Right Hon. C. D. HOWE (Minister of Trade and Commerce):

I should like to table a letter addressed to my colleague, the Minister of Finance (Mr. Abbott), advising him to make effective the provisions of Bill No. 3 as regards tariff items 393, 427e, 434, 434b, 446 and 461.

Mr. WILLIAM BRYCE (Selkirk):

I should like to direct a question to the Secretary of State for External Affairs. In view of the tentative statements of the minister on February 11, is he now able to inform the house as to the opinion of his legal advisers regarding the status of oleomargarine under the Geneva agreements? Can he say whether the Geneva agreements permit the importation of oleomargarine? Yes or no?

Right Hon. L. S. ST. LAURENT (Secretary of State for External Affairs): I thank the hon. member for suggesting that the answer should be yes or no. To the first part of the question the answer is no; to the second part, the answer is also no. But it would not be quite fair to those who might read the question and the answers to leave it at that.

Importation of oleomargarine cannot be permitted unless and until parliament sees fit to repeal or amend section 6 of the Dairy Industry Act. No trade agreement can have the effect of automatically repealing or amending it. Should it be found that the Geneva agreement or the one substituted for it by the Havana conference does require this section to be repealed or amended, the repeal or amendment can be made only by parliament and parliament will have the right to determine in its discretion whether or not it will impose duties on the importation of oleomargarine or excise taxes on the sale thereof. If it decides to do so, there is nothing in the

Geneva agreement, nor is there apt to be anything in the Havana modification, to prevent making those duties or taxes as high as may be felt proper to leave the dairy industry completely undisturbed.

Right Hon. C. D. HOWE (Minister of Trade and Commerce):

At the last sitting of the house the hon. member for Lincoln (Mr. Lockhart) asked me a question with regard to a circular published by the bureau of statistics in connection with the earnings of wage earners employed in manufacturing. I have this letter from the dominion statistician:

The circular which Mr. Lockhart mentions refers to the report "Weekly earnings and hours of work of male and female wage-earners employed in the manufacturing industries of Canada."

Statistics which include all manufacturing firms in Canada cannot be compiled until all returns are in. One of the greatest hindrances to earlier publication is the fact that many firms are slow in making these returns. A great deal of following up has to be done. If we could get in returns promptly over-all figures could be issued months earlier.

We have issued reports on a number of particular industries for the year 1946. These reports cover statistics for a year. Naturally no reports can be issued for 1947 until later this year because questionnaires are not mailed out until after the end of the year to which they refer.

Arrangements have been made with our departmental solicitor, Mr. Anger, to enforce more rigorously the provisions of the Statistics Act in regard to delinquent firms.

Mr. J. H. BLACICMORE (Lethbridge):

Mr. Speaker, I desire to direct a question to the Minister of Agriculture, but inasmuch as he is not in his seat, may I direct it to the Minister of Trade and Commerce. Considering the precarious position in w'hich beef feeders of western Canada find themselves today, will the minister tell the house (1) whether or not the government has decided to impose price ceilings

The Address-Mr. Dechene

on finished beef within the next three months, and if so (2) when the house may expect announcement of the details of such proposed ceilings.

Right Hon. C. D. HOWE (Minister of Trade and Commerce):

I shall be glad to confer with my colleagues the Minister of Finance (Mr. Abbott) and the Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Gardiner), who are more immediately concerned and arrange to have an answer given later.

Hon. J. A. GLEN (Minister of Mines and Resources):

I presume the hon. gentleman is referring to a road within the confines of the park. If so, the cost of any such road would be paid one hundred per cent by the federal government.