Mr. Speaker:

Order, please.

Mr. Gerard Laprise (Chapleau):

Mr. Speaker, I hesitate to interrupt the election campaign of the hon. Minister of Agriculture, but I should like to ask him whether he intends to announce soon the new dairy policy for 1968-69.

Mr. Speaker:

I would remind the hon. member that this question was asked a few

March 26, 1968

days ago, and I think the hon. minister gave an answer.

Mr. Laprise:

Mr. Speaker, I will rephrase my question or make it a supplementary question.

Does the hon. minister intend to announce the new dairy policy before the house adj ourns?

Hon. J. J. Greene (Minister of Agriculture):

Mr. Speaker, the dairy policy will be announced before April 1. I am not yet certain of the exact date.

Mr. Howard Johnston (Okanagan-Revel-stoke):

My question is for the Prime Minister. I realize that he may not yet be in a position to indicate the membership of the Canadian delegation to the finance ministers' meeting to be held shortly in Stockholm. Could we expect an announcement of the agenda of that meeting and of the Canadian position on some of those problems to which our internal troubles are frequently attributed?

Right Hon. L. B. Pearson (Prime Minister):

So far as the delegation is concerned-this question was asked yesterday-it has been agreed by the government that the delegates to this conference should include Mr. Ras-minsky, the governor of the Bank of Canada, Mr. Alan Hockin, assistant deputy minister of finance and Canada's representative on the board of the monetary fund for several years, and Mr. W. C. Hood, an adviser in the Bank of Canada.

As far as the substantive part of the question is concerned, the Stockholm meeting, which consists of representatives of ten countries from the International Monetary Fund, will be continuing the discussions begun last September, I think it was, in Brazil having to do with the establishment of drawing rights on the fund to supplement gold as a basis for exchange.

Mr. W. B. Nesbitt (Oxford):

Is the Prime Minister now in a position, as he indicated 27053-5071

Inquiries of the Ministry yesterday he might be, to make a statement on the expansion of the war in Viet Nam?

Right Hon. L. B. Pearson (Prime Minister):

The government has been aware-and the hon. member may have noticed this from the press-that for some time there have been a substantial number of North Vietnamese troops operating in Laos. This has been a matter of increasing concern to the Royal Laotian government and to the international commission, which has certain responsibilities in that country. Unfortunately the commission has not been able to operate in all parts of Laos because some areas are under communist control. Nevertheless it is doing its best to extend its supervisory activities and has recently paid a visit to the city of Saravane in southern Laos, which had been threatened by attack by communist forces. It is hoping to extend visits to other parts of the south which have been threatened.

As far as the situation in Cambodia is concerned, the hon. member knows we have been attempting to strengthen the authority of the commission and increase the facilities available to it so it can supervise the frontier, and for this purpose helicopters would be essential. It has not yet been possible to bring the discussions concerning such extension of authority and facilities to a satisfactory conclusion, but we are continuing negotiations to this end.

As far as Thailand is concerned, there have been some sporadic movements in one area which have been causing a good deal of anxiety.

Mr. W. H. Jorgenson (Provencher):

I should like to direct my question to the Prime Minister or to the Acting Minister of Trade and Commerce. Last week the Minister of Trade and Commerce said he would be making an announcement today with regard to the final payment on the 1966-67 wheat crop. Can the Prime Minister tell the house whether this announcement is being made in Winnipeg today by the Canadian Wheat Board?

Right Hon. L. B. Pearson (Prime Minister):

The minister expects to be in the house later today, this evening I would think, and hopes to obtain permission from the house at that time to revert to motions so he can make this statement today.

March 28, 1968

Inquiries of the Ministry INDUSTRY