Hon. W. E. Harris (Minister of Finance):

Mr. Speaker, I shall give consideration to what appears to be a request.

Then we find that the matter was revived a month later. Hansard of March 11, 1957 indicates at page 2064 that the hon. member for Greenwood returned to his question and asked the minister of finance:

Mr. Speaker, may I ask the Minister of Finance whether it is the intention to have the governor of the Bank of Canada, now that the report is out, appear before the banking and commerce committee as he has done in the past?

To this question the minister of finance, Mr. Harris, made the following reply:

Mr. Speaker, I think I may have slightly misled the house-

He was obviously referring to what he had said earlier on February 14, which I have read:

Mr. Speaker, I think I may have slightly misled the house and the hon. member for Greenwood by a reference I made in answer to a question such as this earlier in the session. I find that it has not been a custom for the governor of the Bank of Canada to appear before the banking and commerce committee. It is true that the former governor and the present one have appeared before it on occasion but a good deal less frequently than I had thought when I made the answer. It would therefore not be correct to say that it has been customary, although on occasion it has been done. I shall consider whether or not it ought to be done in this case.

That is the end of the quotation and having considered it he did not propose that the report go to the committee.

Hon. W. E. Harris (Minister of Finance):

Mr. Speaker, if I were to speak now for the party to your right and, partially, for those to your left I could only say that over the

past four years we have been happy in the choice that was made of Speaker after the 1953 election.

Mr. Harris:

You have discharged your duties in a manner which has commended itself to a great many people although, of course, as has been said already, there have been differences of opinion. I think this is inevitable in any deliberative body because indeed persons go there for the purpose of disagreeing in order to bring about a proper result.

I do want to join with the representatives of the other parties in saying that the office of Speaker is not only that of the first commoner, it is representative of all that is best in our traditions and is something more than merely a presiding officer. It is an office of dignity and honour and one which comes to relatively few in the history of parliament. When it does come there is a mark on the man thenceforth for having been chosen for his integrity, his honesty and his impartiality, which will distinguish him for the rest of his days. Therefore, sir, I join on behalf of this party with all others in thanking you for your services during the past four years and in extending to you and to Mrs. Beaudoin our very best wishes.

Mr. Harris:

Yes, I have paid some attention to what has been said, and more than one speaker in each party has spoken of what this government will do in the fall. And I therefore give the following undertaking: The passing of this bill will not prejudice the rights and privileges of hon. members to

[Mr. Harris.)

criticize any item in the estimates when it comes up for consideration in the committee of supply, and the usual undertaking is hereby given that such rights and privileges will be respected and will not be curtailed or restricted in any way as the result of the passing of this measure.

Mr. Harris:

I was going to suggest that perhaps we could suspend until five minutes to nine. I beg your pardon, Mr. Speaker. I am reminded that the private bills which we passed over at five o'clock are still on the order paper, and if we had the time and the inclination now we could discuss them, although I notice that there is not a full hour left before it is expected we shall be summoned to the other place. However, I think if any hon. member feels that we ought to call them, at least this is an opportunity for them to be called.