Mr. Speaker:

I have the honour to inform the house that I have received the following communication:

Government House, Ottawa,

15 February, 1962

Sir:

I have the honour to inform you that the Honourable Robert Tasehereau, judge of the Supreme Court of Canada, acting as Deputy to His Excellency the Governor General, will proceed to the Senate chamber the 15th February, 1962, at 5.45 p.m., for the purpose of giving royal assent to certain bills.

I have the honour to be, sir,

Your obedient servant, Esmond Butler

Secretary to the Governor General

Right Hon. J. G. Diefenbaker (Prime Minister):

Mr. Speaker, my reply has now been transmitted to the message from Chairman Khrushchev in which he proposed that heads of government should attend the opening meetings of the disarmament commission when it begins its work in Geneva on March 14. I should now like to table that reply so that hon. members will have it before them.

I made clear to Mr. Khrushchev that I welcomed the spirit in which his proposal appears to have been made, since it would seem to indicate that the Soviet union attaches importance to the forthcoming disarmament negotiations. The Canadian government believes that this conference must be

the occasion for the greatest effort which the nations of the world have yet made toward a solution of the pressing problems in the disarmament field. Fortunately a good basis has been laid for the conference in the form of an agreement on general principles. The first task will be to convert these principles into practical measures of disarmament.

In my reply to Mr. Khrushchev I have said I believe the foreign ministers should be present at the outset to give additional direction and impetus to the work of the conference.

As these problems affect all countries, and depend in some degree on all countries for their solution, there is a significant role in these discussions for the middle and smaller powers. The difficult problems requiring solution may in the end yield only to direct conversation among the heads of government.

I have therefore repeated to Chairman Khrushchev what I told the house last Monday, namely that whenever the presence of heads of government is considered to be advantageous, I should personally be ready to attend such a meeting. Should efforts for disarmament meet with even partial success, then a measure of confidence will have been established which might enable other critical problems between east and west to be dealt with.

Mr. Speaker:

Has the Prime Minister leave to table the document referred to?

Agreed.

Mr. Speaker:

Is it suggested that the document be printed or tabled?

Mr. Diefenbaker:

Tabled.

Hon. L. B. Pearson (Leader of the Opposition):

I think all hon. members in the house will support the position of the Prime Minister and the government in respect of this matter, in emphasizing in the first place the importance of the conference in question and the desirability of doing everything possible at the conference to make progress toward peace rather than allowing it to become merely an exercise in propaganda. I think also the Prime Minister was wise in his emphasis that at the early stages of a conference of this kind it is better to leave these matters in the hands of the ministers particularly concerned. I notice Mr. Khrushchev refers to them as bureaucrats; I am sure

Inquiries of the Ministry that the Secretary of State for External Affairs will deny that suggestion. Then if any progress is made at the foreign ministers level, and we all hope that there will be progress, that would be the time to consider elevating, if you like, the representations to the heads of government level.

But as the Prime Minister has pointed out, surely it is important to get ahead with the business of disarmament, and at this commission of 18, with certain principles to guide it which have been agreed upon at the United Nations, there is now an opportunity for progress. Then if and when you get results, that will be the time to bring in the heads of government to continue and perhaps to finalize that progress.

Mr. H. W. Herridge (Kootenay West):

Mr. Speaker, the members of this group welcome the spirit and tenor of the Prime Minister's letter to Premier Khrushchev. We extend our best wishes to the Secretary of State for External Affairs and all those who are associated with him. We wish them every success in all they attempt in this work of first importance.

Hon. Lionel Chevrier (Laurier):

I wish to direct a question to the Prime Minister. Is it a fact, as reported in today's Globe and Mail, that the Chinese government has already defaulted on one of the terms of the wheat agreement by not taking 32,000 tons of flour from Canadian millers by November 30, 1961?

Right Hon. J. G. Diefenbaker (Prime Minister):

Mr. Speaker, there has been no default.

Mr. Chevrier:

Mr. Speaker, in the light of the article and the discussions that have taken place already, I wonder whether the Prime Minister would not throw some light on the terms of the agreement, in view of the fact that one of the officials of the Canadian wheat board has already stated that he can give no information on the matter and that it can come only from a ministerial source.

Mr. Diefenbaker:

Mr. Speaker, I do not want to comment on a vote that took place yesterday, but the hon. gentleman knows very well that throughout the years it has never been considered proper to reveal the particulars of agreements or transactions entered into by the wheat board. To do so would be to depart from the regular principle and would be of benefit only to those who are competitors.

Mr. Chevrier:

A supplementary question-