Mr. WOODSWORTH:

Well, this is the third session. The statement which I read was given in October, 1935, and we are getting well on into the third session. We have had a special commission dealing with the matter. The commission has reported. The government has had ample opportunity, even since this house has been in session, of drafting its plans. Yet what do we find? I am going to read one paragraph from this bill.

The governor in council may-

Note that. You may say it is a legal phrase, but it is very suggestive.

The governor in council may out of moneys appropriated by parliament authorize the execution of such undertakings as the governor in council may determine to be in the general . interest of Canada and requisite for the pur-

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poses of this act, and for such purposes may authorize the performance of such acts and the execution of such agreements and contracts as the governor in council may deem necessary and expedient.

That is all we have in this third year. The government may do something; the government is to have power to do something. This type of legislation introduced some years ago as emergency legislation is coming to be the regular thing, and in spite of protests throughout the session, in spite of persistent protests, which perhaps the government regards as unwarranted, we cannot get anything except "Oh well, wait until the supplementaries are down." I should like to know what is going to happen then. Last year we were told to wait until we received the report of the employment commission, and the wonder is that we have not been told to-day in connection with grants in aid that we shall have to wait until the Rowell commission reports. In the meantime the people are suffering and many of our municipalities are bankrupt. It is absolutely unreasonable that this house should be asked to accept these very general statements that have been made to-day with regard to what the government proposes to do in this matter, which even the minister himself suggests is about the most important before the country at the present time.

Mr. DUNNING:

The hon. gentleman says that nothing has been done outside this emergency legislation. I think he will be fair enough to admit that within the last two years $30,000,000 in connection with home building and home improvement has been spent in Canada, made possible by virtue of legislation apart altogether from this. My hon. friend says that that is nothing, but competent authorities say that eighty-five per cent of that $30,000,000 went into wages, and that must have contributed something towards easing the problem.

Mr. McIVOR:

It is a common practice on this side of the chamber to have a crack at the government, but that does not extend all the way across, and I hope that I shall always belong to that group of people who judge justly and give honour to whom honour is due. The statement has been put on Hansard frequently that this government has done nothing. As I see it, the function of the government is to pass legislation in the interest of the citizens. Before I came here this session I was asked most vigorously to encourage the Minister of Labour to keep on doing what he has been doing for the youth of Canada. No one can say that nothing was done last year for them. Much of the cause of unemployment at the head of the lakes, to whatever extent unemployment exists, was the lack of a crop in Saskatchewan and in the drought area in the western provinces. No one can stand up and say that nothing was done for Saskatchewan this spring, that no legislation was passed for that province in connection with fodder and feed and grain. I do not think that any man can be honest and make the statement that nothing has been done for Saskatchewan and Alberta.

What is the cause of unemployment? When we get that question clearly settled we shall be able to get somewhere. The Minister of Labour reminds me of a little fellow who used to do some boxing; when you thought you had him down he would -bob up again. I am glad to see the minister coming to the top so frequently, and if I may be pardoned a colloquial expression, I would urge him to step on the gas and continue the good work he is doing for the youth of the country. He will find that they are behind him. I would' also urge the government through him, or through some other source, to complete our great highway, and if possible, to do even more than has been done in connection with small houses, because in my opinion there is nothing that will create so much employment as the housing scheme.

Mr. BEAUBIEN:

May I offer a suggestion or two to the minister in connection with this bill, so that when the supplementary estimates are brought down he will have my views before him on a certain phase of the work that has been earned on up to the present time.

Last fall I had the pleasure of joining the minister when he visited my riding and inspected the youth camps that were established in the Sandilands forest reserve. Three camps were established there under an agreement with the province. They entailed an expenditure of $100,000. There was accommodation in each of them for ninety young men. When the minister visited the riding we went to these camps together, and the boys there gave him a reception of which I think he ought to be proud. It was a reception that told him that these boys appreciated what he as Minister of Labour and his efficient staff were trying to do in order to solve a part of the youth problem. There were 270 boys in the three camps. They were paid 21 cents an hour and the work they did was really beyond anything I expected myself in the way of clearing fire hazards. That is something that is greatly beneficial to any forest reserve. The work instilled a sense of discipline in the boys and made them feel

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that they had some responsibility and were playing a part in the affairs of Canada. Personally I take a very deep interest in these camps, not because I expect any political advantage, but because I think they are a splendid thing. The boys were well disciplined, they had a keen sense of their responsibility, and in talking with the officials in charge of the camps I discovered that nearly seventy-five per cent of the wages they were receiving after their board had been paid was assigned to their dependents either in Winnipeg or wherever they had come from. After paying their board they had $16 or $17 left for the month and nearly seventy-five per cent of that was sent to their dependents.

