Order.

Mr. Sinclair:

-will he tell the house what has happened to the independent coastguard like the Americans have which he used to advocate so strongly when he was on this side of the house? No mention of it.

Mr. Hees:

I am very glad the hon. member asked that question and I am very glad to answer it. If the members of his government had been as co-operative as the members of this government are every day in the house, in giving information they were asked for about this important matter, I like other members of the then opposition would have known that this sort of thing went on.

Mr. Sinclair:

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of the two former ministers of transport we accept his apology for not listening when they made statements identical to his.

Order.

Mr. Sinclair:

You have added one man in

charge of small boats.

He is not new.

Mr. Sinclair:

You had better tell us about our merchant marine now.

Mr. Speaker:

Order. I think it is appropriate to point out that a statement of that length, and a statement which one may describe as being of mixed fact and opinion, would be better made on the estimates than at this time. If it is made, it should be open to comment by spokesmen for each of the parties who may wish to comment upon it. If there are no further supplementary questions-

Mr. Fulton:

On the point of order, Mr. Speaker, would it not be appropriate to suggest that a question of the type that was asked, like many others, might also be asked on the estimates?

Mr. Speaker:

The Minister of Justice is undoubtedly right, but he will have observed, as I have, that one disorder leads to another. However, I think we might proceed. Is the hon. member for Comox-Alberni asking a supplementary question?

Mr. Sinclair:

That is a Marler statement, right out of the records.

Mr. T. S. Barnett (Comox-Alberni):

The

Minister of Transport has been asked what steps the government has taken in this field since taking office, and I should like to rephrase my question by asking him now what steps the government has taken to deal with the very unsatisfactory state of affairs in this field left as a legacy by the former government?

Mr. Sinclair:

Nothing.

Mr. Hees:

If after hearing this statement of what is being done in a very efficient and adequate way to provide coastguard service in this country by the various methods I have mentioned the hon. member still thinks the service is inadequate, then I am very surprised, because I feel it is very adequate indeed.

Mr. Sinclair:

Speak with the fishermen. HOUSING

Mr. F. G. J. Hahn (New Westminster):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to direct a question to the Prime Minister. I did not give him notice,

Inquiries of the Ministry so he may wish to take this question as notice. Has he been advised that many individuals applying for loans under the National Housing Act, as recently amended, who have not sufficient funds for the down payment and who have to borrow the amount of that down payment, have to pay a discount rate reaching as high as 30 per cent in some cases? If so, is it the government's intention to do something to correct this nefarious practice?

Hon. Howard C. Green (Minister of Public Works):

Mr. Speaker, this is a question having to do with housing, and I would be glad to look into the complaint made by the hon. member, although I would remind him again that his own district of New Westminster has benefited under the agency loan plan perhaps to a greater extent than any other part of the country.