Mr. ILSLEY:
I do not know whether I can give such a statement before the session ends. One cannot tell.
Mr. QUELCH:
Would the minister also, on some other item, say why he considered it undesirable to raise money by taxing advertising? I do not think he has answered that question.
Mr. ILSLEY:
It is not relevant here. It is not in order to discuss alternative taxes at a stage like this.
Mr. QUELCH:
But the minister himself has accused us of attempting to do away with certain taxes without suggesting some other source of revenue.
The ACTING CHAIRMAN (Mr. Fournier, Hull):
Order. I allowed the leader of the Social Credit group to discuss questions not relevant to the section, and he was followed by the hon. member for Temiscouata, who also was out of order. Now the hon. gentleman is continuing a discussion which is not relevant to section 15.
Mr. QUELCH:
Surely I am in order in asking whether there should not be an alternative way of raising revenue by placing a tax on advertising instead of on sugar. If the minister does not wish to answer that question now, he can do so on some other item. The committee is entitled to know why the government refuses to tax advertising.
Mr. ILSLEY:
I do not think I should like to give that undertaking. Perhaps it would be relevant on some item of my estimates, or something of that kind-
Mr. QUELCH:
Name the item. You choose the item.
Mr. ILSLEY:
I do not know whether there is an item or not.
Mr. QUELCH:
Does the minister mean to say that in a budget debate it is not relevant to ask such a question? That is nonsense.
Mr. ILSLEY:
We are talking about sugar. If I were to undertake to go into the merits and demerits of alternative taxes I do not know where we would end. I have been giving some consideration to the question of advertising, perhaps not as extensively as I should have done, and I can see great difficulties. But is there anything to be gained at this stage of the session, or this stage of the debate, by entering into a discussion of the pros and cons of some alternative tax, selected at random? I will take the hon. gentleman's
suggestion into consideration; it may be that we shall have to impose taxes on many things before this war is over; but why enter into an academic debate on some item that is not before the committee?
Mr. CASTLEDEN:
I should like to ask one relevant question. What would be the expected revenue from (a) and (b)?
Mr. ILSLEY:
For both of them-
Mr. CASTLEDEN:
I should like them separately, if possible.
Mr. ILSLEY:
We do not have them separately for the coming year, but we have the figures for last year. For 1940-41, the revenue from sugar was $11,637,094, and from glucose, $257,333.
Mr. CASTLEDEN:
What is expected under the increased rate?
Mr. ILSLEY:
In a full year there will be about $12,000,000 additional.
Section agreed to. Progress reported. It being five minutes after eleven o'clock, the house adjourned, without question put, pursuant to standing order. Monday, June 2, 1941.