Hon. HUGH GUTHRIE (Minister of Justice) moved that the house go into committee at the next sitting to consider the following proposed resolution: That it is expedient to amend the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Act to provide that military service in South Africa may be counted for the purposes of pension, and to make further provisions in respect to the application of penalties and to contributions to the dependents' pension fund. He said: His Excellency the Governor General, having been made acquainted with the subject matter of this resolution, recommends it to the favourable consideration of the house. Motion agreed to.
On the orders of the day:
Hon. IAN MACKENZIE (Vancouver Centre) :
Can the Minister of Pensions tell us, as far as he knows now, whether it is the intention of the government to introduce amendments to the Pension Act in addition to those indicated in the bill now before the house?
Hon. D. M. SUTHERLAND (Minister of Pensions and National Health):
I cannot answer that.
On the orders of the day:
Mr. THOMAS REID (New Westminster):
I have a question to direct to the Minister of Justice. What action is the government taking in regard to the Doukhobor prisoners being released or about to be released from Piers island who, having lost their homes and place in their own community-
Mr. McINTOSH:
And votes too.
Mr. REID:
-have now no place of abode?
Hon. HUGH GUTHRIE (Minister of Justice) :
My hon. friend gave me notice yesterday that he would ask this question and I have endeavoured to obtain the information. Originally at Piers island there were 575 Doukhobor prisoners, males 295, females 280. On the first day of January this year the present population of the island was, males 181, females 190, or a total of 371, so that 204 have already been released. I might mention
that under the Penitentiary Act no prisoner can be released between the first of September and the first of April without his consent. Some of them will not give consent even when ticket of leave is offered. Married men among the prisoners object to leaving until their wives are released, and vice versa. The sentences of these prisoners will expire by service of time about the first of July next. It is hoped that by that date we shall be in a position to close the prisons on Piers island. The law provides that on the release of a prisoner he shall receive a ticket back to the point at which he was convicted, and also the sum of $10 in cash. When each prisoner is released from the penitentiary the $10 and the transportation are paid to him. After that, there is no further responsibility upon the part of the dominion government. We do not know where these men intend to go or where they intend to settle. It is true that on one or two occasions the Attorney General of British Columbia has had conferences with members of the Department of Justice staff and various suggestions have been made in regard to the future of these people, but the attorney general has never informed us of any definite plan he has in regard to them and no agreement of any kind has been reached in Wspect of it. The hope is now that having served their prison terms they may not be in future guilty of the offences of which they were formerly guilty and for which they have served their terms.
Mr. E. R. E. CHEVRIER (Ottawa):
May I call the attention of the house to a change in Hansard and then ask the responsible minister, who I presume would bo the Secretary of State (Mr. Cahan), a question based on that? At the back of unrevised Hansard No. 5 of Wednesday last there appeared two notices, one in English and one in French. On the back of Hansard No. 6, the report of yesterday's proceedings, those notices do not appear. On the front of to-day's Hansard I find the name of Mr. George Simpson as editor, but there is nothing to show that there is a French editor; the name of Mr. Marcel Gabard, editor of French debates, does not appear. I would ask the minister whether that is one of the improvements as a result of his new bureau for translations.
Hon. C. H. CAHAN (Secretary of State):
This is the first time the matter has been called to my attention. I shall look into it and at an early date give an appropriate reply.
Business oj the House-Procedure
Mr. VINCENT DUPUIS (Laprairie-Napier-ville):
I rise to a question of privilege. In the Montreal newspaper La Presse of January 24 in an article headed "Un drapeau national pour notre dominion," I have been misquoted speaking on that question on the twenty-third. It is very unlikely, but maybe the translation has not been made correctly. On the twenty-third, speaking on this question, I said:
It is all very well to talk about flags and to advance a policy of flag waving for the next election, but to my mind there is something higher and more important than the emblem, no matter how interesting and worthy of respect it may be.
The newspaper quotes me as saying:
(Translation) Mr. Vincent Dupuis, Liberal, Laprairie-Napierville, asked that this question of a flag be forgotten.
I just wish that this should be corrected. BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
On the orders of the day: