Relief Commission

Before Thomas Adams actually could begin planning for the locally constituted Relief Committee, the Federal Government invoked wartime powers to appoint a three man Halifax Relief Commission. The Commission had been created to supervise the almost thirty million dollars of relief funds comprised of $4,815,000 from an Imperial Grant, $3,800,000 in public donations, $18,000,000 from Federal Government contributions, and $350,000 through insurance sources.

By April, 1918, each of the Commission's two departments -rehabilitation and reconstruction- occupied separate two storey buildings. While activities in the latter offices comprise our major concern, those of the rehabilitation section were of the most immediate concern to the public. Here small claims court and social services officials interviewed victims and recorded the appeals for assistance (11).

Adams, following the situation from Ottawa, was disappointed by the general terms initially describing the role and powers of reconstruction assigned to the new Commission. He wired the Chairman of the Relief Committee as he prepared to transfer his committee's duties to the federally appointed body.

Published in terms of reference to proposed Commission seem inadequate to enable reconstruction and replanning to be properly done. Should Commission not have this work definitely assigned to it to obtain satisfactory results ? (12)

The omission was corrected in late April, 1918, when provincial and federal legislation ratified creation of the Commission and proceeded to elaborate its duties and powers. From the scope of the latter, it is certain that Adams had had some hand in the work. The Relief Commission could expropriate land and establish and enforce zoning regulations (13). The legislation also stipulated that no provincial and civic taxes were to be paid by the Commission.





Plaque on bell tower memorial





In effect, the wartime context of the crisis and the patriotic outpouring of the moment permitted constitutional innovations and fiscal arrangements that could not have been attained in peacetime, given the social priorities of the day.

Adams' insistence was important. He had persisted at each contact with the new Relief Commission, during the weeks before the enabling legislation was passed, in emphasizing that real planning required such measures. During his first visit, March 1, 1918, he complained to the Chairman that the then established scope of the Commission was far too limited.

At a second meeting on April 10, he conferred with Messrs. Rogers (Chairman of the Commission) and Mcllraith (a former Mayor, Past President of the Canadian Union of Municipalities, and Chairman of the superceded Relief Committee) regarding legislation.(14) This legislative contribution to the reconstruction perhaps had as much importance as Adams' actual plans, for it permitted the drafting of a Town Planning Scheme that remained in force over the Richmond district until revoked in 1948.

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Atlantic Planners Institute

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This document was last modified on March 8, 2000.