Right Hon. J. G. Gardiner (Minister of Agriculture) moved

for leave to introduce Bill No. 403, to amend the Agricultural Products Marketing Act.

Motion agreed to and bill read the first time.

Right Hon. J. G. Gardiner (Minister of Agriculture) moved

the first reading of Bill No. 400 (from the Senate), for the regulation and control of agricultural fertilizers.

Motion agreed to and bill read the first time.

1. What grants, not repayable, have been made by the federal government in the province of Saskatchewan to assist in the building of limited dividend projects for senior citizens?

Location Assiniboia ... Balcarres ....

Carnduff ___

Estevan ....

Kamsack ....

Macklin

Maple Creek Meadow Lake Middle Lake

Ponteix

Saskatoon ... Shaunavon .. Swift Current

Tisdale

Unity

Wadena

Watrous

Total ....

2. What was the location of each project, the number of units provided for, and the amount of the federal grant in each case?

3. What was the total cost of each project?

Hon. Robert H. Winters (Minister of Public Works):

Mr. Speaker, the limited dividend technique was developed by the federal government to assist local initiative to provide low rental accommodation. Under the National Housing Act the Central Mortgage and Housing Corporation is authorized, with the approval of the governor in council, to make loans of up to 90 per cent of the lending value of the project. In these loans there is a contribution in the form of a low interest rate and an unusually long amortization period of up to 40 years. In many instances private citizens, charitable organizations and local levels of government may also make contributions to the project to keep the level of rentals as low as possible.

Loans have been approved in Saskatchewan for 17 projects, comprising 438 self-contained housing units and 348 hostel units. Then, sir, I have here a list of localities in which projects have been built, the number of units and the amount of the loans. With unanimous consent I shall table it to save the time of the house.

Mr. Speaker:

Is unanimous consent given?

Agreed.

Mr. Winters:

The table is as follows:

Number of self- Number of Federalcontained units hostel beds loan amount.48 48 $ 367,21414 14 114,72420 20 185,29624 24 212,50820 20 186,86410 - 55,15220 20 179,73920 20 185,08330 - 147,88816 16 139,70848 - 220,01720 20 179,11074 74 582,47518 16 158,08520 20 184,00016 16 155,87020 20 187,357438 348 $3,441,090

Questions

1. Has Canada at any time extended diplomatic recognition to (i) Latvia; (ii) Estonia; (iii) Lithuania?

2. Does Canada today recognize the above three states as sovereign states?

3. Has Canada by any diplomatic or political action acknowledged the de facto incorporation of the above three states into the U.S.S.R.?

4. To what government does Canada look at the present time for diplomatic exchange with respect to the geographical areas formerly known as: (i) Latvia; (ii) Estonia; (iii) Lithuania?

5. Was Mr. Benidickson speaking for the government of Canada in the reply which he gave to similar questions on May 17, 1954, as reported in Hansard, page 4770?

Hon. L. B. Pearson (Secretary of Slate for External Affairs):

The answer to the three parts of question one is yes.

In answer to the second question, I would call attention to the fact that a reply to a similar question asked in this house in May, 1954, is valid also for this question. There has been no occasion when the government of Canada considered it necessary to reaffirm or withdraw formally de jure recognition of these states.

The answer to the third question is as follows. In 1947, in the course of an action in the Exchequer Court of Canada, the Secretary of State for External Affairs informed the court that the government of Canada recognized that Estonia had been de facto incorporated into the U.S.S.R. but did not recognize this de jure. No similar action has been taken with respect to Latvia or Lithuania.

As to the fourth question, I would say that if by "diplomatic exchange" the hon. member means the conduct of business concerning these three areas and their inhabitants, Canada would have to look to the government of the Soviet union which has de facto control of these areas at the present time.

The answer to the fifth question is yes.

1. Was Mr. Axel Wenner-Gren ever placed on the list of those persons deemed by the Canadian government to be enemies of Canada?

2. If so, when and for what reasons?

Hon. Roch Pinard (Secretary of State):

The

answer to these two questions can be found in order in council P.C. 845 of February 3, 1942, and in the list of specified persons annexed thereto, both of which were published in the Canada Gazette on the same date.