Hon. ERNEST LAPOINTE (Minister of Justice):

I desire to lay on the table of the house a return asked for by the hon. member for Leeds (Mr. Stewart), namely, a list of all the persons who have written to the department asking for disallowance of the Power Commission Act, 1935, Ontario. As regards the other part of the order-those who have written to oppose it-the list is nil.

Mr. MACKENZIE KING:

I suppose this had better stand until Monday.

Motion stands.

Mr. CRERAR:

The amendment to this legislation is very slight. In 1933 legislation was put through the house giving power to apply what was known as the dollar for dollar bonus privilege to soldier settlers in making their payments on lands which they had held from the director of soldier settlement administration. This legislation simply extends the period over which they may take advantage of that privilege from March 31, 1936, to March 31, 1938.

Mr. NEILL:

I have been asked by a body of soldier settlers in the district I represent

to ask if this legislation could not be extended five years. They claim that owing to the depression, which cannot be denied, they have been able to take but comparatively little advantage of the existing act, and that if the extension is for only two years they will find themselves in the same condition two years hence, as there is no possibility of things improving so rapidly as to enable them to get ahead to meet these payments. They ask if it could not be arranged now to extend the period for five years, so that they would have something definite towards which they could work, and make their arrangements accordingly.

Mr. CRERAR:

I think there is something to be said for that request, but after giving consideration to the question of extension for a longer period we decided that perhaps on the whole it would be best to ask for only two years' extension. If the conditions that exist two years from now make it advisable to extend the period for another year, or two or three years, it can always be done by a very simple amendment to the act. On the other hand I think it is desirable that those who are in a position to make payments should make them, and I do not think any very serious injury will be done to those for whom the hon. member for Comox-Alberni (Mr. Neill) speaks by enacting into law the measure as it now stands. It can always be further extended should that be considered desirable.

Mr. STEWART:

As I understand it, the soldier settler who pays one dollar gets credit for an additional dollar on his indebtedness; that is the effect of the existing legislation.

Mr. CRERAR:

Yes.

Has the minister available the number who have taken advantage of the legislation, and the amounts paid in, by provinces?

Mr. CRERAR:

I am afraid I have not

before me a note of the number who have taken, advantage of it. It has been operative from 1933, when the legislation was passed, until March 31 of the present year, 1936. During that time payments received subject to bonus from the soldier settlers were 82,430,660.22. The bonus credited to date on those payments amounts to SI,648,485.14. There was a provison in the legislation passed in 1933 that before a soldier could avail himself of the bonus privilege he had to have his taxes and his insurance paid; consequently there' is a further amount of $782,175.80 to be credited when taxes and insurance are paid. The experience in the administration, I am told by the officials, is that where the soldiers

Soldier Settlement Act

could take advantage of it, that is where they had some crops, where they had some income which provided them with cash in hand to take advantage of it, they did so. Cases where this could not be done were those where crops suffered severely from drought or rust or other adverse conditions, and their income was insufficient to enable them to take advantage of the legislation. We hope by extending it for two years to enable them to take advantage of the provision that was embodied in the legislation of 1933.