Mr. JACQUES BUREAU (Three Rivers and St. Maurice):

Mr. Speaker, I rise to a question of privilege. I read in the Toronto Star of Friday, March 3, under the heading, "Ottawa Frowns on the HydroRadial Scheme," the following:

Another member of the city deputation talked of the anti-Hydro and anti-Toronto feeling in the Railway Committee. He also criticised the attitude of Col. J. A. Currie, M.P., a Toronto man, who recently returned from the front. " The antagonistic spirit to Toronto is so strong down there that you can put your finger on it," said this man; " the French-Canadian members sit there smoking their Quebec tobacco in their little old pipes, and they vote for the corporations always."

This comes, Mr. Speaker, from a Toronto man, who w,as a member of the deputation that came to Ottawa. Coming from a Toronto man, it is treated by me with the contempt that it deserves; I shall not say anything about it except that it is a sequel to his brain power, and nothing more. There is something graver in the same paper. The Toronto Star, under date of Saturday, March 4, contains the following, under the heading, "Toronto has Few Friends in the Railway Committee:"

Even though it comes down to another fight before the Commons Railway Committee, the Hydro stands a good chance of winning out, in the opinion of Capt. Thomas Wallace, member for Centre York; who reached the city to-day. "All the Toronto members who were in Ottawa were at the committee, ready to put up a fight for the Hydro," Capt. Wallace stated, "and I think the Hydro should win out when all the suppQrters get there. The meeting last week

was poorly attended, but the next one will not be. 'As it seems to stand now, the most of the Ontario members on the committee will vote Hydro, while the strongest supporters of the Canadian Northern railway were the French members. They always seem to be out to hit anything Ontario wants."

I w ant to register my most energetic protest against this statement, and to qualify it as absolutely unfounded, unjustifiable, and unworthy of a man occupying a representative position in Canada. Let me tell this gentleman that the French members of the Railway Committee, of which I am one, sit there as representing all Canada. In their deliberations and in their judgments, they know no provincial boundaries, no parochial boundaries, no sectarian motives; to the best of their ability they devote themselves to the interests of their country. I may add that I feel deeply on this question, but at this juncture I shall say nothing more than this: I leave it to the judgment of the well-thinking .and broadminded men of this country to treat this contemptible assertion as it deserves to he treated, emanating, as it does, from a narrow mind.

Mr. J. J. HUGHES:

I call the attention of the Minister of Marine and Fisheries to a telegram which I have received from the Summerside Board of Trade in connection with winter communication between Prince Edward Island and the mainland. The telegram states that efforts are being made to have the steamer Prince Edward Island keep up communication between Pictou and Charlottetown, but that she is not able to do so, with the result that mails are delayed, passenger traffic seriously interrupted, and trains tied up. The telegram asks that in view of the fact that she is not able to keep up communication with Charlottetown, she be transferred at once to the Pictou-Georgetown route. I ask, what action, if any, the minister intends to take.

Mr. HAZEN:

The same policy is being

pursued this year as in previous years. The service is performed between Pictou and Charlottetown so long as ice and weather conditions permit. When the ice conditions become of ..such character that the service cannot be carried on between Charlottetown and Pictou, then the service is carried on between Summerside and Pictou. The same

instructions have been given to the captain of the boat this year as in previous years, and if the condition is such as has been described by my hon. friend, and the service cannot be carried on between Charlottetown and Pictou, then the boat will be transferred to- uiimmerside.

Mr. J. J. HUGHES:

I have received a telegram stating that some time ago representations were made to the Government asking to have a guard placed on the Hillsborough bridge. This is an expensive bridge and people, fearing it may be interfered with by evil-minded persons, are very desirous that a guard should be placed there.

