Mr. Halliday:

I have a supplementary question, Mr. Speaker, with reference to the three names to which the minister has just alluded. Can he inform the House whether those three companies refused to answer the questionnaire because of some inherent dislike of it or whether they simply ignored the minister's request?

Mr. Bruce Halliday (Oxford):

My question is for the

Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs, Mr. Speaker. Having recently tabled a document on the removal of the federal sales tax on clothing and footwear which showed merely a modest decrease in the expected rise in prices, can the minister tell us whether the investigation indicated if any of the 113 retailers who were surveyed failed to pass on the tax saving to the consumers and, if so, is the minister prepared to release to the House the names of those companies?

Mr. Bruce Halliday (Oxford):

Mr. Speaker, I wish to direct a question to the Minister of Manpower and Immigration. In view of the fact that amendments to the Unemployment Insurance Act in 1971 have precluded inmates of provincial and federal penal institutions from receiving unemployment insurance benefits upon discharge, which previously they could claim if they had two years of employment built up prior to incarceration, can the minister inform the House if he has any plans to amend the act so that such persons would again be eligible for unemployment insurance benefits?

1. Did the Canada Council award $6,000 to study Canadian reports of Unidentified Flying Objects and, if so, was the Council aware that the United States Government spent over half a million dollars between 1966 and 1968 to have competent scientists conduct an intensive study of such reports, including Canadian reports, and that their conclusion was that there was no evidence to warrant any further scientific investigation (the Condon Report)?

2. Did the Council consult with officers of the National Research Council about the advisability of funding such study?

Mr. Bruce Halliday (Oxford):

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I have a question for the Minister of Consumer and Corporate Affairs. Is the minister now in a position to release to the House the report on monitoring of the effect on retail prices of the elimination of the sales tax on clothing and footwear which he has had in his possession for several weeks?