March 13, 1922 (14th Parliament, 1st Session)

Mr. MEIGHEN:

They have found the way, and the way is designated in this Speech from the Throne, which, as hon. members will see in a few minutes, promises to do in every regard just what they found the late government doing, and insofar as it does not promise to do what they found the late government doing, promises to think about the subject. The manifesto continues:
With these huge undertakings, either one of which alone is sufficient to cripple Canada, this Dominion is sick commercially and weakened financially.
I will refer to other portions of this address when I come to other subjects treated of in the Speech from the Throne.
The hon. member who is now the Minister of Justice (Sir Lomer Gouin) speaking in his province also in the course of the campaign, gave utterance to sentiments that painted an equally doleful picture. He seems to have declared even that our population was diminishing. I see he gives mute indication of dissent, but I have the declaration attributed to him before me now. He stated as well that trade was falling; that unemployment was rampant; that bankruptcy was at hand; and that, indeed, we were going to fall into the hands of the United States unless the people arose to a sense of the appalling condition they were in,-in other words, unless they elected him and his party to power. On the 3rd of December he is thus reported in Le Soleil:
Sir Lomer Gouin received an ovation when he entered the hall. He warned the electors against the stratagem of the Conservatives-