The foregoing rapid sketch will serve to show the importance both present and to come of the water power resources of the Dominion. Next to their great extent — Canada in this re spect standing second only to the United States, and higher than any other country in the world except Norway on a per capita basis — their proximity to leading centres of population will have been apparent. All across the continent the great cities of Canada have at their disposal an enormous supply of the power which is so essential to their future as industrial centres. Another feature which it has been possible to mention only incidentally is the rapidity of the strides with which Canada is now entering upon her inheritance. Of the total horse power at present in use not less than two-thirds have been developed within the past 10 years, whilst a quarter of a century ago it may be said that the present development had not even been begun.
As an evidence of the awakening of public opinion on the importance of water power, reference may be made to the organization of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, whose operations represent the largest effort in Canada in the way of public adminis tration of a national utility. The Commission was created in 1906, largely upon the report of a previous royal commission of inquiry into the possibilities of Niagara power. Public sentiment had become aroused through fear that the only great source of hydraulic power for southwestern Ontario might be exploited in private interests. The Hydro-Electric Commis sion began by conducting an extensive series of investigations under direct governmental aus pices into the power resources of the province.
The next step was the vesting of the Com mission with powers of administration, under which it at once contracted for supplies of power at Niagara and elsewhere, and consti tuted itself a great transmission and supplying agency. Within four years over 1,000 miles of transmission lines and over 1,500 miles of tele phone lines had been constructed. In 1915, the Commission was supplying 73 municipalities, and its distribution of power from Niagara alone amounted to 63,500 horse power, the number of consumers reaching nearly to 100, 000. The investment by the Commission and its customers to date approximates $24,500,000. The outlook is that within a few years these totals will be largely exceeded.
For official informativ regarding water powers in Canada, application may be made to the water powers branch of the Department of the Interior of the Dominion government, which exercises jurisdiction in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and in the unorganized territories of Canada. For the provinces, the following officers are in control: Nova Scotia: the secretary of the Nova Scotia Water Power Commission, Halifax, N. S.; New Brunswick: The surveyor-general of New Brunswick, Fredericton, N. B.; Quebec: The chief engineer, hydraulic service, Department of Lands and Forests, Quebec, Quebec; Ontario: The Deputy Minister of Lands, Forests and Mines, Toronto, Ontario; also, the secretary of the Hydro-Electric Power Commission of Ontario, Toronto, Ontario; British Columbia: The comptroller of water rights, Victoria, B. C.