 1973-1975
3. Canadian Agricultural Miscellaneous 1970-1975
4. Bill C-175 An act respecting grain
5. Bill C-196 Canada Grain Act 1970
Box 2:
6a. Canadian Agricultural Miscellaneous 1971
6b. Canadian Agricultural Miscellaneous 1971
7a. Bill C-41 The Western Grain Stabilization Act 1975
7b. Bill C-41 The Western Grain Stabilization Act 1975
8. General Agricultural Policy
9. Manitoba Agriculture 1936
Robert (Bob) Troy Blair was born on March 11, 1930 in Brandon, MB. His first six years were spent in Alexander, MB, where his father and uncle operated a grocery store. In 1936, his family moved to Souris, MB, where his father ran a grocery store. Blair received his primary and high school education, with the exception of Grade 12, in Souris.
Blair remembers his school years in Souris as mainly happy years. He was involved with both piano and organ music lessons. he was never interested in physical sports with the exception of golf. World War II broke out in September of 1939. Souris became the site of #17 SFTS and home base for the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. Many of the service men came from England, Australia and New Zealand. Blair's mother always entertained at least two for dinner every Sunday. Rationing of sugar, tea and coffee, butter and meat became a way of life. Blair had the job every Saturday of pasting the ration coupons into booklets. It was also when he was in Grade 6, that Blair realized he was more attracted to boys than to girls. Perhaps it was because so many attractive airmen surrounded him!
In November of 1947, the Blair family relocated to Alexander where Bob Blair finished his Grade 11. This was not a good year due to bullying. In September of 1948, Blair moved to Winnipeg to attend United College for his Grade 12. Upon completion of Grade 12, Blair remained in Winnipeg until June 1950. he worked at a number of businesses - Gestetner, Eaton's Mail Order shoe department, Maple Leaf Milling, and the drug store in the Medical Arts Building. In September 1950, he entered Brandon College. Blair was very active in extra-curricular affairs while at Brandon College; particularly drama. Following his B.A. he enrolled in the Education Faculty, having decided to become a teacher.
Blair's teaching career spanned 34 years. All but one year was spent in the Brandon School Division. On his first day of teaching in the Division he met the man with whom he would spend the next 46 years. He was primarily a teacher of English and Music. A highlight of his career was exchange teaching in Sacramento, California in 1961. Orientation for exchange took place in August in Washington, D.C., where Blair had the opportunity to meet President J.F. Kennedy. He vividly recals the morning that JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963. In September 1965, Blair assumed the principalship of Park School and in September of 1969, the same position at George Fitton School where re remained until his retirement in 1989. He was a member of the Brandon Picnipals' Association, the National Association of Elementary School Principals, and servedas President of the Brandon Teachers' Association. Among his major accomplishments during his time as principal were the introduction of a centralized school library in both Park and George Fitton Schools and the integration of special needs students into regular classroom situations wherever possible. He was made a Life Member of the Manitoba Teachers' Society (Brandon) in June 1990. Following his retirement Blair worked as a Library Automation Consultant (1989-1993).
Blair also had numerous community involvements during his time in Brandon. he was active in the Brandon Little Theatre (Best Actor Award, Manitoba Drama Festival for One Act Plays in 1963), the Brandon Festival of the Arts, the Eckhardt-Gramatte National Music Competition, and Arm Industries to name a few.
Following the death of his partner in 2001, Blair moved to Saskatoon to live with a younger gay couple. He has been active in volunteerism: as an Ambassador for the Saskatoon Airport Authority, assistant with the Saskatoon Health Region's Immunization Clinics, information clerk for the Festival of Trees, data entry clerk for the Saskatoon Music Festival, on the Board of the Saskatoon Jazz Society, and Hospitality Coordinator for the Saskatoon Jazz Festival.
Robert Troy Blair died on July 2, 2024 in Saskatoon, SK. He is buried in Brandon, MB.
Custodial History
Records were in Blair's possession until he donated them to the Mckee Archives on Homecoming weekend October 2013.
