Mr. OLIVER:

May I draw the attention of the hon. Minister of Labour (Mr. Crothers) to the report that was laid on the table of the House yesterday and which was ordered to be printed? Apparently there has arisen a very interesting discussion in the public press in regard to the subject matter of the report. May I suggest that the printing be expedited as much as possible so that the House may be made aware of what it actually contains.

Hon. J. D. HAZEN (Minister of Marine and Fisheries) :

This Bill was submitted to the Standing Committee on Marine and Fisheries, which has considered and recommended it to the House with a few amendments.

On section 5-fishing outside territorial waters when fishing inside territorial waters is prohibited not to be carried on from Canada:

Mr. MACDONALD:

Is this the Bill that my hon. friend (Mr. Hazen) introduced by way of resolution and on which we had a discussion?

Mr. HAZEN:

It was introduced by resolution, discussed in the House and referred to the Committee on Marine and Fisheries, which considered and reported it to the House. The Bill provides that licenses at the nominal sum of one dollar shall be given to people operating fish canneries. They are to be required to take out a license and pay that nominal sum. That is the law now in regard to salmon and lobster factories, and it was felt that it was desirable that the same provision should apply to factories canning other fish as well in order that it might be uniform. When the Act was originally passed this provision was not necessary because there were no other factories besides lobster and salmon canneries,' and they were specified. There was a provision in the Act that factories which are manufacturing oil from fish

could not operate within fifty miles of one another. This has been found to be altogether unnecessary. No ill-effect has occurred because of their being nearer one another, and this Bill changes the law in that respect. The next section is in regard to fish guards. Fish guards are now compulsory in the case of irrigation ditches running into streams. It has heen found that this is not necessary in some cases, and the law thus causes needless hardship. The Bill provides that guards shall be placed only where the minister, or the officers of his department, think it is necessary to provide them for the preservation of fish. Then, there is a section changing the name of dogfish to grayfish.

On section 6-returns of quantity of fish caught, etc.:

Mr. MARCIL:

In view of what appears in to-day's paper to the effect that the food controller has taken it upon himself to appoint a special committee to look after the inland fisheries of Canada for the purpose of bringing the fresh fish supply within the reach of the consumers of Central Canada at reasonable prices and still give a legitimate return to the fishermen, is it contemplated to limit the operations of this committee merely to fresh fish, or is the same provision to be later on applied in regard to ocean fish?

Mr. HAZEN:

I have seen the paragraph to which my hon. friend (Mr. Marcil) refers. It tells of some action taken by the food controller. We have had no communication with the food controller on the matter. When I saw this paragraph to-day I gave instructions to have the information we have in our department communicated to him, together with the intimation that we would be very happy to render any as-, sistance we could. What the food controller apparently has in mind is the fish that are caught in the inland waters-whitefish, salmon trout and fish of that character. There have been complaints in the past that while very large quantities of fish are being caught in our inland waters, they are being [DOT] shipped to the United States, especially the Chicago market. I presume the food controller, Mr. Hanna, has it in mind to make some arrangement by which these fish will be more available to the consumers of Canada and will be more generally distributed in this country. I gave instructions to send him the information we have deAling with the subject, and we will be very glad to co-

operate with him in any way that seems practicable.

Mr. MARCIL:

If the food controller should take similar action with regard to the ocean fisheries I suppose the department will co-operate with him?

Mr. HAZEN:

We will give him any assistance we can.

Mr. SHEPHERD:

I was under the impression that while this Bill was in committee paragraphs (b) and (f) of this section would be so amended as to provide that not only should a return of the number of fishermen and shore workers be given, but that the return should also include their nationality. Has the minister any reason to offer why the particulars should be omitted?

Mr. HAZEN:

This Bill was before the

Committee on Marine and Fisheries and was amended. Subsection "e" now reads:

The number of fishermen employed and their nationality.

That meets the hon. gentleman's suggestion.

Mr. SHEPHERD:

Yes.

Bi'.I reported, read the third time, and passed.

Mr. HAZEN:

This Bill was introduced

by resolution, and was discussed in the House on the 7th June last, and was referred to the Committee on Marine and Fisheries, which considered the measure and made a report to the House, recommending the Bill, with certain amendments. I explained to the House that about two years ago the administration of the Meat and Canned Foods Act, so far as concerned canned fish and canned shellfish, was transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Naval Affairs. The work is carried on at the present time by the fishery inspectors throughout the country. But it was found that it was impossible for them, in addition to their other duties, to inspect the different canneries, and, in order to carry out the work of inspection, certain amendments had to be made in the Meat and' Canned Foods Act. The committee made certain suggestions in regard to one section, and after considera-

tion it was thought desirable to change the prescribed weights of meat in the cans.

On Section 12 D-contents and sizes of cans of lobster:

Mr. COPP:

Suggestions were made in the committee with regard to the size and weight of the cans. Can the minister tell us if the section was left as the committee adopted it?

Mr. HAZEN:

Section 12D now reads:

Cans of lobster shall contain the following minimum amount of dry lobster meat:

A one-pound can, sixteen ounces avoirdupois ;

A three-quarter pound can, twelve ounces avoirdupois;

A half-pound can, eight ounces avoirdupois. A quarter-pound can, four ounces avoirdupois.

A picnic can, twelve ounces avoirdupois.

No other size of can shall be packed, unless the written permission of the minister has first been obtained.

The hon. gentleman will remember that that was the amendment agreed to, after discussion.

Section adopted.

Bill reported, and read the third time and passed.