William Lyon Mackenzie King (Prime Minister; President of the Privy Council; Secretary of State for External Affairs)
Liberal
Right Hon. W. L. MACKENZIE KING (Prime Minister):
In view of the promise I made last evening, I should like to make a statement with respect to the depositors of the Home Bank:
On July 17, 1924, this House unanimously adopted the report of the committee on Banking and Commerce with respect to the losses sustained by the depositors of the Home Bank of Canada. The concluding paragraph of the said report is as follows:
Your committee consider that the facts brought out in the interim report submitted by Mr. Chief Justice McKeown, and the evidence therein referred to, establish that the depositors of the Home Bank have a moral claim in equity for compensation by the country on account of any loss they may suffer by reason of the failure of the Home Bank.
In the circumstances, the government has decided to introduce, this session, a measure recognizing, with respect to the depositors of the Home Bank, "the moral claim in equity for compensation", as referred to in this paragraph of the report. The proposed legislation will be brought down in due course.