This study is intended to be a critical look at the context in which the Hall-Dennis Report, officially entitled Living and Learning: the Report of the Provincial Committee on Aims and Objectives of Education in the Schools of Ontario, was commissioned and published. The Hall-Dennis Report of 1968 has been labeled a watershed among commissioned reports in Ontario not because of its impact or longevity, but because of its courage to propose an education system radically different from conventional practices. Previous reports had only hinted on bringing progressive practices to Ontario's classrooms, whereas, Living and Learning unleashed an outright assault on the regimentation of schools. This research explores the socio-political context that gave rise to such radical thought in education in Ontario, but more importantly, why the province commissioned a public inquiry whose recommendations would have meant an overhaul of the entire public school system.