Mr. REID:

The object of this legislation is to place on the statute book a provision that goods imported by the Crown shall be liable to duty the same as goods brought in by a private importer. We have been collecting duties on goods imported by the Crown for some years.

Mr. MACDONALD:

Does my hon. friend mean the Crown in the right of the Imperial Parliament, the Dominion Parliament or the Provincial Parliament?

Mr. REID:

I mean goods imported by Canada and not goods imported by the Crown in the right of the Imperial Government. Imperial importations are exempt under the Customs Act.

[Mr. Burnham.!

Mr. PUGSLEY Does raw material, which [DOT] the Imperial Munitions Board may bring in for the manufacture of fuse, pay duty?

Mr. REID:

If it is imported for, and in the name of the British Government, it does not pay duty but if an article is imported to be manufactured by a private individual for the Imperial Government the duty is paid and we refund 99 per cent of it to the manufacturer the same as is done with regard to the duty on all other material imported and manufactured for export.

Mr. PUGSLEY:

The Munitions Board,

I understand, have established a factory for the manufacture of fuses and it is necessary to import large quantities of raw material. Does that raw material pay duty to the Canadian customs or will it under this law?

Mr. REID:

They would pay duty if they were manufacturing for use in Canada, but if they were manufacturing for overseas, or for the British Government, they would get a refund of the duty, or they would not be liable for duty. *

Mr. PUGSLEY:

Do they pay duty and

get a refund or does it come in free?

Mr. REID:

They get a refund.

Mr. PUGSLEY:

Then they do pay it?

Mr. REID:

They pay duty and get a refund.

Mr. MACDONALD:

It is the same as

with another importer?

Mr. REID:

The same as with any

other importer. If the Imperial Government owned an industry in this country and manufactured goods for their own use, or if they bring in goods for their war vessels, say, at Halifax, and they are delivered to the British Government they do not pay duty. That is mentioned in the Customs Act.

Mr. PUGSLEY:

I understand that the

Munitions Board are simply the agents of the Imperial Government and I speak of them because large quantities of material must be brought in. I understand the Minister to say that they pay duty on the goods and that the duty is refunded when the goods are manufactured and exported.

Mr. REID:

The Imperial Munitions

Board have industries in Canada that are manufacturing for them, and one case that came before me was that in which there was an industry manufacturing large quantities of explosives. The goods would come in and pay duty and the manufacturer would get a refund. We have assisted some

of these manufacturers where the duties were very large by .placing a customs officer in charge of the industry.

Mr. MACDONALD:

In the making of

shells the Imperial Munitions Board are really the agents of the Imperial Government. They have imported from the United States large quantities of steel which have gone to Canadian manufacturers to be turned into shells. Do these articles pay duty and is a refund made just the same as in the case of any other importer who manufactures the goods imported and exports the product?

Mt. REID:

If the Imperial Munitions

Board imported steel for the use of the Imperial Government it would come in free under the tariff.

Mr. PUGSLEY:

Does the Munitions

Board have to bring it in in the name of the British Government?

Mr. REID:

It is really the British Government, and they import it in the name of, and for, the British Government. We give them that right and we place a customs officer in an industry to see that the goods are all exported after they are manufactured into shells.