Right Hon. R. B. BENNETT (Leader of the Opposition):

I should like to ask the

government whether or not we have transferred the seat of government from this parliament house in Ottawa to the province of Saskatchewan. I mean that very seriously; for the British North America Act provides that no money votes shall be dealt with until the approval of the governor general shall have been given, by message to the House of Commons, in which they must originate. Last evening in Saskatchewan it was announced by the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Gardiner) that 850,000,000 was to be appropriated by this parliament for housing matters, and that the appropriate legislation would be passed by parliament this session. In view of the provisions of the British North America Act, and knowing as I do the ability of this government to undertake almost anything that is unconstitutional, 1 am desirous of knowing whether or not the government had been transferred to Saskatchewan during the evening in order that the announcement might thus be made. My second question is whether or not His Excellency the Governor General has given his approval to such a statement being made on the hustings in Saskatchewan rather than in the House of Commons, as provided by the constitution.

Right Hon. ERNEST LAPOINTE (Acting Prime Minister):

The government of Cam

ada has certainly not been transferred to Saskatchewan. The only transfer that I know has been effected is the transfer there of the government of Alberta. As to campaign promises made there, I do not know of any; but if there have been any on the part of the Liberals of Saskatchewan they certainly pale into insignificance compared with the promises made by the other major party which is contesting the election there-I am not speaking of the lesser groups, of course. With regard to the assertion concerning a program of housing, while it was announced some time ago by the Minister of Labour (Mr. Rogers)-!-

Indian Act

Mr. BENNETT:

But he was very careful.

Mr. LAPOINTE (Quebec East):

-the amount I think has not been stated; I should be surprised if it has been stated definitely even in Saskatchewan. It must be an approximation.

Mr. BENNETT:

No. There is just one

observation that the Acting Prime Minister did not make that I hoped he would make. He said the government of Alberta had been transferred to Saskatchewan; there is not lacking evidence that resources have also been transferred to Saskatchewan.

Mr. LAPOINTE (Quebec East):

I do

not know about that. I have no experience in that.

Mr. BENNETT:

No!

Mr. W. R. MACDONALD (Brantford City):

Would the Minister of Justice tell the house whether it is proposed during this session to introduce legislation with regard to a treaty with the United States respecting the St. Lawrence waterway?

Right Hon. ERNEST LAPOINTE (Minister of Justice):

I do not expect any such speedy development. Obviously this new proposal, accompanied by a draft agreement, will have to be carefully considered and submitted to the interested parties, and it will require a good deal of work before anything can be submitted to the house. It will have to be first signed and accepted, so I do not see any prospect of anything during the present session of parliament.

Right Hon. R. B. BENNETT (Leader of the Opposition):

The Minister of Trade and Commerce (Mr. Euler) is not in his place, but I had intended to ask him a question, which will appear in Hansard and doubtless he will be able to answer on Monday.

I am in receipt of information that cars of wheat have been delivered recently in Saskatchewan, for instance at a station called Cole-ville, where a car is lying on the track. From the report of May 21, 1938, which is the last weekly statement furnished by the Canadian wheat board, which statements the minister has been good enough to file from time to

time in the office downstairs, the wheat board has received $9,000,000 on account of cash wheat sold to the Saskatchewan government, but apparently as of May 21 some 2,368,356'25 bushels still remained unsold. I suggest that the minister might indicate the policy of the government with respect to that, because apparently, according to the terms of the letter directed to the board, the government took over the whole of the wheat. That I think was the effect of it; they may not have intended to do so. I think it is important that we should know the situation. Apparently the amount of cash remaining in the hands of the board from the sale of the wheat that belonged to the board had risen to nearly $6,000,000, if not more.

I thought possibly the minister might make a statement indicating the exact position, from the standpoint of policy, dealing with the remainder of wheat on hand, because I think probably the seeding season is past. I fancy there will be no further distribution of grain this year for seed purposes in Saskatchewan.

Right Hon. ERNEST LAPOINTE (Minister of Justice):

The question of my right hon. friend will be called to the attention of the minister, and I am sure an answer will be given.