March 25, 1918 (13th Parliament, 1st Session)

Mr. BALLANTYNE:

When this Bill was introduced, the member for Maisonneuve (Mr. Lemieux) asked me to advise him what the programme of the harbour commissioners of Montreal would be for the season of 1918. Following the rigid policy ol economy that the Union Government is putting in force, I am holding down as well as I can the expenditure on the port of Montreal for the coming season. The harbour commissioners, subject to my approval, propose to spend during the coming season a total of only $220,000. Their intention is to continue the Montreal harbour system of railways further down the harbour in order to supply the various industries there and new ones which we hope will be located. That is estimated to cost $150,000. Then there is an amount of $15,000 for roadways and railway tracks on wharves. The dredging that will be required in connection with this extension of harbour railways is estimated to cost $50,000. Then there is $5,000 for electric system, power and lighting, making a total expenditure for the coming season of
$220,000. In 1917 the Harbour Commissioners of Montreal spent a total of $705,000; in 1916, $1,237,918.31; in 1915, $1,922,581.69. The hon. gentleman will see, therefore, that the amount we propose to spend for the coming year is very small compared with the amounts spent in previous years. In addition to the $220,000 expenditure to which I have alluded, an amount of $300,000 will be available to retire the debentures that this Bill calls for.