Mr. EDWTARDS:

I have not the slightest

doubt he did, and in that he was aided and abetted by others in the armed forces, a practice which is not unknown to old soldiers. He was a fine patriotic citizen, but the fact that he was permitted to pass, I believe, three medical examinations before he was eventually sent back to this country as unfit for service raised doubts in my mind as to the propriety of the medical examinations that are given brave men who offer their lives in the service of their country. I think the figures quoted disprove the foundation for the argument advanced by the hon. member for Swift Current. But it was not with respect to that that I rose to question the minister. I was prompted by the question directed to the minister by the hon. member for Edmonton East. I did not know this department had a wing of the civic hospital, which, apparently, it built and operates or to which it contributes. In Calgary we are fortunate in having what we are led to believe will be, when completed, one of the most modern and most completely equipped hospitals to be found anywhere in Canada or perhaps on this continent, for all of which we are duly grateful and appreciative. I commend the minister and his department for having provided, even at this late date, a fine hospital for our pensioners. I think it was a disgrace that the building on 8th avenue should have been used as a hospital all these years; I am sure the rents paid would have been sufficient to build two or three first class hospitals.

I come now to a question which has bothered me, as a result of the discussion which has been precipitated here by hon. members from the fair city of Toronto, in regard to the location of these hospitals. I was of opinion not only that the hospital in Calgary was badly located from every point of view, but that the new hospital might properly have

War Appropriation-Pensions and National Health

been located where I, as a layman, naturally would think a hospital should be situated- in some place with broad grounds, away from the noise, dust, smoke and distraction of city life. But every doubt or misgiving that I had in regard to the location of the new hospital in Calgary was answered, to my satisfaction at least, by one consideration, namely, the representations of the pensioners themselves. When the Canadian Legion and the representatives of these invalid soldiers come forward and say, "We want a hospital, not out in the foothills, not out on the shores of a lake but as centrally located as we can get it, so that we may have access to the movies and to the attractions afforded by a downtown district, where we will be readily accessible to our friends and relatives who want to come and see us," that settles it for me. When I am told by the men and women whose duty it is to wait upon these soldiers that the men undergoing treatment want to be downtown in the city, for the reasons I have mentioned, I say that where the soldiers want it is where it shall be, as far as I am concerned. I believe that that consideration should outweigh all others, because if the soldier undergoing treatment would'be unhappy or lonesome, no matter how beautiful the grounds might be in some remote district, where his friends would have difficulty in getting to him and he would not see the people going by, then I say the wish of the soldiers should determine the location of the hospital. I should like to hear some expression from the minister as to what the soldiers undergoing treatment in Christie Street hospital have to say with regard to the location of the hospital and what they would say if, as has been advocated, the hospital should be located six or eight miles from downtown Toronto.

I should like the minister to state also the policy of his department in regard to the suggestion I have heard enunciated and which I would understand has been carried out in some cases at least, that at certain points his department cooperates with the municipal authorities in building additions to civic hospitals, and under what circumstances that will be done, if at all. I am reminded now that at the time the new hospital in Calgary was being considered, very strong representations were made to the department that it might well cooperate with the city of Calgary in building a new civic hospital, so that I should like to know whether there is any principle underlying the policy of the department

of not going into partnership with municipal authorities in the construction of hospitals for pensioners.

Mr. EDWAUDS:

Is there any change in this item?

Mr. EDWLARDS (Waterloo):

I think the minister can readily understand that there are tools which require special engineering, drafting and patterns. In the machine shop to which the hon. member for Lincoln (Mr. Chaplin) referred 25 per cent of the business is of a special nature. That machine shop is as well equipped as any machine shop in America. It may be however that these machines are standard in the United States, and for that reason they are willing to pay the 20 per cent duty.

Mr. EDVARDS (Waterloo):

What were the importations from Great Britain of this item?

Mr. EDWARDS:

I want to say this to the hon. member (Mr. Sexsmith). He says that grading may be a good thing for butter, but not for cheese. Now, if any argument can be produced in favour of the grading of butter, I do not see why that same argument should not apply to the grading of cheese. As a matter of fact, grading has been going on for years, but in a haphazard way. The men who are engaged in the business at Montreal, the exporters of butter and cheese, are grading, but they have an interest in the grading. It Is to theiir interest, if there is a falling market for butter and cheese, to try and depreciate the grade of a first-class article. Manifestly it is up to them to try and get it at as low a price as they can, and they have degraded the product

to the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars to the producers of cheese in eastern Ontario, and that I could prove if time would permit.

May I point out that grading has been done systematically in New Zealand for twenty-five years, and that is not the only place where it has been done. In the province of Alberta they have a sample system of gradings It is not compulsory, it is true, but because the provincial authorities of Alberta have established that grading system those producing butter in that province have been practically compelled to get the government certificate on the grade of their butter, for they have found out from experience that otherwise they cannot put their product on the home market or the British Columbia market and successfully compete with the butter that has the government certificate to back it up. The same is true in regard to Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In Quebec, the Quebec Agricultural Co-operative Society has been grading cheese for years. In their own interests they have found it advisable to protect the makers of good cheese, those who pay attention to producing a good article, from those who are indifferent, and they have formed this society for the purpose. Has the result been detrimental to the producers of cheese? Not at all, it has had the effect of bringing up the standard. Take, for example, the Montreal merchants who are in the export business. They do grading. What for? For their own protection, they make a difference between No. 1 and No. 2 grade. Who is hurt by that? The only man who is hurt by systematic grading is the man who is producing ia No. 2 or No. 3 article and wants to sell it as No. 1 What damage can you do to a person who is producing a first-class article by having a system of grading? Why should he not be protected from the man who is producing an inferior article and getting the benefit of the reputation that has been made for the product of the other man? The only person who is injured by the present haphazard method of grading is the man who has taken the trouble to make a first-class article. I say that the producer of the inferior article is not entitled to the sympathy of my hon. friend from East Peterborough (Mr. Sexsmith) or anybody else.