Mr. THOMAS REID (New Westminster):

I rise to a question of privilege affecting the members of the House of Commons. I refer you, Mr. Speaker, to page 13 of the routine proceedings and orders of the day, where you will find a resolution standing in my name under No. 10. It was my understanding before the house prorogued at the last session that resolutions for the new session could not be received or placed on the order paper while the house was then in session, and so the resolution standing in my name was sent in after the house prorogued; and it was dated September 3. Now I understand the resolutions which reached the office earlier than mine, and while the house was still in session, are on the order paper ahead of mine. I submit that if there is no rule regarding resolutions there should certainly be a definite rule as to the time resolutions can be put on. A resolution sent in while the house is sitting should be for that session, and a resolution sent in immediately after the house prorogues is intended for the forthcoming session. I am asking you, sir, to have the matter investigated, because I believe I have been gypped.

Mr. SPEAKER:

I have noted the remarks of the hon. member and I shall be pleased to take the necessary steps to obtain the information for him.

Atomic Energy

Mr. JOHN BRACKEN (Leader of the Opposition):

I wish to direct a question to the Minister of Reconstruction and Supply. Press reports from Washington suggest that- Mr. Bernard Baruch, in evidence before a United States senate committee, indicated that a leak of secret information in connection with atomic energy had occurred in Canada. Is the minister in a position to give the house positive assurance that this has not occurred, and if not, will he cause an immediate investigation to be launched?

Right Hon. C. D. HOWE (Minister of Reconstruction and Supply):

Mr. Speaker, I read the press reports with surprise. It had been our view that all possible security measures had been taken in connection with our Canadian operations, and we had heard nothing to suggest that our friends in the United States had any other view. The question then arose as to whether Mr. Baruch was being quoted accurately, and I am happy to say it now becomes evident that he was not quoted accurately. I have just received a personal wire from Mr. Bernard Baruch. I may say that I had not communicated with him, but he took the trouble to communicate with me. His wire has been telephoned to me-I have not the original at this moment- and it reads as follows:

In view of the confused reports I feel impelled to tell you that there was nothing in my statement before closed session of the senate committee on atomic energy that in any way reflected on Canada or the present operations there. I did refer to the past spy activities of the Soviets in Canada which were as regrettable to you as they were to us.

Then follows a personal message to myself. I believe the Secretary of State for External Affairs can also throw some light on the wording of the statement as actually made by Mr. Baruch.

Right Hon. L. S. ST. LAURENT (Secretary of State for External Affairs): Mr. Speaker, when my colleague (Mr. Howe) and I were shown this newspaper report yesterday we both expressed concern as to the accuracy of the report, and I immediately endeavoured to ascertain just what the situation was. Just a few minutes ago I got from our ambassador in Washington the following report:

Concerning Mr. Baruch's reference to leaks in Canada, I have just succeeded in securing this morning the language actually used by Mr. Baruch, taken from the transcript. The only reference made by him to Canada during the public session of the committee was in the following sentence:

"As you can see by the newspapers this morning, Canada, one of the countries associated with us, has made some discoveries in plutonium and, which concerns me deeply, it was from Canada that the much publicized reporte of an information leak have come."

That was all that was said in the public session. It is a reference not to leaks coming from Canada but to the publicized reports that leaks had come from Canada. Then the report also points out that Mr. Baruch spoke in a very low voice and those in the committee room had great difficulty in following him. That may have been the cause of the distorted version of his remarks sent out yesterday. The chairman of the joint committee, Senator Hickenlooper, has told a Canadian correspondent that Mr. Baruch said nothing derogatory to Canada, Mr. Baruch's reference came in the middle of a fairly long discussion on the risks of information leakage, and later the committee went into closed session for a further discussion of means to maintain security. Now we have this assertion of Mr. Baruch that in the closed session nothing derogatory to Canada was said; and of course there was no occasion for anything derogatory to Canada being said.

Mr. H. C. GREEN (Vancouver South):

May I direct a supplementary question to the Minister of Reconstruction? Is there any possibility of a parliamentary committee on atomic energy being set up in Canada similar to the committee which was set up by congress in the United States? As the minister will remember, that suggestion was made by all of the opposition parties during the last session, and I should like to. know whether there is any possibility of having such a committee set up at the present session.

