Mr. MOTHERWELL:
Of creamery butter, Alberta ' produced 18,000,000 pounds, Saskatchewan 10,000,000 and Manitoba 10,000,000.
Mr. MARTELL:
Can the minister tell
us the position of the different creameries with regard to aid given to them? Are they all under the same equation as to aid given by the government?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
No. The only
aid ^ given has been to the experimental station at Finch. No assistance was given to the cheese or milk factories. That is a matter of provincial jurisdiction, excepting the experimental station at Finch. ~
Mr. MARTELL:
What province is that
in?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
Ontario.
Mr. MARTELL:
Why not give the same aid to experimental stations in other provinces?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
I do not know
what my predecessor had in mind, but I think he wanted the station near Ottawa where he could administer it conveniently and with the least possible expense. I suppose the idea was to try one out first. Then if that was successful and was an indication
of the type of factory that was considered suitable in other parts of the country, it was thought possible that these people would take their cue from that and establish similar factories wherever it was practicable. But these are hard times for making capital investment, and the result is that people are slow to take advantage of the examples that have been set. We have in mind the establishment of another station. If my hon. friend has any thought that it would be acceptable in Nova Scotia, I am prepared to entertain it.
Mr. MARTELL:
Perhaps you could make
a success of it in Hants.
Mr. TOLMIE:
Have you the figures for
the importation of butter?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
I have the figures
for the amount of butter brought in from New Zealand and Australia. The quantity from New Zealand was 1,893,312 pounds and from Australia 13,758 pounds. One of the reasons for the difference is that New Zealand gets the benefit of the. British preference, while we have no preferential arrangement with Australia.
Mr. WTHITE:
Are the figures for 1922
available?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
We have them
dating back to 1907. In 1922 the amount was from New Zealand, 2,268,760 pounds and, from Australia, 297,132 pounds. Nearly twice as much was brought in from New Zealand in 1922 as in 1923. We can go back further if my hon. friend desires it.
Mr. DOUCET:
Do we require a certain
grading when we buy foreign butter?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
We do just as other countries do with respect to our butter; we buy butter on the grade of the country from which it comes; and we hope that when they get familiar with our grades they will buy the same way, but as yet they are not sufficiently familiar with it to accept our grade at the face value, as they probably will later on.
Mr. DOUCET:
The minister said there
was a-preferential tariff on New Zealand butter coming in and that accounted for a larger importation from New Zealand than from Australia. Would it not be to the advantage of this country if the preference to New Zealand were wiped out in order to protect our own industry?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
The regular duty
on butter is 4 cents per pound and under the
Supply-A griculture
preference with New Zealand it is 3 cents. My hon. friend's query raises a budget question which I am sure he does not want to enter into now. Of course if one believes unreservedly in protection to an old industry like dairying one can easily find an argument for raising the duty from 4 cents to 8 cents to correspond with the duty against us going into the United States. The suggestion has its attractions but not to the consumer in Canada.
Mr. DOUCET:
I realize that the question does raise the subject of protection and I do not expect the minister to give a definite opinion this evening. But he might influence his colleagues into making a revision of the tariff when the proper time comes.
Mr. MARTELL:
Does the hon. gentleman want the fishermen who are not farmers in his county to pay a.;duty on butter?
Mr. DOUCET:
We are not discussing fish now; the subject is butter. It is as important to this industry to have protection as it is to make provision for dead insects as we have been doing all afternoon. In connection with this industry, w.ill the minister tell the committee what his department has been doing in the matter of contagious abortion?
Mr. MOTHERWELL:
That comes under the Health of Animals branch. I was reading an interesting bulletin on the subject during the dinner recess, but I do not think we could very well discuss it at the present stage.