Sir ROBERT BORDEN moved:
That a message be sent to the Senate to acquaint their Honours that this House has added the name of Mr. John Harold (Brant) to the Joint Committee of both Houses on the Library of Parliament.
Motion agreed to.
On motion of Hon. T. A. Crerar (Minister of Agriculture), the House went into committee on the following proposed resolution; Mr. Boivin in the Chair: Resolved, That it is expedient to amend The Meat and Canned Hoods Act, chapter twenty-seven of the Statutes of 1907, and to provide that an establishment a® defined in the said Act shall include any abattoir, packing house or other premises in which any food or food product whiah may be named by the Governor in Council is prepared for food for export or is stored for export; and that all fish, fruit or vegetables, or products thereof, or any food or food products which may be named' by the Governor in Council, used' in any establishment where these articles are prepared for export, shall be sound, wholesome and fit for food; and any such articles or products found in the said establishment unsound or unwholesome shall be confiscated' and destroyed in such manner as may be provided by the regulations ; and also that no person shall offer or accept for export or import, or shall export or import any articles subject to inspection unless the requirements regarding inspection and marking have been complied with in fSir George Foster.] respect to such 'articles, and every person offering any carcass, or portion or product thereof, or fruit or vegetable, or products thereof, or food or food products named by the Governor in Council, for export or import, or exporting or importing such carcass, portion or product, or any fruit or vegetable, or products thereof, or food or food products named by the Governor in Council, shall furnish such proof as is required' by the regulations as to whether the articles so offered for export or import, or exported or imported, are subject to inspection or not; and, further, that no carcass or portion of product thereof intended for food shall be imported into Canada unless proof satisfactory to the Minister accompany it that the same has passed Government inspection in the country of origin, and any such carcass or portion or product thereof imported into Canada shall he subject to such further inspection, and shall confirm to such requirements as the-Governor in Council may by regulation prescribe; and that no fruit or vegetables or products thereof, or food or food-products which may be named by the Governor in Council, shall be Imported into Canada or exported from Canada, unless the same conform to such requirements as the Governor in Council may by regulation prescribe; and that any carcass or portion or product thereof, or fruit or vegetable or products thereof, or food or food product, that does not conform to the requirements of sucih regulations shall, upofi condemnation by any inspector, he forfeit to His Majesty, and may be disposed of as the Minister may direct; and, further, that no article subject to inspection shall be offered or sold for export or import, or exported or imported, under any name intended or calculated to deceive as to its true nature; and that no package containing any article subject to inspection shall be marked with any label, brand or mark which falsely represents the quantity or weight or contents of such package; and that n* package containing any article subject to inspection shall be marked with any label, brand or mark which falsely represents the date when the articles or goods contained ^therein were packed.
Mr. BUREAU:
I think this is the longest resolution I have ever read, and if the object the minister wishes to attain is simply what he says, he could have attained it by a much shorter resolution. I understand the Minister of Agriculture does not want slaughterhouses doing business in the United States to import into this country meat which is not subject to the same regulation as the meat which is slaughtered in Canada. Is that one of the objects of the resolution?
Mr. ORERAR:
Not quite. We want to
put ourselves in the position that we can refuse admission to Canada of products not properly certified to by the inspection system of the country in which they originate.
Mr. BUREAU:
From which they issue?
Mr. ORERAR:
Yes, where they are manufactured.
Mr. BUREAU:
I thought the object was to make all such importations into Canada, subject to the same inspection as that to which the product of the Canadian manufacturer is subject to, and I think such a resolution would Ibe more equitable. >If the meat is to conform to the degree of inspection which is required by the country from which it comes, how are we [DOT]going to control it? I understand the minister to say that if meat is imported from the United States, he desires the United States standard to be applied to the meat so imported.
Mr. ORERAR f Yes.
Mr. BUREAU:
Why so? Does the minister not think it would be fair to apply to any commodity imported into Canada the same standard as is applied to the Canadian producer? If you are going to have a system of inspection for Canadian produce, why not subject the importation of similar produce to the same standard?
If we are going to consume imported products in Canada let us have one standard that will protect the consumer, and let it be the Canadian standard, instead of the standard of the exporting country.
Mr. ORERAR:
We can absolutely control our manufacture in Canada by our own system of inspection. We obviously cannot send our inspectors to the places where these goods are manufactured in the United States. We can examine their regulations as to the purity of the article manufactured in the United States, and if we are satisfied that those regulations sufficiently guard the purity of the goods, then we can admit the article under the certification that it is manufactured under such regulations.
Mr. BUREAU:
The resolution seems to go a little further than that. It says:
And also that no person shall offer or accept for export or import.
If a Canadian dealer is going to accept for import those goods coming from the United States, why not subject him to the same inspection as the man Who is producing in Canada? My hon. friend says we are going to examine their regulations, and if we find their regulations protect us sufficiently, why should we require an inspection on this side? My answer is that the regulations may be all right. You are making regulations in this country. Why do you appoint an inspector? Your regulations may be the best in the world, but what would those regulations be worth unless they were complied with? And how will you know they are complied with, unless you have your inspector who will inspect the produce and see that the produce which is offered on the market complies with the requirements enacted by my hon. friend's department for the protection of the consumer? That is what I think was intended by the resolution. Otherwise why should the words, " or offer for import " be necessary? It would only be necessary to say, " shall not be imported," if the theory of the hon. gentleman is to hold good. My objection is to the acceptance of any regulation made by the United States, and the fact that, if you find the regulations satisfactory you 'are going to conclude they have been complied with. It is not the regulation, so much as the compliance with it, that protects the consumer.
Mr. CRERAR:
Perhaps I am not making myself perfectly clear. As I understand it, it will work out in this way: the inspectors in the United States factories would inspect and supervise the manufacture of these articles.
Mr. BUREAU:
American inspectors?
Mr. CRERAR:
Yes, they would attach the certificate of the American regulations to the manufactured article, and the article could be imported upon such certification. At the present time the American manufacturers can ship into Canada goods that have no certification or inspection whatever.
Mr. BUREAU:
I understand that perfectly.
Mr. CRERAR:
Does my hon. friend suggest we should send our inspector to the United States to supervise the manufacture of these goods there?
Mr. BUREAU:
No. I say that before such goods are placed on the market, they should be subject to inspection of the Canadian inspector. If I go to the United States and buy twelve cars of beef-