Mr. GILLIS:

It is no surprise to me, after listening to the hon. gentleman, to find * out

exactly why Nova Scotia ends at Halifax. It is also not surprising that everything east of Halifax is back about fifty years in comparison with the rest of Canada. The hon. member makes the observation that he has heard this question of bridging the strait of Canso raised in this house for a number of years. I raised it two years ago, and it would be very handy to-day as a war measure. I think the hon. gentleman either misunderstood what I said or has attempted deliberately to put another construction on my words. He seldom speaks in the house until someone else bases an argument for him. I notice he is touchy when one begins to analyse Dominion Iron and Steel and Coal. Perhaps he is closer to them than I am.

Mr. KINLEY:

No; I am not.

Mr. GILLIS:

When he sets himself up as their defender with respect to the marketing of coal in the United States I say that he deliberately misconstrued what I said.

Order.

Mr. KINLEY:

The hon. member cannot say that I deliberately misconstrued what he said. I did not intend to misconstrue anything.

Withdraw.

Mr. GILLIS:

What is the matter? Withdraw what?

The ACTING CHAIRMAN (Mr. Ross, Calgary East):

The hon. member should withdraw his charge that' the hon. member deliberately misconstrued his remarks.

Mr. GILLIS:

I will withdraw. When the hon. member tries to ring in the question of subventions, which he knows is a touchy one in Nova Scotia, he does it for political purposes. I did not mention subventions in any way, shape or form. I realize that the fuel situation in Canada was an emergency, but apparently he does not. When I suggested the transfer of markets I did so in order to facilitate Canada's war effort. I was not thinking in terms of after the war or profits for corporations or subventions or anything along those lines. Some of my hon. friends who preach a good-neighbour policy seem to have very little faith in that policy. They say that we may not be able to do this after the war; that we may not be able to do that after the war. If we do not get busy and do something about the war, we shall not have anything to say about what we shall or shall not do when the war is over.

I mentioned the transfer of markets as something that would take care of what I considered was an emergency fuel situation.

War Appropriation

I have no criticism to make of the audit that was made except to say that one cannot examine Dominion Iron and Steel and Coal and determine the wages of coal by simply making a partial examination of the coal end.

Mr. MITCHELL:

I might say to my hon. friend-and this is not said in any spirit of criticism-that there was no objection by the miners. They did not raise the contention he has raised. They asked for the audit, and there was general agreement that the company that was employed was a fair company. The thought the hon. gentleman has brought into the discussion was never raised before the national war labour board.

Mr. GILLIS:

The workers representatives are far from satisfied with the decision of the board. The argument I am making to-night is my own, based upon my knowledge of the situation. My criticism of the audit was not that the auditors were incompetent-

Mr. KINLEY:

I did not say that.

Mr. GILLIS:

The minister implied it. My criticism was not that they did not do the job they were sent to do. I simply observed that one cannot determine the ability of the Dominion Coal Company to pay without considering their twenty-six subsidiary organizations across the country. They can transfer capital from one to the other; they can plough back money from coal into steel, into wire nails, into timberlands, into railroads and shipping or into anything else that they control and show it as operating costs against coal. If you do not probe coal and steel and consider their relationship to the subsidiary organizations, you do not get a true picture of the financial standing.

I think it is a small job for a member from Nova Scotia to sit down with his pencil and attempt to pick flaws in anything I may have said with reference to the interests of the province. Dominion Iron and Steel and Coal has a large staff of experts who are quite capable of taking care of their interests without that kind of cooperation from a member from Nova Scotia. I do not care where a member sits in this house or to what party he belongs; if he is advocating something in the interests of Canada, I am with him.

Mr. KINLEY:

Does the hon. member not believe in free discussion? I was most courteous to him and simply pointed out that the subventions had enabled us to get coal into these markets. I suggested that if we wanted to get United States coal into this country, all we needed to do was to take off the subvention.

I said that I did not think the people of Nova Scotia wanted the subventions taken off.

Mr. GILLIS:

The hon. member fails to recognize the fact that the mines in Nova Scotia are working only three days a week.

Mr. KINLEY:

Take away the subvention and how many will they work?

Mr. GILLIS:

The hon. member has not the slightest idea of what he is talking about. You are subsidizing United States coal right now into those two markets and you are rationing your fuel.

Section stands.

Progress reported.