Mr. E. D. Fulton (Kamloops):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to suggest to the hon. member that he consider allowing this motion to stand until Monday. As I listened to the presentation of the report the only recommendation heard was that leave be granted to the committee to sit while the house is sitting. I may be wrong, but I was under impression that we were also to ask for leave to authorize the chairman to have as many copies of our proceedings printed as he might determine from time to time. I did not hear any reference to that in the report which he presented.

I think it is important that we should get on with the printing of the proceedings of the committee. I have some misgivings as to concurrence at this stage in a report which recommends only that the committee be permitted to sit while the house is sitting. Would the hon. member consider withholding the motion for concurrence until tomorrow or a week from Monday next so that the question of printing may be further examined?

Mr. McCulloch:

It was decided this morning that we would not meet until April 22. I think everyone was in agreement with that.

Mr. Speaker:

Is it the pleasure of the house to adopt the motion?

Mr. Fulton:

Do I understand from the hon. gentleman that he is withholding the motion for concurrence until Tuesday, April 22? I am sorry, but I could not hear what he said.

Mr. McCulloch:

No.

Mr. Speaker:

Is it the pleasure of the house to adopt the motion?

Mr. Fulton:

I am not certain, but I gathered from what has been said that the hon. gentleman is not disposed to accept my suggestion. Under the circumstances I do not agree to the motion to concur in the report.

Mr. Macdonald (Edmonton East):

It has

just been stated by the chairman of the committee that the committee will not meet again until April 22 at eleven o'clock in the morning. I see no reason why this motion should not pass.

Mr. Mclvor:

There is nothing in this report apart from asking for permission to sit while the house is sitting. Surely that is not controversial.

Carried.

Mr. Fulton:

I have raised a question with regard to another decision which the committee made this morning and which I understood was to be reported to the house this afternoon but has not been reported. I think it should be included in the committee's report. Under the circumstances I cannot agree to concurrence in the report this afternoon, because I think it is an incomplete report.

Mr. Speaker:

It would require unanimous consent to have the report concurred in this afternoon, Probably the matter can stand until tomorrow.

Agreed.

Motion stands.

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

I would like to advise the house of the decision of the government in regard to initial prices for western wheat, oats and barley for the crop year commencing August 1, 1952.

As members of the house know, the Canadian wheat board is in the midst of a very large and difficult operation this year. In spite of unfavourable harvesting conditions last fall, and in spite of the fact that there is considerable threshing to be completed in the prairie provinces, the outturn from 1951 grain crops in the west is still very large.

Grain

It is likely that total grain deliveries by western producers in the present crop year will be in the neighbourhood of 700 million bushels, which is the largest delivery of grain in any single crop year in the history of the west.

The difficulties of the present crop year have not arisen from the quantity of grain which will be delivered to the board. The difficulties arise from the lateness of the 1951 harvest, the unprecedented quantity of out-of-condition grain threshed by producers, and the general quality of the grain harvested. In spite of these difficulties, good progress has been made in disposing of deliveries from the 1951 crop. The large crop in 1951 was accompanied by a good demand for grain, and this fact will be reflected in the operating results attained by the board during the crop year, in spite of all the difficulties arising from the lateness of the crop, delayed harvesting, and the fact that at least 250 million bushels of grain will be received from producers in a tough or damp condition.

So far as wheat is concerned, the major part of producers' deliveries during the crop year 1951-52 will be disposed of within the crop year. However, with the prospect of substantial marketings by producers in the final months of the crop year, some increase in the wheat carry-over can be expected' on July 31 next.

On the basis of progress to date in disposing of the 1951 wheat crop, and the prospect for a continuation of a broad demand for wheat, the government is establishing the initial price for wheat for 1952-53 at the same level as at the start of the present crop year, namely, $1.40 per bushel basis No. 1 northern wheat in store at Fort William-Port Arthur or Vancouver.

In general, the position in respect to oats and barley parallels that of wheat. While very large deliveries of both grains are expected during the present crop year, demand has been satisfactory. There will be some increase in year-end stocks of both grains, due to the lateness of the 1951 harvest, the volume of grain still to be threshed this spring and the necessity of conditioning large quantities of oats and barley prior to sale. However, the outlook is such that the government feels justified in establishing initial prices for both oats and barley at the same level as at the start of the present crop year. These initial prices are 65 cents per bushel basis No. 2 C. W. oats in store Fort William-Port Arthur, and 96 cents per bushel basis No. 3 C. W. 6-row barley in store Fort William-Port Arthur.

As I have mentioned on other occasions, these are initial prices, and it is always the

hope of the government that pooling operations conducted by the wheat board will result in surpluses which will permit either increases in the initial prices during the crop year, or final payments to producers after the close of the crop year, or both.