June 3, 1938 (18th Parliament, 3rd Session)

Mr. BENNETT:

I would think that in the main it is a very clear and correct statement of the situation. The St. Catharines Milling Company case is the leading case dealing with the rights of provinces to the reversionary interests in lands in which it was held the Indians had other than a beneficial interest. When their interest in the reserve terminated, the dominion thought that the interest in the land reverted to the crown in the right of the dominion, but the courts decided that it belonged to the crown in the right of the province. That is the decision so far as
Ontario is concerned, and under the circumstances of that particular case. The late government had to deal with a situation ir Quebec in which the same principle was applied, the conditions and circumstances being similar, but there are some reserves in Quebec which were created under different conditions than those applicable to the reserve in the St. Catharines case. The only practical difficulty is whether or not the mines and minerals under the soil in an Indian reserve belong to the crown in the right of the dominion or in the right of the province.