Item agreed to. Supply-Public Works-Telegraph Lines Telephone line from Lillooet to Squamish, $23,250.
Mr. FRASER:
I understand that this is
a new line. Would the minister give the details?
Mr. McRAE:
Perhaps I might speak to this item as it happens to be in a district with which I am very familiar. The line is an extension from Lillooet to Squamish. That country has been opened u,p for some fifteen years and communities have been established along the railway line. The railway company, the Pacific Great Eastern, have been somewhat embarrassed by all the demands made on their system, and they have particularly requested to be relieved from the responsibility of providing a public service. They are so much concerned about the situation that they offered the use of their telegraph poles. The result is that a proposal has been made to the government that they should provide the wire in this district, which must necessarily become an integral part of the Dominion telegraph andi telephone system, and take over the service. I am quite sure the government will find that the service will be remunerative from the start. The matter has been before the government for many years, and I want to commend the minister for bringing down this vote, which will give to these communities extending over a distance of eighty or ninety miles the service which they have long sought.
Mr. FRASER:
There is only a very small office to accommodate the present staff at Lillooet. Necessarily, if you are going to build a new line, the work of the staff will be increased and additions to the staff will probably be necessary. Has the minister received any report from his officers as to the necessity for a new building in Lillooet to accommodate the additional staff necessary in connection with this extension ?
Mr. ELLIOTT:
We have had a request
of that kind, and it is receiving consideration.
Mr. FRASER:
My question was, has a
report been made to the minister by his officials as to the necessity of a new public building there?
Mr. ELLIOTT:
Yes.
Mr. FRASER:
That report is before the
minister?
Mr. ELLIOTT:
Yes.
Item agreed to. Yukon telegraph system-general repairs and improvements, $20,100.
Mr. FRASER:
What part of the Yukon
does this vote cover?
Mr. ELLIOTT:
This is for the Yukon main line from Ashcroft to Dawson.
Mr. FRASER:
The minister informed me last night that the first item covered that line.
Mr. ELLIOTT:
The item we were speaking of last night was for the northern part of British Columbia up to the Skeena.
Mr. FRASER:
But the minister said that
it was part of the Yukon system.
Mr. ELLIOTT:
Yes.
Mr. FRASER:
What part? From Ashcroft to Dawson is the whole system, and apparently', it is divided into two divisions.
Mr. ELLIOTT:
This is the Yukon division, and the one we were speaking of last night is the British Columbia division.
Mr. FRASER:
I do not quite understand
the minister, because it is the same line. The whole sy'stem extends from Ashcroft to Dawson, and apparently you have two divisions. Where is the dividing point between the two divisions?
Mr. ELLIOTT:
The first division is the
one that we were speaking of. last night, from Ashcroft to Hazelton, and the other is from Hazelton to Dawson.