Right Hon. L. S. ST. LAURENT (Secretaiy of State for External Affairs): Today in Paris treaties of peace will be signed between Canada and four of her former enemies. From July to October of last year, Canada was represented at a conference in Paris which was called to consider draft peace treaties with Italy, Roumania, Hungary, Bulgaria and Finland. These treaties have now been completed, and in the ceremony of signature in Paris, Canada will be represented by the Canadian Ambassador to France, Major General Vanier. The treaties are subject to ratification and will come into force with respect to Canada when they have been approved by parliament and when an instrument of ratification has been deposited. The treaty with Bulgaria will not be signed by Canada; we were not at war with that country. The Canadian delegation to the Paris conference was led by the right honourable the Prime Minister. The other members of the delegation w:ere the Minister of National Defence, who at that time was minister of national health and welfare; the Canadian Ambassador to France and the Canadian Ambassador to the U.S.S.R.; the head of the Canadian military mission to Germany; Mr. N. A. Robertson, at that time Under-Secretary of State for External Affairs, and Mr. Arnold Heeney, clerk of the Privy Council. These representatives were accompanied by several advisers from the Department of External Affairs. When the Prime Minister returned to Canada during the latter part of August, my colleague the Minister of National Defence assumed the leadership of the delegation. The conference at Paris wras restricted, through the terms of reference given it by the council of foreign ministers, to the function of examining draft peace treaties which had been prepared by the council and to making recommendations on these draft treaties for the further consideration of the four foreign ministers. No assurance was given to the seventeen states which joined the four great powers at Paris that the recommendations of the conference would be accepted by the council of foreign ministers which was to prepare the final texts of the treaties. On the contrary, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Soviet Union and France came to the Paris Peace Treaties

conference committed to support those articles of the draft peace treaties on which previous agreement had been reached. It was only in respect of the unagreed articles, therefore, that the states attending the Paris conference were allowed any real freedom of action. In these circumstances the opportunity given us to influence the settlements under discussion at Paris was not great. The Prime Minister in his opening address made known to the conference Canada's misgiving over procedures which permitted so limited a participation in the work of peace-making. Canada, he said, had a vital interest in these treaties and desired to see them established on principles of justice and equity which would lead to a lasting peace. In spite of the limitations imposed on the conference at Paris, it was nonetheless possible for the Canadian delegation to make a valuable contribution to the drafting of the peace treaties, particularly in respect of articles which had not previously been agreed upon by the council of foreign ministers. The Paris conference was able to adopt, by the necessary two-thirds majority, a number of recommendations which were subsequently used in the New York meetings of the council of foreign ministers as a basis for discussion. The principles of these recommendations were in many cases adopted and incorporated in the final texts. Such important questions as the establishment of the free territory of Trieste, the freedom of the Danube, the settlement of disputes arising out of the interpretation or execution of the treaties, and the settlement of the amounts of reparation payable by the ex-enemies to the allies, were all of this category. The conference also did useful work in clarifying and improving the text of many articles in both agreed and unagreed sections of the treaties. In this connection, the present Minister of National Defence, in his capacity as chairman of the legal and drafting commission, made a particularly useful contribution to the conference. I should like now to table the final texts of the treaties with Italy, Roumania, Hungary and Finland as signed today in Paris. I wish also to table a statement prepared by the Minister of National Defence, which will supplement the few remarks I have made on this subject. For the convenience of the house, I would ask that this statement, which covers some eight pages of single-space typewriting and which would be rather lengthy to put on Hansard, be printed as an appendix to Votes and Proceedings. It would then be available to all hon. members. The final texts of the treaties will be published in the Treaty Series by the Department of External Affairs, and copies will be made available to all members in due course and before the matter is brought before the houses of parliament for ratification.

Mr. STANLEY KNOWLES (Winnipeg North Centre) moved for leave to introduce Bill No. 15, to amend the Income War Tax Act. He said: Mr. Speaker, this bill would add to the appropriate section of the Income War Tax Act the following words, which will be underlined in the printed bill: Provided that nothing in this subsection shall operate to prevent a minister of the crown from communicating to the Senate or to the House of Commons any information obtained under the provisions of this act. Introduction of Bills The purpose of the amendment is to remove the ironclad, restrictions as to secrecy now imposed by subsection 1 of section 81, which in my view have the effect of denying, to the house information which at times ought to be readily available. This amendment would also affect the Excess Profits Tax Act, by virtue of section 14 of that act.

Hon. COLIN GIBSON (Secretary of State) moved for leave to introduce Bill No. 16, to amend the Patent Act, 1935. He said: Mr. Speaker, the main purposes of the bill are to provide for extensions of time, limited under the Patent Act, where circumstances arising out of the war prevented compliance with the provisions of the act; also to provide for secrecy when it is considered to be in the interests of the safety of the state. There are also minor amendments to other sections and an adjustment of the tariff of fees, to provide sufficient revenue to defray the expense of printing patents. Motion agreed to and bill read the first time.

Hon. J. A. MacKINNON (Minister of Trade and Commerce) moved that the house go into committee at the next sitting to consider the following resolution: That it is expedient to present a measure to amend the Canadian Wheat Board Act and to make provision for matters presently provided for by regulation under the National Emergency Transitional Powers Act, 1945, including provision for the guarantee by the Minister of Finance of loans made to the Canadian wheat board on security of grain acquired by the Canadian wheat board and the payment of other expenses incidental to the operations of the board. He said: His Excellency the Governor General, having been made acquainted with the subject matter of this resolution, recommends it to the consideration of the house. Motion agreed to.

Hon. COLIN GIBSON (Secretary of State) moved that the house go into committee at the next sitting to consider the following resolution: That it is expedient to introduce a measure to provide for the continuance of certain of the regulations respecting trading with the enemy, following the time fixed for the expiry of the National Emergency Transitional Powers Act, 1945, and for implementing provisions in any treaty which may be executed on behalf of Canada and ratified by parliament with respect to the disposition of enemy property or compensation respecting property in enemy territory. He said: His Excellency the Governor General, having been made acquainted with the subject matter of this resolution, recommends it to the consideration of the house. Motion agreed to.