Mr. BRUNELLE:

Mr. Chairman, I said that I am known as a temperate man in my words and actions. I was speaking of myself.

I will admit, however, that I made a mistake by listening to him and by taking pity on him. That is the only mistake I made. The committee alone could decide. I do not wish to give the impression, however, that the hon. member has disturbed me much, but I must state the facts. The ravings of the hon. member yesterday would only be ridiculous if they did not reveal such a lack of respect for the truth and for one's word of honour. ' During the two conversations I had with the hon. member for Laval-Two Mountains it was made plain and it was emphasized by the hon. member himself that he was speaking off the record and in a confidential way.

Mr. LACOMBE:

Never.

Mr. BRUNELLE:

And when he tries to be sarcastic as to my diplomacy he again forgets that the contents of my letter are only the substance of what he himself said during these two conversations-

Mr. LACOMBE:

Absolutely false.

Mr. BRUNELLE:

-about the Tory party. Mr. LACOMBE: Absolutely not.

Mr. BRUNELLE:

But he goes farther. He tries to make that letter say or mean what it does not say and what it does not mean.

Redistribution

There is absolutely nothing in the letter to show I was offering him any favour for his coming to the Liberal side of the house, but he translates wrongly and wickedly the last paragraph of that letter so as to make a sort of case against one whose help he besought so ardently. Why did he not read the text of that letter, a copy of which I have in my hand? I am going to read it in French.

(Translation):

April 2, 1947.

Mr. Liguori Lacombe, M.P.,

Ste. Scaolastique, P.Q.

My dear colleague:

After you left yesterday, I thought of suggesting to you that, after this recess, when Hartt is introduced in the chamber, this would be a proper occasion for you to cross the floor.

(Text) :

This all follows what he was telling me during this conversation.

(Translation):

Mr. LACOMBE:

I never said that.

(Text):

Mr. Chairman, I want the hon. member for Champlain to withdraw that statement.

The CHAIRMAN:

Order. I must ask the hon. member not to interrupt.

Mr. LACOMBE:

I never made that statement.

Mr. BRUNELLE:

I quote:

(Translation):

May I suggest that you prepare for the newspapers a statement about Communism and the dangers of numerous parties, which can only benefit the Conservative party, which party the great majority of French Canadians do not want to see leading the government.

I should like every one to note the next paragraph, on which the hon. member for Laval-Two Mountains bases his assertion that I offered him certain advantages. It reads as follows:

The more I think about this, the more I am convinced it will be to your future advantage.

Mr. LACOMBE:

To your future

advantage".

(Text):

Mr. BRUNELLE:

I defy anyone who

knows French to say that that sentence is an offer of some advantage or favour to the hon. member for Laval-Two Mountains. It means this, and again I defy anyone who knows English and French to say that it means anything but this: "The more I think of it the more convinced I am you will later felicitate yourself." That is no offer, and that is all I said, and I think that for once he

would have had occasion to felicitate himself if he had come on the floor of the house and pointed that out. He would have had occasion to congratulate himself. In his eagerness to hurt one who tried to help him he translates as follows: "The more I think about this, the more I am convinced it will be to your future advantage." That is the work of a man who wants to be called a gentleman.

Mr. LACOMBE:

That is the right translation.

You cannot translate your own speeches.

Mr. BRUNELLE:

There is no mention or implication of future advantage in my letter. In disfiguring a text in such an unscrupulous way, the hon. member for Laval-Two Mountains has shown his true colours. He will some day come to regret the wrong he tried to do me for the good I tried to do him.

Mr. LACOMBE:

Mr. Chairman-

Order.

Mr. LACOMBE:

On a question of privilege,

I want the hon. member for Champlain to withdraw that.

Why?

Mr. LACOMBE:

The hon. member for Champlain says he tried to help me or to do good for me. I am not condemning him because he is Herve Brunelle but because he is the member for Champlain, and a member of the committee on redistribution. That is all.