Whereas the Secretary of State for External Affairs, with the concurrence of The Minister of Trade and Commerce, reports as follows:

The Canadian Government was informed on September 23rd, 1946, that the Supreme Commander for The Allied Powers in Japan had invited each member nation of the Far Eastern Commission desiring to do so, to establish in Tokyo an accredited permanent representation to operate under the executive authority and operational control of the Supreme Commander, such representation not to exceed five individuals from each represented government, who would be capable of acting on routine matters pertaining to reparations removals, restitution, or any other relevant matter which would otherwise require the visit of individual missions. This invitation was confirmed in a memorandum of October 18th, 1946, from the Supreme Commander to the Head of the Canadian Liaison Mission in Tokyo.

2. It may be assumed that in the final reparations settlement Canada will receive a percentage allocation of reparations from within Japan. It will therefore be desirable that technical experts representing Canadian firms interested in obtaining Japanese plant and equipment through the Canadian reparations account should make a survey of the appropriate Japanese industries. Representatives of Canadian industry have been consulted on this matter and to date the only firm to express an interest in sending an industrial investigator to Japan for the above-mentioned purpose is Aluminium Limited of Montreal.

3. In addition to the industrial surveys mentioned above, it will he necessary for the Canadian Government to conduct enquiries in Japan in order to secure the return of Canadian property seized during the war, and, in cases where restitution is not possible, to assess the losses sustained by Canadian nationals.

4. The great majority of the Canadian assets in Japan at the beginning of the war were held by the Sun Life Assurance Company of Montreal, Manufacturers Life Insurance Company of Toronto, and Aluminium Limited of Montreal. Owing to the special nature of the work involved in investigating the holdings of the Canadian life insurance companies, it is deemed advisable that an insurance expert be appointed to the five-man team mentioned in paragraph one above to carry out investigations in connection with restitution cases of these two Canadian insurance companies. The industrial investigator whom Aluminium Limited wish to send to Japan in connection with the reparations survey would also be able to carry on some of the restitution work for his company. The extent of minor claims against Japan by private individuals, missionary societies, etc., is not yet sufficiently known to justify the sending of a government official from Canada to Japan at this time; any business arising in this connection may be handled for the present by Canadian officials now in Japan.

5. On the recommendation of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Reparations (established in September, 1945, with the concurrence of Cabinet) the Canadian Life Insurance Officers Association and Aluminium Limited have been invited by the Department of External Affairs to nominate members for this five-man restitution and reparations team and have been informed that the following conditions will govern the appointment of their nominees:

(a) Members of the team will be responsible to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, under whose authority and control all restitution and reparations teams in Japan will be working.

(b) Members of the Canadian team, as Canadian officials, will be responsible for administrative purposes to the Canadian Government through the Secretary of State for External Affairs.

(c) Companies or associations whose representatives are appointed members of this team will be responsible for the pay and expenses of their representatives, both in travelling to and from Japan and during the period they are in Japan. Funds required will be advanced by the Canadian Liaison Mission in Tokyo and will be recovered in Canada from the companies or associations concerned by the Department of External Affairs. In the event that it is necessary for the Canadian Government to ask a member of the team to carry out any substantial duties which bear no relation to the interests of the firms which he represents, the Department of External Affairs will be willing to discuss appropriate adjustments in these financial arrangements.

(d) The Canadian Government will expect all members of the team to render a report on their investigations and this report will become the property of the Canadian Government.

Aluminium Limited and the Canadian Life Insurance Officers Association have accepted these conditions and have nominated candidates for the team.

6. In order to ensure the coordination of the team and the accomplishment of assignments indicated in institutions issued by the Canadian Government, it is expedient that a Canadian official should be appointed to act as chairman of the team. The Minister of Trade and Commerce has agreed that pending the appointment of another government official to the Canadian team, should such an appointment prove necessary, these duties might be assigned to Mr. J. E. Kenderdine, Special Representative of the Department of Trade and Commerce, now attached to the Canadian Liaison Mission in Tokyo.

Now, Therefore, His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Secretary of State for External Affairs concurred in by the Minister of Trade and Commerce, is pleased to order as follows:

I. A Canadian restitution and reparations team for Japan is hereby established in accordance with the terms laid down by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers in his memorandum of October 18, 1946;

2. Members of the Canadian restitution and reparations team are hereby made responsible in the first instance to the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, and, in the second instance, for administrative purposes, to the Canadian Government through the Secretary of State for External Affairs, to whom they shall render reports of their investigations;

3. Companies or associations sponsoring members of this team shall be responsible for the pay and expenses of those members, both in travelling to and from Japan and during the period they are in Japan, except as otherwise determined by the Secretary of State for External Affairs;

4. The following are hereby appointed to the above-mentioned team; Mr. F.F. Ruthven, Engineer, of Aluminium Limited (industrial investigator);

Mr. R.M. Dobson, Secretary, the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada (insurance investigator);

Mr. J.E. Kenderdine, special representative of the Department of Trade and Commerce, Canadian Liaison Mission, Tokyo (chairman);

5. The remaining two places on the team shall be left vacant for the present, to be filled at a later date by representatives of industrial or commercial firms, or by government officials, or by one of each, at the discretion of the Secretary of State for External Affairs and the Minister of Trade and Commerce.

A.D.P. HEENEY