Hon. L. S. ST. LAURENT (Acting Secretary of State for External Affairs): Mr. Speaker, I should like to inform the house of the composition of the Canadian delegation to the preparatory commission of the united nations organization, which will meet in London on November 23.
United Nations-Preparatory Commission
Following the pattern adopted for the delegation to the San Francisco conference-and I think I can say that it is felt on both sides of the house that this was a very successful pattern-the government has decided to appoint a delegation representative of both houses of parliament and of both sides of this house. The chairman of the delegation will be Mr. L. D. Wilgress, Canadian Ambassador in Moscow, who attended the San Francisco conference as an alternate delegate. The parliamentary members of the delegation will be the Hon. A. K. Hugessen, from the senate; the hon. member for Lisgar (Mr. Winkler); the hon. member for Peel (Mr. Graydon), who was a delegate at San Francisco; the hon. member for Bellechasse (Mr. Picard), and the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre (Mr. Knowles). These six gentlemen will be the Canadian delegates. The list of advisers to the delegation will be announced later.
The charter of the united nations was unanimously approved by both houses of parliament, and we are naturally anxious to ensure continued general support from all Canadians in taking the further steps which are necessary to bring the united nations organization into active operation. The work to be done by the preparatory commission is not so dramatic as that which was accomplished at San Francisco. It is, nevertheless, of great importance towards ensuring the smooth and efficient operation of the general assembly, the security council, the social and economic council, the secretariat and the other parts of the united nations organization. During September and October the executive committee of the preparatory commission has been very busily occupied in London preparing recommendations for the consideration of the full commission at its forthcoming session. These recommendations deal with a great variety of subjects, many of them of a technical character. Canada has been represented on the executive committee by the Hon. W. F. A. Turgeon, Canadian Ambassador in Brussels, with assistants from the Department of External Affairs.
It is hoped that the preparatory commission will complete its work in about three weeks, and that the first session of the general assembly of the united nations may be convened shortly after the New Year. The present intention is that this session of the assembly should be divided into two parts. The first part would be concerned with the adoption of regulations placed before it by the preparatory commission, elections to the various other organizations of the united nations, the appointment of the secretary-general, the provision of the necessary means
of financing and cognate matters relating to organization. The plan is that the assembly would then adjourn so that the security council, the social and economic council and the secretary-general could establish themselves in action and the assembly would then meet for the second part of its first session after an interval of some months, in order to discharge the high functions vested in it by the charter.
