Mr. MANION:

I do not know offhand [DOT]

that I can show my hon. friend the section,

but I still maintain that the trustees are in exactly 'the same position with regard to the abandonment of lines as are 'the directors under the legislation which exists at the moment. Dealing only with section- 23 of the Canadian National act, I say that the trustees will be in exactly the same position in having to go 'before the board as the directors are now. That is my claim.

Mr. MACKENZIE (Vancouver):

Will the minister show me where that appears in the act? I understood him to say that the trustees were in the same position as the directors of the Canadian National Railways in regard to obtaining the consent of the governor in council-

Mr. MANION:

I did not say that.

Mr. MACKENZIE (Vancouver):

I understood him to say that the board of trustees under this legislation was in exactly the same position as the directors of the Canadian National Railways under the Canadian National Act and I submit that that -is not so. Even though 'the minister may find some section here which I cannot find, which might make it desirable for the trustees to go before the Board of Railway Commissioners, there is nothing in this legislation that makes it necessary for them to obtain the consent of the governor in council in regard to the abandonment of a single branch line.

Mr. MANION:

I am informed by the

legal advisers that there is nothing in this act that takes away reference to the governor in council so far as the trustees are concerned.

Mr. MACKENZIE (Vancouver):

Then

will the minister agree to the representations made on this side of the house to have a specific clause inserted that will maintain the right of endorsation. by the governor in council.

Mr. BENNETT:

There should be certain fundamental principles to apply to the case. First, if I followed the hon. gentleman fairly, and I think I did, let me ask: Where in this bill do you find any section that provides that section 23 of the Canadian National Railway * Act does not apply?

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

In what the Prime Minister has said this evening with regard to subsection 6 of section 9, he gives an entirely different interpretation of the measure from that which all of us on this side of the house had given it up to the time he spoke. If he wishes to be understood in the light of what he has just said, I will say at once that many of the objections which we have to the measure are removed; we want, however to have the point made perfectly clear. As

Official Report of Debates

we have understood the subsection up to the present time, we have taken it to mean that all provisions in the former act, which require consent on the part of the governor in council to certain actions by the trustees, were being wholly removed, and that no order, regulation, by-law, act, decision or proceeding of the trustees shall require the approval of His Majesty. We were reading that in absolute terms as referring to all acts-any act of the trustees. As I now understand it the Prime Minister interprets the section as follows: No order, regulation, by-law, act, decision or proceeding of the trustees, in so far as it relates to this section and this section only, shall require the approval of His Majesty or that of any other shareholder of any company to which this section applies.

Mr. BENNETT:

That is not what I said. I desired to convey to the committee this meaning: that His Majesty, here, was referred to as a shareholder-"or that of any other shareholder''-and that the rule ejusdem generis applies, namely, that where you have the words "His Majesty" they must mean His Majesty as a shareholder, because that is clearly what is meant. All our legislation is based on the assumption that the shareholders must express their approval. For instance, in the Canadian National Railways Act there is a list of several pages of companies-a page and a half-to which it applies; and under the general law, whenever certain acts or bylaws have to be made effective, the shareholders must be called together to give approval. Now, we have provided in subsection 6 that no order, regulation, by-law, act, decision or proceeding of the trustees shall require the approval of His Majesty or that of any other shareholder of any company to which this section applies.

Progress reported.