Mr. A. E. ROBINSON (Bruce):

Mr. Speaker, to you and to all hon. members of the House of Commons I wish to say that on your desks has been placed an invitation from the mayor of Kincardine to attend our centennial celebration. This occasion is part of a two weeks' homecoming to Bruce county, which I have the honour to represent. I can assure hon. members that any who are able to attend will be made welcome and have a very enjoyable time.

Mr. THOMAS REID (New Westminster):

On a question of privilege, Mr. Speaker, may I say that the invitation refers to "Scotchmen's day." They are not Scotchmen but Scotsmen.

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

Mr. Speaker, I desire to table order in council P.C. 2526, of June 8, 1948, passed under the Public Service Rearrangement and Transfer of Duties Act, transferring the control and supervision of the government telegraph and telephone service (except the telephone exchange service for government offices at Ottawa) to the Minister of Transport; also transferring the powers, duties and functions of the Minister of Public Works under the Telegraphs Act to the Minister of Transport.

On the orders of the day:

Mr. J. T. RICHARD (Ottawa East):

With reference to the announcement that telephone services are to be transferred to the Department of Transport, I would ask the Minister of Transport whether any arrangements have been made to transfer employees of public works now attached to this service to the Department of Transport, and whether there have been any negotiations with the Bell Telephone Company of Canada whereby this company would take over the service now performed by the employees of public works.

Hon. LIONEL CHEVRIER (Minister of Transport):

With reference to the second part of the hon. gentleman's question, I am not aware of any negotiations with Bell Telephone, but if there are any I shall advise him. With reference to the first part of the question, I shall inquire of the officers of the department and advise him as soon as possible.

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

That the report of the joint committee on the library of parliament, presented on June 11, 1948, be concurred in.

1. Did the federal government make agreements with the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island?

2. If so, in what way or ways did the agreement with British Columbia differ from those of the other six provinces?

3. In what way or ways did the agreement with Alberta differ from those of the other six provinces?

4. In what way or -ways did the agreement with Saskatchewan differ from those of the other six provinces?

5. In what way or ways did the agreement with Manitoba differ from those of the other six provinces?

6. In what way or ways did the agreement with New Brunswick differ from those of the other six provinces?

7. In what way or -ways did the agreement with Nova Scotia differ from those of the other six provinces?

8. In what way did the agreement with Prince Edward Island differ from those of the other six provinces?

1. Yes.

2 to 8. The general terms of the agreements signed by the seven provinces are the same,

Questions

except that different provinces selected different options for determining the amount of the guaranteed minimum annual payment.

The option selected by New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia provides that this guaranteed minimum annual amount shall be the sum of:

(a) $12.75 in respect of each person in the population of the province in 1942; plus

(b) Fifty per cent of the provincial income and corporation tax revenue for the year ended nearest December 31, 1940; plus

(c) statutory subsidies payable in 1947.

The guaranteed minimum annual amount

in the case of each province under the above option is as follows:

New Brunswick $ 8,773,420

Manitoba 13,540,038

Alberta 14,227,882

British Columbia 18,120,124

The option selected by Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan provides that the guaranteed minimum annual amount shall be the sum of:

(a) S15 per capita in respect of each person in the population of the province in 1942; plus

(b) statutory subsidies payable in 1947.

The guaranteed minimum annual amount in

the case of each province under the above option is as follows:

Nova Scotia $10,870,140

Saskatchewan 15,291,490

The option selected by Prince Edward Island provides that the guaranteed minimum annual amount shall be $2,100,000, made irp as follows:

(a) $15 per capita in respect of each person in the population of the province in 1942; plus

(b) statutory subsidies payable in 1947; plus

(c) an additional amount of $93,068.

In the case of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, the wartime tax agreement terminated before the commencement of the agreements under the tax rental agreements act and special provision was made in the agreements signed with these three provinces to provide for payments to cover this transitional period. These payments are a proportion of the guaranteed minimum annual amount less the same proportion of the statutory subsidies and less adjustments to take account of the succession duties collected by the provinces in the transitional period

The appendices to the agreements which list the particular taxes to be suspended or retained by the provinces differ for each province in order to deal appropriately with the various provincial taxing acts.