Mr. REID:

There is one man in Prince Edward Island who seems to be raising a lot of trouble and agitating to have a guard placed on the Hillsborough bridge, and he has tried to work up some feeling on the matter. The Railway Department have received a telegram from this gentleman, and I have directed that it be forwarded to the general manager of the road, Mr. Gutelius, with instructions to investigate and, if he deems it necessary, to place a guard on the bridge. I received a telegram this morning or Saturday in respect to the same matter and I have forwarded it also to Mr. Gutelius. I find that in some cases railway bridges are guarded by the Railway Department and in others by the Justice Department, through the Dominion police. I have therefore forwarded copies of these communications to the Justice Department, with a request that they look into the situation. Thus the question of guarding this bridge will be looked into by both the Railway Department, through the general manager of the railway, and the Justice Department, through Colonel Sherwood; and if, as the result of either or both investigations, it is deemed necessary to have a guard on the bridge, one will be placed there.

Mr. CARVELL:

I read in the St. John Standard, which is the recognized organ of the Government in that city, that a new arrangement had been made with regard to the construction of the St. John and Quebec railway. The paper states that it has been decided that the road shall not go any farther north than its present terminus

at Centreville, and shall not cross the river St. John* but shall make connection with the Canadian Pacific railway tracks at Westfield. This would involve an entirely new arrangement with this Govern- ment. I wish to ask if such a new arrangement has been made, and whether the Dominion Government has agreed to operate the road as part of the Intercolonial on the changed conditions.

Mr. REID:

This matter has been under discussion between myself and some of the ministers of the New Brunswick Government, but I have not yet got the matter completed and have not brought it before council as yet. Therefore I do not think I would be justified in making any statement to-day. Probably to-morrow T shall be in a position to make a statement.

Sir WILFRID LAURIER:

With reference to the report which was brought down to-day in answer to a motion made some time ago for the correspondence concerning the commandeering of wheat, I have just taken a cursory glance at the return and I have to observe that it is, on its face, "absolutely incomplete. The first document brought down in point of date is an Order in Council bearing date December 18, 1915. The first paragraph of that Order in Council is in these words:

On a report of the Minister of Trade and Commerce, representing that the Government of Canada has been requested to take into account the supplies of wheat required by the British Government and certain of the Allied governments, and to arrange for a considerable supply to be shipped during the month of December and following months, the Minister of Trade and Commerce reports that it has become necessary and advisable, and within the meaning of section 6, of the War Measures Act, 1914, to appropriate and control the wheat hereinafter described under the conditions hereinafter mentioned:

This first paragraph recites that the action of the Government was taken at the instance of some party, presumably the British Government. This refers also to a memorandum, which has no date but which was made evidently later than the 3rd of March.

Early in the autumn of 1915, it became evident that Canada, in common with the United States and Australia, would have large surpluses of wheat for export, representations were made to the British Government with a view of interesting it and the Allied Governments in the purchase from Canada of a generous portion of the large quantities they would undoubtedly require. These representa-

tions were successful, and, on November 23, instructions were cabled to the Canadian Government by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to purchase a large quantity, delivery to begin in December and continue for the following months:

There is certainly no reason why the instructions of the Secretary of State for the Colonies should not be brought down and they are certainly covered by the Order of the House. That is not all. The next paragraph of the Order in Council to which I have already alluded reads as follows:

The minister further reports that the action which he has taken for the above purpose is set forth in the telegram, copies of whioh are hereto appended, and that the instructions given in the messages signed by the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, the Minister of Railways and Canals, and the Solicitor General, were sent after consultation with him and at his request in pursuance of the proposed appropriation and control of the wheat aforesaid.

On the face of this Order in Council it is -shown that certain telegrams issued by the Minister of Trade and Commerce, the Minister of Marine and Fisheries, and the Solicitor General, were appended to this Order in Council, and they certainly ought to be brought down. It is an oversight that they have not been brought down, I presume, but they should be before the House.

Sir GEORGE FOSTER:

Instructions were given that these telegrams should . be brought down. It is an oversight that they are not here.