April 30, 1901 (9th Parliament, 1st Session)

Sir WILFRID LAURIER.

line of railway. I simply take the ground that we should be guided in our policy in that respect by the consideration that we should give communication to the growing cities of the coast, Vancouver and Victoria, with the Kootenay district, the boundary district, and the other mining centres of British Columbia; and the government at the proper time, notwithstanding the advice given by my hon. friend from Toronto that we should put an end to railway subsidies, will consider that question.
1 am not prepared to express any opinion with regard to the Wellington and Cape Scott road, which is an island railway. That is a project which has some merit in it as it has been developed to me; but it does not seem to me to be of the same immediate necessity as the other roads to which I have alluded. I would say the same with regard to the Ashcroft and Cariboo district.
My hon. friend has advocated the construction of a road from Kitmat to the Yukon. With this I have absolute sympathy with my hon. friend, and he must regret the vote which he was induced to give three years ago when we introduced the policy of building a railway through Canadian territory to the waters of the Yukon. If the project which was then introduced, had been carried out, of building a railway from the Stikine river to the waters of the Yukon, which was the first link of the very railway the hon. gentleman now advocates, extending it afterwards to Kitmat Harbour and the Yukon river, the very thing my hon. friend now advocates would be to-day an accomplished fact.