Right Hon. L. S. St. Laurent (Prime Minister):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to table copies of correspondence I have had with premiers of the provinces with respect to amendments to the British North America Act, following the letters to them, copies of which I tabled on September 15.

(For text of correspondence, see appendix, page 870 et seq. See also page 841.)

Hon. Brooke Claxton (Minister of National Defence):

Mr. Speaker, last Friday the hon. member for Vancouver-Quadra (Mr. Green) referred to the press report of a statement made in San Francisco by the Canadian ambassador to China, who was on his way to Ottawa for consultation. Mr. Davis is expected to reach Ottawa next week, after a few days in Saskatchewan. Without having had the opportunity of speaking with him, I am unable to comment on the remarks he is reported to have made. I can assure the hon. member, however, that the situation which has been developing in China has been and is under constant and careful survey by the Department of External Affairs, and that if a statement is not made before then, my colleague the Secretary of State for External Affairs (Mr. Pearson) will deal with the situation when he returns from Lake Success.

Mr. Howard C. Green (Vancouver-Quadra):

I should like to ask a question which I had intended to ask on the orders of the day, but which ties in directly with the answer just given. Over the week end it has been announced that early next month there is to be a conference in Singapore of top-ranking representatives of various commonwealth countries. I believe it includes all of them, with the exception of South Africa and

Canada. Apparently the purpose is to consider the threat of communism in the Orient, and to chart a course for future dealings with the Chinese Reds. Is Canada taking part in that conference?

Right Hon. L. S. Si. Laurent (Prime Minister):

I received notice in my office of the hon. member's intention to ask this question on the orders of the day. The answer is that the Canadian government has no official information concerning the proposed meeting in Singapore to which the question refers. It is my understanding that this meeting has been arranged so that the United Kingdom representatives in the Far East might discuss among themselves matters of mutual concern, and that there may be present local representatives of certain other commonwealth governments. There has been no invitation to Canada to be represented at that meeting.

Mr. Green:

Will the government make inquiries to see whether the conference is as broad as the report discloses?-because in Canada, and particularly on the Pacific coast, we are vitally concerned in what happens in China.

Mr. Si. Laurent:

No; I do not think Canada will take the initiative of asking whether the conference has the scope indicated by newspaper reports. If it did have that scope, we would expect to be notified by the United Kingdom government, without the initiative being taken by us.

Mr. Green:

And Canada would take part?

Mr. Si. Laurent:

Canada will make its decision when it has had an invitation, if it gets one.

1. How many orders in council have been issued or passed since March 1, 1949?

2. Of these, how many have been (a) published in the Canada Gazette; (b) tabled in the house?

Mr. Si. Laurent:

Stand.

Mr. Harris (Danforih):

The Prime Minister has asked that this question stand. When he is answering it, will he be good enough to make his answer broad enough to include the answer to a question on the same subject

Questions

asked by me on April 25, 1949, as reported at page 2517 of Hansard of last session. It was put to one side by the Prime Minister with the statement that he would answer in a month's time, knowing that parliament in the meantime would be dissolved.

Mr, St, Laurent: I do not recollect the incident to which the hon. member refers, but I shall look at Hansard. I should be

surprised if at the time the hon. member mentions there had been any decision whether the house would be dissolved.

1. What amount of money was spent prior to March 31, 1948, by P.F.R.A. in connection with investigational work on the south Saskatchewan project?

2. What amount of money was spent from April 1, 1948, to March 31, 1949, investigating the present or other sites, prior to selection of the present site (Coteau creek) ?

3. What money has been spent or is actually committed to be spent April 1, 1949, to September 30, 1949, to survey the south Saskatchewan project?

4. What is the estimated amount of expenditure on the south Saskatchewan project from April 1, 1949, to March 31, 1950?