The Commission of Inquiry, held in Quebec, commenced on 16 June 1914 and lasted for eleven days. Presiding over the contentious proceedings was Lord Mersey, who has previously presided over the SOLAS summit the year before, and for having headed the official inquiries into a number of significant steamship tragedies, including that of "Titanic". The following year, he would lead the inquiry into the sinking of "Lusitania". Assisting Lord Mersey were two other commissioners: Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier of Quebec, and Chief Justice Ezekiel McLeod of New Brunswick. All three commissioners were officially appointed by John Douglas Hazen, the Minister of Marine and Fisheries of Canada, under Part X of the Canada Shipping Act.