Brooke Claxton (Minister of National Defence)
Liberal
Mr. Claxion:
Perhaps I can be of some assistance to the hon. member for Vancouver East (Mr. Maclnnis) and also try to clarify what is purely a question of the right and orderly way of getting on with the business of the house.
I have looked up the procedure that was followed in 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944, and I find that, although there were minor variations, by and large the procedure followed was that the minister of finance moved the resolution to introduce the war appropriation bill, and then either instantly got into committee and when in committee produced a break-down; or else on other occasions, such as the one mentioned by the leader of the opposition (Mr. Drew) in 1944, introduced not a break-down at all but a division between departments. That is what was done in 1944, as reported at page 392 of Hansard, referred to by the leader of the opposition, in which the items for national defence were given under three departments: army services,
naval services, air services and then sundry services, one line each, which is no breakdown at all.
Subtopic: PROVISION FOR GRANTING TO HIS MAJESTY AID FOR NATIONAL DEFENCE AND SECURITY