Mr. ROGERS:

And that was done voluntarily.

Mr. BEAUBIEN:

Yes, there was no compulsion about it. When the minister brings down his supplementary estimates, after the house has allowed him to pass this bill authorizing him to do so, I hope he will not forget to give these boys full consideration. I hope he will increase the grants in order to continue these camps and so take care of our youth. In my opinion, the plan of forestry camps is one of the best schemes for the youth of Canada undertaken by this government, and I wish to commend the minister. I would ask him not to forget to increase the amount when he brings down his estimates.

Mr. PERLEY:

This bill provides that the dominion government may authorize the execution of certain undertakings in the provinces. We should have a more definite statement from the minister with regard to projects that may be undertaken in the provinces. The season is getting late and road work and other development work should start. Surely the provincial governments and the government here at Ottawa have conferred on these matters.

The hon. member for Temiscouata (Mr. Pouliot) on behalf of the minister invited suggestions. I am therefore going to make a few suggestions regarding projects which if carried out would be of benefit not only to the provinces but to the whole dominion.

I suggest that the government should undertake the establishment or development of several national parks, particularly in Saskatchewan. I shall mention only one or two, although there are many parts of the province where parks could be established. First there is the Moose Mountain district. That district is in the constituency of the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Gardiner), so I know I shall have his support in this anyway. The Moose

[Mr. Beaubien.j

Mountain district is very picturesque, well treed, with many fresh water lakes teeming with fish, and among visitors from the United States it is fast becoming a popular summer resort. Then in the Qu'Appelle valley near or surrounding the Qu'Appelle lakes is an excellent locality for a national park. The winding Qu'Appelle valley is one of the beauty spots of Saskatchewan, and is already a popular summer resort, United States visitors coming even that far north.

In order to get to these parks, when they are established, roads will be necessary. I suggest the construction of hard-surfaced roads north from the United States boundary through the Moose Mountain district, connecting with No. 9 highway and proceeding north to the Qu'Appelle valley, entering the Qu'Appelle valley at the foot of Crooked lakes, and winding right up to Fort Qu'Appelle. It should be hard-surfaced at least as far north as the Qu'Appelle valley. It would cross No. 1 highway near the main line of the Canadian Pacific railway, and tourist traffic could then turn either east or west; it would at least be in the province. Building and hard-surfacing the roads and development of the parks would provide work for thousands of men now unemployed.

I have here a statement of what the tourist trade meant last year to Quebec-$77,000,000 to that one province; so it is easy to see what it must mean to the whole country. I quote from a speech made in Regina on Monday last by Governor Langer of North Dakota, to representatives of boards of trade and the Saskatchewan motor club. It is recorded that Premier Patterson was there and Hon. Mr. Dunn, the minister of highways. The governor of North Dakota condemned the highways in Saskatchewan as disgraceful. That is something for us to consider, that the governor of a state just to the south should come to Regina and declare that the roads in Saskatchewan are a disgrace. He stated that last year tourist traffic had brought $10,000,000 to the state of North Dakota. He said it was only logical and right to suggest that the province of Saskatchewan endeavour to get this tourist traffic to come further north, but he said that when tourists enter Canada at the southern boundary they go a few miles and then turn back discouraged by road conditions. This is something that we should take into consideration. Such a project would mean much not only to Saskatchewan but to other parts of the dominion as well. I know the Minister of Finance regards the tourist trade as very important, and it would be a great help to Saskatchewan to develop tourist traffic there. The government would do well

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to consider this suggestion and assist the provincial government by spending money on projects such as this.

Mr. WARREN:

As a new member of this house I have had very little to say, but I have listened-sometimes with interest, and sometimes otherwise-to a great many speeches since coming here. We on this side have been keeping rather silent regarding this question of unemployment, but we have heard innumerable speeches on it from the opposite side. Anyone who is fortunate or unfortunate enough to be getting copies of Hansard would form the impression that this dominion is teeming with unemployed men and women and with men, women and children who are not properly clothed or housed or fed.

