Hon. Barney Danson (Minister of National Defence):

Yes, Mr. Speaker. I understand that a number of contracts have been let to several sub-contractors.

Mr. Scott:

Can the minister tell us to whom the contracts were awarded? Can he give us the dollar value involved?

Mr. Danson:

I will be pleased to answer those questions if they are placed on the order paper, or by way of a letter to the hon. member.

Mr. Lloyd R. Crouse (South Shore):

Mr. Speaker, I wish to direct a question to the Minister of National Defence. It has to do with the experimental hydrofoil Bras d'Or, built at a cost of some $52 million, which has been mothballed for more than five years at an annual cost of about $500,000 and which, due to the cracks in its foils, cannot be used either for defence purposes or for fishery surveillance. I should like to ask the minister whether he would give consideration to offering this ship as a museum piece either to some local museum or to the Alexander Graham Bell Museum at Baddeck, where the concept of the hydrofoil originated?

Hon. Barney Danson (Minister of National Defence):

Mr. Speaker, I think the hon. member's figures regarding the annual storage costs are considerably higher than those I am aware of, but we will continue to do some checking work on the Bras d'Or until decisions are made on the new ship program. Certainly, his suggestion is one I would consider very seriously.

Oral Questions

Mr. J. M. Forrestall (Dartmouth-Halifax East):

Mr. Speaker, 1 have a question that 1 will direct to the minister responsible for regional economic expansion. It arises out of a meeting yesterday of the Maritime Advisory Committee of the Canadian Labour Congress at which the national presidents of the Canadian Merchant Service Guild, the CB of RT and the Seafarers' International Union undertook in response to Mercator Enterprises' charges that there are not enough Canadian seamen to man the cruise ship Mercator One, and at which they said "we can assure the company, the Nova Scotia government and MAGI that these crew members will be residents of Nova Scotia". Has the minister received that communication and, if so, what response can he make to it?

Hon. Marcel Lessard (Minister of Regional Economic Expansion):

Mr. Speaker, I do not have here the communication the hon. member is referring to, but yesterday I received a telegram from him telling me about the steps taken by this group of fishermen of the Atlantic coast. Therefore I took immediate action to see what could be done so that some preference be given at least to the fishermen who are prepared to take the available positions.

Mr. S. J. Korchinski (Mackenzie):

Mr. Speaker, I have a question for the Minister of Manpower and Immigration. Following on the exchange in the House on March 1 initiated by the hon. member for Lambton-Kent pertaining to the allocation of funds for status Indians, particularly as it applies to communities with a high Metis population and with an equally high or higher unemployment rate, will the decision on the Canada Works application in those areas be deferred until this dilemma is resolved?

Hon. Bud Cullen (Minister of Manpower and Immigration):

No, Mr. Speaker. Typical of the Metis population, when they saw the situation they put together what I thought was an excellent brief. They made an appointment with me, came down and discussed the situation as it existed on the site. We have made a pitch to them about a compromise for the next phase of the funding which I think they will find acceptable.

Mr. Korchinski:

A supplementary question, Mr. Speaker. When will a decision on the second phase be made?

Mr. Cullen:

Well, Mr. Speaker, I do not want to prejudge the situation. Frankly, I am awaiting for a response from the Metis to find out if my compromise suggestion is acceptable to

March 11, 1977

Oral Questions

them. When I have that I will probably be able to make a comment.

Mr. Paul Dick (Lanark-Renfrew-Carleton):

Mr. Speaker, may I address my question to the Minister of Finance. In view of the fact that in the last number of months representations have been made to him regarding the scissors industry in this country and the government has not responded to the fact that Brazil has a 150 per cent tariff on imports of scissors whereas Canada lets Brazil's scissors in for nothing, is there any chance that the minister could explain why the Canadian government would not protect the fledgling scissors industry in this country?

Hon. Donald S. Macdonald (Minister of Finance):

Mr. Speaker, along with other members of the developed world Canada has entered into an undertaking to accord a general preferential tariff to the developing countries so that by building up their trade they may replace the kind of development assistance they are now receiving from us with economic advantage. It is for this reason that Brazil has been accorded general preferential tariff treatment on imports of this kind, and it is for this reason that the government has concluded that it should not reverse the GPT with regard to scissors from Brazil and will continue to offer this assistance to the developing world.