Mr. TOLMIE:

He resigned his seat in the provincial House.

Mr. CHISHOLM:

Yes, but it seems to me a very extraordinary thing that this Government, as my hon. friend says, would pick up a man with a record like this and put him in a responsible position. The Government no doubt must have been aware of the record of this man. I do not know anything about it, but it appeals to me as a very vicious practice to take a man and put him in a responsible pos>

tion when that man had a record behind him that made it necessary for him to resign from the legislature. You can see the consequence of a policy or a practice of this kind, and you must realize the kind of public service you will have if that practice continues. If it was necessary for him to resign from the provincial legislature, surely he was not a proper party to be given the responsibility of looking after the wards of this country.

Mr. SINCLAIR (Guysborough) :

Will

the minister say why the Government did not accept his resignation?

Mr. TOLMIE:

I am unable to give that information.

Mr. SINCLAIR (Guysborough):

It looks very suspicious that the resignation should not have been accepted. It looks to me as if it would have been a good chance to get rid of him, but it was not accepted by the Government, and the inference is that there is something underhand about it. It is unusual for a man to send in his resignation, and for it to lie over, without acceptance and without being dealt with in any way, and it requires some explanation. If the Government were in collusion with this man, intending to take his resignation on faith, so that it might serve him in that if he won his election, no objection would be taken to the fact that he was a Dominion official, and if he lost his election he would go on occupying the office. It is a severe reflection on the Government.

Mr. TOLMIE:

I have no information on that point.

Mr. McKENZIE:

I must say that th;.~: looks like a very shady transaction. I am sure that if we had pure, capable, honest civil servants, it would not happen, and the Civil Service must not be made a receptacle for crooks of that kind. Tf this member of the legislature of New Brunswick had been tried by a government opposing him we might suppose that politics entered into it and that he did not get justice; but the case was so obnoxious that the premier of the government of which the member was a supporter appointed a Royal Commission. That commission, if anything, should have been prejudiced in his favour, but they found him guilty of embezzlement, and of course there was nothing left but to expel him from the legislature. Yet notwithstanding his unsavoury reputation that man is picked up by the Dominion Government and put in a responsible position as ward over

the Indians in New Brunswick, who of all people should have a capable and straightforward man dealing with them

I am sorry that ithe responsible head of the department is not here, and it is but another example of -the necessity of having the heads of departments who are spending money members of this House. As I have -said, this man was given a position of responsibility. But not content with that he comes to his masters and he says, "I want to run an election. Under the laws of New Brunswick before my nomination is regular I must resign. I will go through the camouflage of sending you a paper, but you must not use it." I would say, as a lawyer, if anything hinged on the resignation, that he was still an officer until his resignation was accepted. The department said, "Go to it, boy. Send in your resignation. Nothing will be done and it will be heads you win, tails we lose. Whatever happens you will be all right." That is the kind of government and the kind of departmental administration that we are up against.

A motion, was made in this House for the correspondence relating to this matter. If that man's resignation was filed in the department it should have been brought down with those papers, but it looks as if there was no such document, because only two letters were brought down. If he sent in his resignation surely there should be a letter accompanying it, and there should be the acknowledgment of the department. Both letters are public documents and should have been brought down. The only conclusion we can reach is that .the whole thing was a frame-up to help out this man. I am sorry if I must reach the conclusion, but it seems to me that the minister of that department is responsible for any irregularities in connection with this case.

I do think this protest should be put on record as a warning to the Government to avoid further pitfalls, but I fear they are hopeless; indeed, the more holes they plunge into the better satisfied they appear to be.

Mr. LEGER:

From the answer of the Minister of Agriculture it is apparent that the papers which I asked for were withheld from me and from the country. The Minister of the Interior could just as easily have given the answer which I have now received, and that was the reason for my pressing the matter to-night. I am thankful to the minister, and I ask him now whether the Government is going to retain this man in office?

Mr. ROBB:

I think my hon. friend from Kent, N.B., is entitled to a reply, for on the statement the minister made to-night the Government must still hold the resignation referred to. What do they propose to do?

Mr. CASGRAIN:

Answer.

Mr. TOLMIE:

I will bring this to the attention of the regular minister who is at the head of this department, and who was there when this transaction occurred, and I shall be very glad to discuss it with him in detail.

Mr. POWER:

And get an answer next session.

Mr. COPP:

That does not mean anything to us, Mr. Chairman. Every member I am sure has sympathy with my hon. friend in taking over the passage of items far payment of the man referred to who, as Indian commissioner, is in charge of the Indians of New Brunswick. What my hon. friend from Kent has said is absolutely correct. We have to-day in the department administering the affairs of a class of people, who of all people should have in charge of their affairs a man of integrity and business ability, Mr. Sheridan, a man whom, as my hon. friend has said, was tried by a royal commission appointed by the Government of New Brunswick of which he was a supporter, and that commission, if it were at all possible, would no doubt have brought in a report favourable to that gentleman. Afterwards he resigned his seat in Parliament, being enforced to do so by the adverse report of that commission. It is almost incredible that this Government, without inquiring into the capability or reputation of that gentleman, appointed him, obviously upon the recommendation of some person in the county of Kent, to a very! responsible position. There are many men in that county, men of integrity and capability, who would be glad to fill that position, and there was absolutely no excuse for the Government employing a man who had been found guilty of transactions described in detail by my hon. friend from Kent. If that man was unfit to occupy a seat in the Legislature of New Brunswick, I Submit to, my hon. friend' the minister that he is not fit to occupy the very important position to which he has been appointed by this Government. The Government allowed this gentleman to resign his position in order that he might contest a seat in the New Brunswick Legislature. His resignation was held in abeyance and when the election was over and he was found to be defeated by a large majority he was reappointed to his position. For no other purpose than to carry on the political schemes of my hon. friends opposite, a man has been kept in office whose reputation has been found by a Royal Commission to be unsavoury. In the light of these facts how can the people of New Brunswick have confidence in or respect for the office-holders of this Government? I say to my hon. friend that this is a scandal in the political life of New Brunswick. The position is not a lucrative one, but the procedure in this case shows the depths to which my hon. friends will descend in order to carry on political intrigues which they think may be of advantage to them. I have no personal feeling against the gentleman in question, but it does seem as if the Government finds it impossible to get a man of reputation to fill this position and that they are using the office for purely political purposes. It does no credit to the Government, to the minister in charge of the department, or to the political party in New Brunswick who are responsible for forcing the minister's hand in this matter.

Mr. SINCLAIR (Queen's, P.E.I.) :

Was this amount all spent in 1920?

Mr. TOLMIE:

Yes.

Mr. LANCTOT:

How is that money

distributed amongst the Indians and what is the name of the officer through whom the payments are made?

Mr. TOLMIE:

During the spring of 1920 a request for urgent repairs to the roads on the Lennox Island Reserve was brought to the attention of the department and upon investigation it was found that three main roads were in need of immediate repair. These roads were very low and waterlogged, the concrete culverts having become cracked with frost, which interfered with the children going to school. This item is to make the necessary repairs. No appropriation for repairs to roads in Prince Edward Island was provided in the main Estimates. With regard to the $300, the appropriation of $1,375 for relief to destitute Indians in Prince Edward Island is insufficient to meet the necessary and inevitable expenditure. The present appropriation is an increase of only $250 over the appropriation of 1914. In the