Hon. J. L. ILSLEY (Minister of Finance):

Mr. Speaker, on the orders of the day yesterday the hon. member for Temiscouata (Mr. Pouliot) asked when the publications regarding housing will be ready for distribution, and also asked what was going on in regard to the government's housing policy.

All parts of the National Housing Act, except part IV which relates to home improvement and home extension loans, were proclaimed on January 18, of this year. While conditions are not altogether propitious for home building because of wartime scarcities of labour and materials, it was considered desirable that the lower interest rates and the higher percentage loans provided under the act should be made available as soon as possible for those who are able to build. Temporary limits have been placed on the value of single dwellings and apartment blocks that may be financed under the act in order to use scarce labour and materials to best advantage in supplying additional housing. In the ease of single dwellings these limits are: $6,000 for a single house with one or two bedrooms, $7,000 for a house with three bedrooms, and S8,000 for a house with four or more bedrooms.

As hon. members are aware, loans under parts I and II of the housing act are joint loans, twenty-five per cent being furnished by the government and seventy-five per cent by approved lending institutions. To date twenty-eight lending institutions-including insurance, trust and loan companies and mortgage institutions-have signed agreements with the government and 817 applications for

housing loans submitted through them have been approved by the national housing administration. An additional 256 applications have been received and are in process of being investigated. On the average about seventeen applications are being received daily.'

Part IV of the National Housing Act, relating to home improvement and home extension loans, is not being proclaimed for the time being because it is considered that the limited supplies of labour and materials which are available can be used to better advantage in the provision of additional housing than in the repair and modernization of existing houses.

I regret that the hon. member for Temiscouata has had difficulty in procuring literature about the housing act. The regulations and the act have, of course, been available for some time in both English and French and can be obtained on application, but it is recognized that explanatory material is also necessary and several booklets are now in course of preparation. I understand that the English version of the first of these booklets, which deals with loans to home owners, will be available within the next day or two, and that the French version is in type and should be printed within two weeks.

CANADIAN ARMY disturbances at drummondville and

Hon. H. A. BRUCE (Parkdale):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to ask a question of the Minister of Justice (Mr. St. Laurent). In view of the responsibility of the Department of Justice for the maintenance of law and order, will the minister say what action he took in regard to the breaking of the law by a mob at Drummondville, Quebec, some weeks ago? Did he consider such action adequate to prevent a recurrence of such unlawful acts? What action has been taken in regard to the alleged beating up of three provost corps men at Gatineau Mills, Quebec, by a gang of forty or fifty men? What action has been taken against the constable at Gatineau Mills, who is alleged to have sat idly by and watched the law being broken?

Mr. SPEAKER:

May I see that question,

please?

Mr. MACKENZIE (Vancouver Centre):

Ask the Globe and Mail.

Mr. GRAYDON:

That would be a lot more sensible than asking you, anyway.

Mr. MACKENZIE (Vancouver Centre) :

You don't know anything about it.

San Francisco Conference

Mr. SPEAKER:

While I do not intend to apply too strictly the rules respecting questions asked on the orders of the day, in view of the fact that we may be here for only some days, yet where questions are not of extreme urgency-as I think this one is not-they should be placed upon the order paper. This question should certainly be placed on the order paper.

Mr. MACKENZIE (Vancouver Centre):

May I suggest that Your Honour examine the question very carefully to see whether it does not contain statements of fact.

Mr. SPEAKER:

I notice that in paragraph 1 of the question there is a statement of fact which should not appear in a question. It reads:

In view of the responsibility of the Department of Justice for the maintenance of law and order . , .

This is a statement of fact which under our rules is not allowed to appear in a question. The question should be framed to meet the rules.

Mr. HANSON (York-Sunbury):

I suggest that it be changed.

Mr. BRUCE:

I should be quite willing to change it now.

Mr. SPEAKER:

I think the hon. member should change the form of his question and place it on the order paper.

Mr. GRAYDON:

May I suggest that what Your Honour said with respect to granting some latitude is well taken. We will not have very long before the end of the session and there seems to be a disposition sometimes on the part of government to place this whole session in a strait-jacket. This is just an ordinary question that is being asked.

Mr. MACKENZIE (Vancouver Centre):

It is not an ordinary question; it is wrong.

Mr. GRAYDON:

I cannot see any reason why it should not be answered by the Minister of Justice. More than that, I wish when a member is speaking that the rules of the house would be observed by the members of the government. Surely we ought to be able to be heard at least. It has got to the point where when anyone on the opposition side rises on any question of dispute it is difficult for him to be heard. That sort of thing should not be tolerated in a democratic assembly.