December 12, 1910 (11th Parliament, 3rd Session)

Mr. BORDEN (Halifax).

I desire to ask the Prime Minister (Sir Wilfrid Laurier) and the Minister of Railways and Canals (Mr. Graham) what is the present position of matters with respect to the employees of the Grand Trunk railway who have not been reinstated? Several questions have been asked in the House upon the subject, and I gather from an answer of the Minister of Labour (Mr. King) that it was understood that the words ' as soon as possible ' in section 1 of the agreement of settlement means within a period not exceeding three months from the date of the settlement. I would like to know how many men have not been reinstated and how many have been reinstated since the opening of the present session. Also, I would like to know whether the government has made any investigation as to who were guilty of acts of violence or disorderly conduct. I ask that because the Minister of Labour, on December 1, said that an answer of the company had set forth this contention:
In the opinion of the officers of this company our undertaking to re-employ all who were not found guilty of acts of violence or disorderly conduct has been complied with.
My question is directed to this point as to whether or not the government themselves have made any investigation to learn who were guilty of acts of violence or disorderly conduct. I would like also to know, if the government have not made any such investigation, whether they propose to make one.
I ask this for the reason that, as the settlement I understood, was brought about through some intervention of ministers of the Crown, it would seem that there is an especial duty cast upon the government to see that the terms of the settlement are fairly carried out.