Bill No. 43, to incorporate Standard Insurance Company.-Mr. Mowat. Bill No. 44, respecting the Western Dominion Railway Company.-Mr. Morphy.
Bill No. 7, respecting The Montreal, Ottawa and Georgian Bay Canal Company -Mr. Fripp. Bill No. 21, respecting The Oshawa Railway Company.-Mr. Smith. Bill No. 22, respecting The Thousand Islands Railway Company.-Mr. Smith. Bill No. 25, respecting The Kettle Valley Railway Company.-Mr. Green. Bill No. 26, respecting The Manitoba and North Western Railway Company of Canada.-Mr. Lang. Bill No. 27, respecting The Quebec Central Railway Company.-Mr. Beland. Bill No. 29, respecting The Essex Terminal Railway Company.-Mr. Kennedy (Essex North). Bill No. 30, respecting The Ottawa, Northern and Western Railway Company. -Mr. Devlin. Bill No. 20, to incorporate The Mayo Valley Railway, Limited.-Mr. Thompson (Yukon). Bill No. 4, respecting The Dominion Life Assurance Company.-Mr. Euler. Bill No. 5, to incorporate Fidelity Company of Canada; title changed to " An Act to incorporate Fidelity Insurance Company of Canada," and when the French language is used to designate the company, the equivalent of the said name shall be " La Com-pagnie d'Assurance Fidelite du Canada." -Mr. Mowat.
Right Hon. ARTHUR MEIGHEN (Prime Minister) :
Mr. Speaker, I beg to lay on the Table a copy of the Trade Agreement between France and Canada,-the original, which is in French, as well as the translation in English.
Mr. FIELDING:
Is the document
printed?
Mr. MEIGHEN:
No; it is typewritten.
Mr. MACKENZIE KING:
May we expect to receive printed copies?
Mr. MEIGHEN:
Printed copies will be available in due course. I have just received this from the Deputy Minister of Trade and Commerce.
' On the Orders of the Day:
Mr. C. G. POWER (Quebec South):
Before the Orders of the Day are called, may I ask the Minister of Marine (Mr. Ballantyne), whether he has received any complaints from the merchants of Quebec, or any person else on their behalf, with regard to discriminatory action against the port of Quebec by the Canadian Government Merchant Marine? If so, does he intend to take these complaints into consideration?
Mr. SPEAKER:
It strikes me that this question is not of such a character as warrants its being put upon the Orders of the Day. It should be placed on the Order Paper in the usual manner. While it is undoubtedly important, it is very local in its nature and does not affect the country at large.
Mr. POWER:
I submit, Mr. Speaker, that it may be a question of public policy. It may be a question as to whether or not the Canadian Government Merchant Marine is fulfilling the duties for which it was created.
Mr. SPEAKER:
It may involve a question of policy, but the subject is not of sufficient urgency to be brought up on the Orders of the Day; notice should be given and the question asked in the ordinary way.
Mr. POWER:
With all due deference to the Chair, I submit that the matter is of considerable urgency. Navigation is about to open, and it i s of great importance to the merchants and others in the seaports of Canada to ascertain how they stand in this matter.
Mr. SPEAKER:
If the minister desires to answer the question now, I will offer no opposition.
Hon. C. C. BALLANTYNE (Minister of Marine):
So far as my knowledge goes,
I may inform the hon. member that no communications of any kind have reached the Department of Marine charging any discrimination, on the part of the Canadian Government Merchant Marine, against the port in question. However, I will look into the matter, and if it transpires that any correspondence has reached the department, I shall be glad to inform the hon. gentleman accordingly.