July 20, 1903 (9th Parliament, 3rd Session)

Air. BORDEN (Halifax).

I would like to bring to the attention of the government the fact that the documents which have been printed, purporting to be a return to an address of the House of Commons dated the Ilth -May, 1902, for copies of all Orders in Council and other documents having reier-ence to the granting of provincial autonomy to the North-west Territories, are extremely defective, I had procured a number ut prints of these documents from Regina, and, doing the work of a clerk this morning, 1 compared them with the return which has been brought down, and I found that a very great number of the documents have not been brought down, or at least have not been priuteu. In order to show my right hon. friend how very incomplete is the return as printed, I will read a list of the documents which have not been included in it, some of which are of no great importance, but others of which are of the greatest possible importance for the purpose of an intelligent discussion of this question. I may say that one or two of the documents which I have included in the list, while not directly referring to the question of provincial autonomy, are nevertheless in answer to correspondence which does touch that question as well as the question of better financial terms ; and these, I think, ought to be brought down, because they are part of the consecutive correspondence dealing with these matters. The letters which have been omitted, which I had to take from a number of documents and therefore have uot them arranged in chronological order, are as follows : January 31, 1903, Air. Haultain to Air. Sifton ; February 11, 1903, Mr. Haultaiu to Air. Sifton ; February 9, 1903, Air. Me Gee to Air. Haultaiu ; February 10, 1903, Air. Keys to Air. Haultain ; Alarch 19, 1903, Air. Haultain to Air. Sifton ; March 21, 1903, Air. Sifton to Air. Haultain ; April 15, 1903, Air. Haultaiu to Air. Sifton ; December 17, 1902, Air. A. L. Sifton to Air. Clifford Sifton ; February 5. 1903, Air. Sif-ton to Air. Haultain; February 11, 1903, Air. Haultaiu,to Air. Sifton; February 21, 1903, Air. Haultain to Air. Sifton ; April 1C, 1903, Air. Fielding to All'. Haultain ; April 17, 1903, Air. Haultain to All'. Fielding ; April 20. 1903, Air. Fielding to Air. Haultaiu ; April 20, 1903, Sir Wilfrid Laur-ier to Air. Haultain ; April 20, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Air. Fielding ; April 21, 1903, Lieut.-Gov. Forget of the North-west Territories to the Secretary of State, inclosing an address ; June 2, 1903, Air. Haul-tain to Sir Wilfrid Laurier ; June 6, 1903. Mr. Fielding to Air. Haultain ; June 15. 1903. Air. Haultain to Air, Fielding ; July 25. 1903, Air. Pelletier, acting Under Secretary of