Mr. C. E. Bennett (Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of Veterans Affairs):

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the hon. member for Kootenay West (Mr. Herridge) inquired as to when copies of the Veterans Land Act as amended will be available. I am informed that it is hoped that these copies will be ready for distribution within two or three weeks after Bill No. 459 receives the royal assent. In the meantime V.L.A. representatives in the field have been notified and instructed as to the new amendments, and I can assure the hon. member that there will be no delay whatsoever in implementing this new and important legislation.

The house in committee of supply, Mr. Robinson (Simcoe East) in the chair.

Mrs. Fairclough:

There are one or two

questions I should like to ask on this item. In the first place I notice that the department has increased staff by the addition of 5 mail transportation officers. I should like the minister to tell us just what the duties of these officers are. It looks like the creation of a new position. There is another item to which I desire to refer. I believe I mentioned it on the first item of the estimates. I refer to what are now called senior transcribers. It would appear that this is a new classification. They are probably the same employees transferred from the classification formerly described as stenographers grade 2B and grade 2A and now to be known as senior transcribers, grade 2 and grade 1. If the minister would explain these changes in staff, I am sure the committee would be interested.

Mr. Cote:

The employees of the department doing typing and stenographic work are reclassified on the basis of their competence and general efficiency over a six-month period. This classification scheme has worked exceptionally well and has permitted a reduction in the total number of stenographic positions. Hon. members will notice a reduction from 146 to 139 in the number of positions. At the same time it permits the better workers to receive some adjustment in their salaries based on their competence and efficiency. As far as the transportation officers are concerned, they are engaged in the implementation of the Woods-Gordon report.

Mrs. Fairclough:

I presume the position of senior transcriber is a new classification-

Mr. Cole:

A new classification.

Mrs. Fairclough:

-which has been introduced because these people have reached the last bracket in the stenographic classification. Is that correct?

Mr. Cote:

Not exactly. It is a reclassification by the civil service commission based on the efficiency of the employees.

Mrs. Fairclough:

I am sure I know what the minister means by that, but there is one other item about which I should like to speak. I notice that the boot allowance is $222,000 and was the same last year. Will the minister tell us how much each man receives in boot allowance, whether the amount has been increased and when, and how much of the $222,000 was expended last year?

Supply-Post Office

Mr. Cole:

The boot allowance is $15.60 twice yearly, and the last one was paid in May, 1954.

Mrs. Fairclough:

How much of the total of $222,000 was expended? What was the actual amount paid to all employees as boot allowance?

Mr. Cole:

The total amount for the year 1953-54 is $205,780.

Mrs. Fairclough:

Perhaps the minister will tell me whether the amount of $15.60 twice yearly is the same amount that has been paid for years and years or if there has been an adjustment in the amount in the last few years when the price of all clothing has gone up considerably. I should also like to know if the boot allowance is supposed to cover the entire cost of the shoes, boots, rubber footwear and so on that the postal carriers are required to purchase for their use in the course of their duties.

Mr. Cole:

To answer the first part of the question, it has varied from year to year and it is only for boots. The amount is fixed after inquiry as to the purchase price for similar articles.

Mrs. Fairclough:

When was it last raised?

Mr. Cole:

It has been practically the same for the last two years. I am sorry I have not got the figures for the previous year.