Mr. JOHNSTON (Bow River):

Isn't that a fact?

Mr. WARREN:

If it is I am not aware of it. Certainly it is not in my riding. Where are they? I should like hon. members who are always telling us of these .people in dire distress to tell me just where they are.

Mr. JOHNSTON (Bow River):

Read the report of the welfare board in Ottawa and you will find out.

Mr. WARREN:

Well, let us take Ottawa. How is it that young men from the counties around Ottawa can come right in from the farms and pick up jobs here in the summer? Why is it that girls from the counties around Ottawa can come in and get jobs any time they want, at good pay? Go into the country in the Ottawa valley and look for young men who cannot get a job. I do not know where they are. Our farm boys can ge.t jobs anywhere in the country.-

Oh, oh.

Mr. WARREN:

Well, take my own riding. I was elected in the spring of last year, and any time I visited Pembroke after my election I would meet numbers of men supposed to be unemployed looking for jobs. But I could go out through the farming districts and never hear a word of unemployment. Our boys go out and find their own jobs, and our girls do the same. I met two girls on the -train a couple of weeks ago, and I knew as soon as I saw them that they must have come from Renfrew county; they do not grow girls like that in the cities. They told me they come in here in the fall after working on the farm in the summer and can choose jobs out of seven or eight offered and go to work immediately at $35 a month with board and lodging. I could take you to one restaurant in this city where three sisters

from one of the farms out here in Russell county are working at good pay; at least when they come out of the door you see them dolled up in fine fur coats.

If you want me to I can tell you just why you have so many young people asking for relief in the cities. Here is an example. I mentioned the two girls I met on the train, who were working in the city. One of them had to go home for Christmas. Her mistress was a very fine woman to work for, and she went to a family on relief in the city where there was a girl eighteen or twenty years of age, and offered that girl $1.50 a day to come and stay with her during those two weeks. The girl came. She was no good but the woman wanted her to stay anyway. She would not stay; she went back on relief. These young people from the farms get jobs because they are not only willing to work; they are eager to work. They attack their work with eagerness, and because they have that ambition they can come right in and take jobs from under the noses of people living in cities and towns.

They must be Liberals.

Mr. WARREN:

They are good people, anyway. I think it is a godsend to men or women to have been brought up on a farm where they learned how to work without depending on the government to support them. That is one of the curses of the situation we are drifting into; we are sending out propaganda all over the country getting people to think that the federal government should take charge of all their worries, instead of educating our people to use their own initiative to make a living.

Mr. LANDERYOU:

Where can they get work? .

Mr. WARREN:

How do our boys get work? They just drift away and get jobs anywhere they want them. I can tell you that as far as North Renfrew is concerned there was not an employable unemployed man getting relief for the last six months of last year.

Mr. LANDERYOU:

That is a small section of Canada.

Mr. WARREN:

Perhaps it is, but when will we ever get rid of relief? The suggestion is that the federal government ought to assume the responsibility, and we had the mayors of the cities getting together and insisting that the federal government take over all this burden of relief. When will we ever get rid of it? Take all the responsibility off the municipalities and you will have relief forever. In the township in which I live, and

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in most of the townships in North Renfrew, we never went on relief; we were afraid to start it because we thought we might never get it stopped. There were times when we could have put a third of the township on relief if we had wished; they were just as deserving as a great many other people on relief, but we did not do it, and we pulled through. If we ran across needy cases we looked after them out of our own township funds, rather than have the reputation of going on relief, and I could tell you of villages that did the same thing. I remember one case in particular, where we fought for a year or two to keep a certain family off relief. Finally the man's house was burned down and he flitted away; but before he flitted away he bought a brand new Ford car to go away with. Recently that man went through our municipality with a trailer behind his car and his wife sitting at the table all dolled up with a nice new permanent, doing fancywork. Just the other day, however, I received the greatest shock of my life when, as reeve of Wilberforce township, I received a bill charging us with $192 for relief for this man, who had drifted into a city or town where he had been able to pull the wool over the eyes of the authorities. He was a young man, able to do. any kind of work.