Mr. MURPHY:

The hon. gentleman is

mistaken. The site was selected. I could show the hon. member the discussion in Hansard, when an effort was made in the House, by some of his friends to induce the leader of the Opposition and the Minister of Public Works to change their decision with regard to the site. They refused to change the site, and that site was selected. That is where the monument would have been placed if the Liberals had remained in office. Since the 'Liberals went out a couple of agitators, one of whom has since been rewarded by a position in the public service, advocated a change in the site, and women's societies and historical societies used their influence and got the hon. gentleman's friends to change the site.

Mr. LEMIEUX:

Hysterical societies.

. Mr. MURPHY: It Was prior to the time the hon. gentleman (Mr. Rogers) became Minister of Public Works.

Mr. LEMIEUX:

The days are going by. We will have an election soon, and the Liberals will be back in office in a few months; Sir Wilfrid Laurier will be Prime Minister and he will unveil the monument to Thomas D'Arcy McGee.

Georgian Bay Ship Canal Royal Commission, $25,000.

Mr. NESBITT:

What is the total expenditure to date?

Mr. ROGERS:

About $40,000 altogether.

Mr. NESBITT:

Is it not more than that? An item has been in the estimates in respect to this matter for years past.

Mr. ROGERS:

We have spent only the amount of money that I have named.

Mr. NESBITT:

You got $25,000 last year.

Mr. ROGERS:

That was not all spent.

Mr. NESBITT:

Your estimates are misleading; they have been misleading in several of the items.

Mr. ROGERS:

The hon. gentleman is

probably confusing the work of the Georgian Bay canal with that of the commission. Recently there has been no work except that done by the commission.

Mr. NESBITT:

Is it not time that this item was struck out? In a time of war, the voting of $25,000 for such a purpose as this is simply wasting public money.

Mr. ROGERS:

I would not like to say that it is a waste of money, because if my hon. friend will go to the office of Mr. Sanford Evans and make an examination of all the data that he has collected, he will agree that the money has been well expended and that full value has been received. I agree that we should not go on further with this work. We have already given notice to Mr. Evans and those connected with him that we will close up the office very shortly -temporarily, at all events, until the war is over. No further expenditure will be made.

Mr. MURPHY:

I must express my

admiration for the Minister. He says that he is going to give notice that this office will very shortly be closed. That must mean, then, that the Government '.have found another position for Mr. Sanford Evans, because this Commission was created to give him a job. The people of the Ottawa valley and those interested in the matter understand quite well, without any inspiration from the Government or any intimation from me, that this Commission was appointed for the purpose of killing the Georgian Bay canal project, and that that project, eo far as the Government is concerned, is as- extinct as the dodo -and has been so for the last three or four years. Why jlVfr. Evans and the rest of his staff are kept at work, unless it be to provide them with jobs, nobody can understand; I am sure that nobody can justify it. The Minister said to the member for North Oxford \(Mr.-Nesbitt) that if a gentleman interested in the matter were to call at the office of the commission he would see that a great deal of data has been collected. It is true that much data has been collected, but no . public benefit has resulted from its collection. The minister may think that he is getting away with this thing, but he is not deceiving anybody; everybody knows the purpose of this Commission; everybody knows that Mr. Evans and his staff do nothing but draw thoir salaries. They are not rendering any public service; their business was to kill the Georgian Bay canal project, and this they have accomplished, so far as the Government is concerned. Why continue this expenditure any longer? Surely my hon. friend is mistaken when he says that the total expenditure has been only $40,000.

Mr. ROGERS:

That is what my deputy informs me.

Mr. MURPHY:

This item has been in the estimates for several years. The -commission has had a fairly large staff, and it is surprising to hear that only $40,000 has been expended. However, if the minister says that on inquiry he finds that that has been the total expenditure, I have no criticism to offer. I do submit, however, that this office ought to be closed at once. The gentlemen composing the commission cannot possibly be rendering any service for which the country should be called upon to pay. Everybody knows that the published documents emanating from the commission, and various addresses given by Mr. Evans at different times and in various parts of the country when he had nothing else to do, show that there is no further work to be done. I do urge upon the minister that he close up the office without delay and allow these gentlemen to seek other outlets for their energies.

Mr. NESBITT:

If the minister is going to close this office shortly, why the necessity for this item of $25,000?

-Mr. ROGERS: The fiscal year is fairly well advanced; this item covers part of the year that we are now in. These estimates were made up last October. The office is practically closed now. Sanford Evans is now drawing a salary -as a member of this commission.

Mr. LEMIEUX:

Has he not been appointed to another commission?

Mr. ROGERS:

Yes, he has been doing some work on another commission; therefore he is not drawing a salary as a member of this commission. We told him that we were going to close the office, and the office is being closed. I am sure that my hon. friend (Mr. Murphy) does not desire to do Mr. Evans any injustice. When in 1914 we were pressed for the construction of the Georgian Bay canal, many people regarded the project as a very desirable national undertaking-and I believe that it is. Perhaps it was more desirable then than it i-s now, on account of financial conditions. We made an honest effort to secure men who would be able to get the most reliable information as to the practicability of undertaking this work. My hon. friend will agree that that was a sound principle upon which to start. Mr. Sanford Evans was selected as the -man capable of doing that work. Any member of the House who will visit his office and examine his work will agree with me that the right man was selected for that position.

Now that conditions have changed and it is impossible to consider the idea of undertaking such national work at this particular

time, we are closing up the office; but we are preserving the information we have, because Mr. Evans is a strong believer in the possibilities and advantages of the Georgian Bay canal.

Mr. LEMIEUX:

But the Government is not.