Mr. HAZEN:

We might pass the item and then report progress and obtain a ruling, without prejudice.

Mr. HAZEN:

Perhaps it would be well to get the Speaker's ruling.

Mr. HAZEN:

I have been proceeding on the idea that on Saturdays exactly the same procedure shall be followed as on Fridays.

Mr. HAZEN:

There is now a subsidized dry dock at Halifax which, of course, is the naval station on the Atlantic coast, and a very important point. That dock was built with aid from the Government of Canada, the British Government, the Government of Nova Scotia, and the city of Halifax. It has served a very useful purpose, and during the war has been extremely busy all the time. It is not, however, a dock of the first class. The first-class dock of to-day is 1,150 feet in length, and the standard fixed under this Bill is 125 feet width at'the base. The Halifax dock is about 600 feet long. It is most desirable, in the interests of Canada and of the Empire, that there should be a large dry dock at an important naval station such as Halifax. That matter has been considered by the Government. I understand that my hon. friend suggests that the tendency of an Act such as this will be to induce promoters and speculators to embark upon enterprises of this sort. I do not think there is much danger of that occurring, judging from what has taken place in the past, because, as has been pointed out by the hon. member for St. John (Mr. Pugs-ley), no dry dock of the first class has been built under the provisions of the Dry Dock Act up to the present time, and I doubt whether, even with the changes being effected now, promoters, people not bona fide interested in the development of shipping, will be induced to go into enterprises of this sort, because the maintenance of a dock after construction involves large expenditures, and unless those who build such docks can see a fair prospect, after completing the dock and supplying the plant, of doing a considerable volume of business at a fair profit, it is most unlikely that they will put their money into such an enterprise.

Mr. HAZEN:

It is an extension of an old work.