Mr. SPEAKER:

I have the honour to inform the house that I have received notification of a vacancy having occurred in the representation of the electoral district of Maisonneuve in the province of Quebec, consequent upon the death of the sitting member therefor, Mr. Clement Robitaille.

I have accordingly addressed my warrant to the chief electoral officer for the issue of a writ.

Right Hon. R. B. BENNETT (Prime Minister):

Will Your Honour be good enough to state the date of that notification?

Mr. SPEAKER:

My recollection is the document was received on the date it is dated, namely April 6, 1932.

Right Hon. R. B. BENNETT (Prime Minister):

Last Friday the right hon. leader of the opposition (Mr. Mackenzie King) asked a question with respect to the vacancy in the representation for the constituency of Maisonneuve. I find it a little difficult to understand why the inquiry was made in that form, inasmuch as the provisions of the

House of Commons Act set out the method by which the Speaker is to be advised of a vacancy. Two members did sign a notice addressed to the Speaker regarding this vacancy on April 6; on April 7 the chief whip of the opposition addressed a letter to the Speaker of the house in the following words:

Enclosed please find notice in due form signed by two members of the House ot Commons, Messrs. St-Pere and Deslauriers, advising you of the vacancy which occurred m the representation in the House of Commons, for the electoral district of Maisonneuve, by reason of the death of Mr. Clement Robitaille, K.C., of Montreal, member of the House ot Commons for the electoral district of Maisonneuve, and asking you to issue a new writ for the election of a member to fill such vacancy, in accordance with the provisions of section 10 of chapter 145, entitled "An Act respecting the House of Commons,' revised statutes of Canada, 1927.

In due course that letter was received by the Speaker, who on April 8 wrote the chief electoral officer enclosing the request in due form for the making out of a new writ for the election of a member to serve in the present parliament in the electoral district of Maisonneuve, Quebec. On April 9 the chief *electoral officer wrote the Speaker acknowledging receipt of the notice. It follows that on Friday last, which was the 8th, the chief electoral officer had not acknowledged receipt of the notification of the death of the sitting member and of the direction to issue a writ accordingly, although the question was asked on Friday. It was not until the Speaker received the notification, which for some reason best known to hon. gentlemen opposite was not given previously, that the notice was sent to the chief electoral officer. The chief electoral officer was notified on Saturday last; to-day the Speaker made known to the house the fact that this had been done, so the government had no opportunity before Saturday last of learning that notification had been made as provided by law.

In the case of Athabaska the notice required by law was given by two members of parliament and, owing to climatic conditions to which reference was made, the writ was issued immediately for the poll. As hon. gentlemen doubtless have noticed, that poll was much larger than the one at the general election, and I was told-and I believe it is true- that it would be impossible to hold an election in that constituency during certain seasons of the year, owing to the difficulty of moving over the land when it is not frozen, or until it has dried out after the spring thaw. Therefore the writ was issued for that constituency in order to have the election before spring came on.

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I think with this explanation it will be apparent to the house that not until to-day was the government in a position to take any action which might be desired with respect to Maisonneuve.

Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Leader of the Opposition):

The statement

just made by the Prime Minister would leave the impression that an obligation existed in law on the opposition to bring to the attention of the Speaker any vacancy existing in the House of Commons. The law is that any two members of the house may notify his honour the Speaker of the fact that a vacancy exists, and my question arose out of some surprise which we on this side felt that no member or supporter of the government had drawn to the attention of his honour the fact that a vacancy existed in the constituency of Maisonneuve and that the session was being allowed to go by with no endeavour made to fill that vacancy. The opposition took the course it did take at the end of last week because it became only too apparent that unless we moved in the matter the vacancy would in all probability not be filled, but there was no obligation resting on any member of the opposition to draw the existence of the vacancy to the attention of the Speaker.

Mr. BENNETT:

In order that there may

be no misapprehension let me repeat that any two members of the house can give the notice, but I challenge the right hon. gentleman to name any case in which notice has not been given by the opposition with respect to vacancies existing in constituencies formerly represented by members of their party. That always has been done; it has become a sort of custom.

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

In answer to

that challenge I may say that I remember many occasions during the time I was Prime Minister, having vacancies in constituencies brought to our attention, and where we took action as a government without waiting for the opposition to give the notification.

1. What was the total cost of the Stamp commission, appointed by the government to investigate the trading in futures?

2. What amounts were paid to each of the

three commissioners: (a) for fees; (b) for

expenses ?

Mr. BENNETT:

The answer to the first

question, Mr. Speaker, is $9,21822, but that does not include any expenditures by way of salaries to permanent officials of the Departs ment of External Affairs.

In answer to the second question, no sum was paid for fees to any of the commissioners, but for expenses Sir Josiah Stamp received $2,120.57; Chief Justice Brown, $1,198.16; Mr. W. S. Evans, $1,101.73. Sir Josiah Stamp declined to accept any fee for his services, and, as has been intimated, a piece of plate was presented to him. Chief Justice Brown expects to be paid some small honorarium for his services, an appropriation for which will be included in the supplementary estimates, no amount having been determined.

In answer to the third question, the only legal adviser employed was Mr. S. T. Sweat-man, K.C. He has not yet been paid for his services. For expenses he received S988.50.

That is the only information at the moment that I can give the hon. gentleman, except to repeat that the disbursements do not include the salaries of the permanent officials of the Department of External Affairs, who, especially in the person of Mr. Pearson, gave some services to the commission.

1. Have any representations been made by the province of British Columbia or any official of any department of the province of British Columbia, suggesting or asldng the Dominion government to consider the advisability of depleting the salmon in the Fraser river in the event of the salmon treaty now before the United States government not being agreed to?

2. If so, are any such suggestions or recommendations being seriously considered by the Dominion government?

Mr. BENNETT:

The answer is no, Mr. Speaker, unless the hon. gentleman includes an official letter written by one of the officials in western Canada to a gentleman in Ottawa. No representations have been made in the sense in which the question is asked.

1. How many new factories located in Canada during each year from 1921 to 1930?

2. How many factories closed their doors, each year from 1921 to 1930?

3. How many new factories located in Canada from September 1, 1930, to date?

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