Right Hon. C. D. HOWE (Minister of Reconstruction and Supply):

Without having given the matter consideration I would doubt the advisability of a committee at this time. The world is very sensitive to atomic energy matters, and any publicity that would come from the committee would be disturbing perhaps in a good many quarters. However, I shall be glad to discuss the matter with the government and give my hon. friend an answer later.

Emergency Powers

Mr. M. J. COLDWELL (Rosetown-Biggar):

Mr. Speaker, may I direct a question to the Prime Minister, of which I sent him notice this morning? I understood it was the intention of the government to place on the Votes and Proceedings and on the order paper this week measures necessary to continue the policy of price and commodity control after the expiry of the National Emergency Transitional Powers Act, as well as such measures as may be required for a considerable period to give statutory form to the orders in council enacted under wartime powers. I note that nothing has so far appeared in the Votes and Proceedings, and I suggest to the government that if these measures are to be presented next week, hon. members should be given the earliest opportunity of preparing to discuss them.

Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister):

Mr. Speaker, my hon. friend is quite right in saying that the government had undertaken to place on the Votes and Proceedings the names of measures that were to be introduced for the purpose, as he said, of continuing the policy of price and commodity control under the National Emergency Transitional Powers Act, as well as such measures as may be required for a considerable period to give statutory form to orders in council enacted under wartime powers. I had myself expected to see these measures enumerated in the Votes and Proceedings today, but I understand there was a delay in the forwarding of the measures. The Clerk of the House has just advised me that he has now received the list which will appear in the Votes and Proceedings of today and on the order paper the day following. But I might give the house immediately the information that I think hon. members will be most anxious to have.

The legislation which will be submitted to parliament in respect of emergency powers will be divided into two categories:

1. The government will introduce about fifteen bills which, if adopted, will replace by legislation a number of orders in council which it is considered should in the national interest be placed on a more permanent footing. All of these relate to subjects which are within the normal competence of the parliament of Canada.

This legislation will include bills to amend the Fertilizers Act, the Inspection and Sales Act, the Feeding Stuffs Act, the Customs Act,

the Militia Pension Act, the Militia Act, the Patents Act, the Department of National Defence Act, the Canadian Grain Act, the Wheat Board Act and the Immigration Act (as regards return to Canada of Canadian Chinese), and bills respecting mail contract supplements, trading with the enemy, export and import controls and agricultural products.

2. The government will introduce a bill to provide for the continuation for a limited period of certain transitional measures to the number of about fifty.

The regulations covered by this bill will constitute all of the emergency powers of the government at this stage of transition from war to peace. It will provide for the extension of a group of orders, including those respecting control of prices, supplies and rentals, together with regulations for the return to Canada of remaining dependents of service personnel, settlement of claims against the crown arising out of the war, administration of Japanese property in Canada, relocation of persons of Japanese race, old age pensions and certain compensations to merchant seamen. All of these will be specified in a schedule to the bill. I have a tentative list here, but I think they can be given later.

A certain number of the orders which will be specified in the schedule will be the subject of additional specific bills later in the session. This would apply, for example, in the case of labour relations, which will be covered in a bill to amend the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act, orders regarding old age pensions which will be covered in a later bill to amend the Old Age Pensions Act and orders regarding veterans' preference in the civil service, which will remain in the schedule pending examination of this subject by a parliamentary committee with a view to later introduction of legislation.

Apart from the measures which will be covered by the legislation I have referred to, all other orders in council under the emergency powers will either have been revoked, expired or become spent or will be permitted to expire with the expiry of the National Emergency Transitional Powers Act, 1945.

Mr. A. L. SMITH (Calgary West):

Arising out of the statement made by the Prime Minister I wish to direct a question to the Minister of Labour. He is not here, and he has no assistant, though I know of no one who needs an assistant more than he does. My question is this. The Prime Minister mentioned an industrial relations amendment. That bill already has been distributed to manufacturers' organizations and labour or. ganizations in Canada. That being so, would

Inquiries of the Ministry

it not be possible for members of parliament to be shown the same courtesy and be given copies of the bill? Someone might convey this suggestion to the minister in his absence.

Mr. STANLEY KNOWLES (Winnipeg North Centre):

In this connection may I address a question to the Prime Minister in reference to the business of the house. In his summary of what was before us he referred twice to old age pensions. Are we to understand that there is to be a temporary measure continuing the present arrangement and later on a definite amendment to the act?