Scope and Content
Fonds consists of two scrapbooks containing 145 photographs and ephemera (play and graduation programs, tickets, pins, newspaper clippings) documenting Bob Blair's days at Brandon College. Social events and extra-curricular activities are heavily featured in the two scrapbooks. Also included are graduation portraits for the Classes of 1951, 1952 and 1953. Of the 145 photographs all are black and white except for two photos of the Class of '53 reconvocation (May 1993), and one from the Class of '53 reunion (2003).
Postcard is of a combine bailing hay in the north end of Brandon at the junction of First Street and Veterans' Way. The Brandon city skyline is in the background and the orange Pioneer Grain elevator can be seen on the left side of the postcard.
Notes
Writing on the front of the postcard reads: Brandon, The Wheat City. Back of the postcard reads: Brandon the Agricultural and Industrial center for southwestern Manitoba; Photo by Sandy Black; Printed in Brandon, Manitoba, Canada, by Leech Printing Ltd.
Photograph shows the buildings of the superintendant and barns of the Brandon Experimental Farm (now Brandon Rearch Station)
Notes
Part of "Christie's Brandon Series of Six Colored Picture Postcards of Brandon, Manitoba, The Crown Series, Published by Christie's Bookstore, Brandon, Man." [note: missing sixth postcard]. Writing on the front of the photograph reads: Experimental Farm, Brandon. Man.
Some pages in the scrapbooks have fallen out and some of the glued pieces are no longer attached to pages
History / Biographical
Dilys Collier (nee Pearce) was born 4 December 1937, in the Rural Municipality of Daly near Rivers, MB. Before studying at Brandon College, Collier was educated in Bradwardine, MB. Collier graduated from Brandon College with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Pedagogy in 1958 and 1959 respectively. In 1961, Collier married a Brandon College classmate, Clare Coburn. She spent much of the next two decades working as a homemaker and mother to her three children.
After she and her husband separated in 1979, Collier decided to go back to school. In the next ten years, Collier completed a Bachelor of Education degree (1980), a Bachelor of Social Work from the University of Regina (1982) and a Master of Education degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1987). Across her working career, Collier held many posistions including public school teacher, adult educator, social worker, researcher and personal counselor. Along with her work, Collier volunteered extensively with the Knox United Church and the Brandon Cooperative Nursing School. Through the years, she worked for a variety of organizations, including The Saskatoon Family Service Bureau and the REgina John Howard Society. Collier has lived and worked in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and Swansea, Wales.
Currently (January 2017), Collier is retired and lives in Mission, BC with her husband of thirty-four years, Kenneth Collier.
Custodial History
The records were created and collected by Dilys Collier during her years as a student and alumna of Brandon College/University. The records were stored in her home huntil they were donated to the McKee Archives in 2013.
Scope and Content
Collection consists of records created and collected by Dilys Collier as a means to document her life as a Brandon College student in the 1950s.
Included are three scrapbooks and two folders containing: newspapers and newspaper clippings from The Brandon Sun and The Quill, dealing primarily with Brandon College students, faculty and events; Brandon College administrative records such as the Clark Hall Rules, Collier's proof of registration records, her Brandon College acceptance letter, class schedules and exam timetables; photographs and programmes that cover events such as Freshie Week, dances and other student functions on campus; records documenting campus student activities, including the words to Hail Our College and various College Yells performed after student dances and other functions; decorations from fall proms and Valentine's Day dances, as well as Convocation (1958); programmes from various College convocation ceremonies; various cards Collier received, including those for her birthday and Valentine's Day; election advertisements, primarily for those students running for Student Administration "Stick" positions.
The collection also contains a green taffeta, net and rhinestone gown purchased by Collier to wear to some of the formal dances held at Brandon's Prince Edward Hotel.
Notes
History/Bio information was provided by the donor in late 2016/early 2017. Information on the green gown can be found on prairiehistory.ca. Description by Brian Erixon (October 2016) and Christy Henry.
