On the orders of the day:
Mr. Donald M. Fleming (Eglinton):
May I
ask the Prime Minister when the report of the Massey royal commission on arts, letters and sciences will be available?
Right Hon. L. S. St. Laurent (Prime Minister):
The last information I had a few days ago was that the report was being printed under the direction of the commissioners themselves. I promise my hon. friend that as soon as it is available there will be no delay in bringing it to the attention of the house.
Mr. Fleming:
May I ask if the government has received this report?
Mr. SI. Laurent:
The government has not yet received it. The chairman of the royal commission suggested that he would not present the report to the government until it had been printed ini a form in which it could be made public.
On the orders of the day:
Mr. Howard C. Green (Vancouver-Quadra):
I should like to ask a question of the Minister of National Defence concerning the Princess Pats. A press dispatch from the forces in Korea as published in the Ottawa Journal of last evening indicates that, when the battalion was informed that there were to be reinforcements of seventy-five other ranks and five officers each month, the battalion was wondering whether or not the move to combat duty would find it under
strength. Apparently the battalion is now under strength. Can the minister make a statement in that regard?
Hon. Brooke Claxton (Minister of National Defence):
Mr. Green:
Can the minister assure the house that when the Pats go into action they will be at full strength?
Mr. Claxton:
I cannot give any such assurance. I cannot think of any unit that has ever gone into action at full strength.
Mr. Pearkes:
Will those reinforcements be drawn from the third battalion of the Princess Patricias, or will they be drawn from' some other unit of that special brigade?
Mr. Claxton:
I shall have to look into that. The reports I have with regard to the situation at Fort Lewis are several days old, and I shall have to give my hon. friend an answer later.
On the orders of the day:
Mr. H. R. Argue (Assiniboia):
I should like to ask the Minister of Trade and Commerce if he will endeavour to have the final payment on the five-year pool made in time to assist farmers in their seeding operation.
Right Hon. C. D. Howe (Minister of Trade and Commerce):
I shall be glad to promise to use my best efforts to that end.
On the orders of the day: