Sir LOMER GOUIN (Minister of Justice) :

Reference was made yesterday by the leader of the Opposition (Mr. Meighen) to a question which was put to the Government some days ago in regard to a certain judgment which was rendered by the Court of Appeal of Manitoba in connection with the Canada Grain Act. As soon as I came into possession of the judgment and the notes of the judges I studied the case. I had a conference with my colleague the Minister of Trade and Commerce (Mr. Robb) and the member for Saltcoats (Mr. Sales), to whom I intimated my views of the case. They both requested an opportunity of meeting the members of the board before anything should be decided upon. I acceded to the request and was governed accordingly. The members of the board, I may say, arrived in Ottawa this morning, or last night. This morning they had a conference with the Minister of Trade and Commerce at which I understand, the member for Saltcoats was also present. They informed me a few minutes before the opening of the House to-day that they had not yet arrived at any final decision but would come to a conclusion during the course of the day. To-morrow, therefore, I hope to be in a position to make a statement to the House as to what decision the Government will take in the matter.

Supply Bill

Mr. HARRY LEADER (Portage la Prairie):

I desire to call the attention of

the House and of the Government to a matter of great concern to the province of Manitoba. I refer to the overflowing of the river Assiniboine. As hon. members have no doubt read in the papers, a great deal of land has been flooded in the constituency of Brandon, and the destruction has spread further east until now Portage la Prairie, which I have the honour to represent, is affected. I have no definite information as to the total destruction caused by the flood, but it will be seen from the press reports that considerable damage has already been done. Carcasses of horses, cattle and pigs, and the wreckage of granaries and outbuildings are to be seen floating down the river. Last night I sent a telegram to the editor of The Free Press at Winnipeg with a view to securing some information that I might submit to Parliament, but unfortunately I have not yet received an answer. However, as I have said, considerable damage has been done already, and perhaps there will be further destruction still. I would not bring this matter to the attention of the House if I did not think it my duty to do so. I believe that the federal government in the past has spent sums of money in building dykes along this river to keep back the flooding waters in the spring. I do not know how much they have spent for the purpose, but the fact is that they have expended money on this work, and I believe they assumed responsibility for the waters flooding the country. I have nothing to suggest, but I think it would be all right if the Government would

Mr. SPEAKER:

Order. I would ask the hon. member to kindly put his question to the Government as tersely as possible. There can be no argument on the Orders of the Day.

Mr. LEADER:

The question I would ask the Government is this: Do they intend to do anything to alleviate the sufferings of those people along the Assiniboine river?

Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister) :

I would inform my hon. friend (Mr. Leader) that the Government has already taken notice of the matter to which he refers. The hon. Minister of Public Works (Mr. King) has had a re-

port made by the officers of his department, and the hon. Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Motherwell) has already advised the provincial authorities that any officers of his department in the West will be available for such services as it may be in their power to render. The matter is receiving the attention of the Government; more than that I cannot say at the moment.

Mr. LEADER:

I am pleased to accept the hon. Prime Minister's statement, and I hope he will be able to do something for those settlers.

Mr. CALDWELL:

Mr. SPEAKER:

Evidently the error is copied from the Votes and Proceedings. It shall be corrected.

Mr. CALDWELL:

If this item is copied from the estimate there may be a possibility of similar mistakes occurring. The items are read so rapidly that it is impossible to follow them from the Estimates; one has to rely on his memory.