1. (a) Under the regulations, all gentlemen cadets on leaving the college with a diploma of graduation or a certificate of military qualification, who have not obtained a commission in the royal navy, or in his majesty's regular land or air forces, or in the corresponding naval, land or air forces of the other portions of the empire, are required to accept combatant commissions in the R.C.N.V.R., or the non-permanent active militia or the non-permanent active air force. Having thus become established in the various arms of the service, full scope is provided for their appointment to active service units.

(b) According to available information there were, as on the 17th May, 1940, 534 ex-gentlemen cadets of the Royal Military College serving in the active service components of the sea, land and air forces of Canada and Great Britain.

The total output from the Royal Military College in the past twenty years has been about 900. This means that in the 9th month of the War, 60 per cent of the entire output from the Royal Military College in the past twenty years is already serving.

2. Action has already been taken through appropriate channels to inform district officers commanding of other ex-gentlemen cadets who are anxious to serve in the Canadian active service force.

distribution of copies of bills to members

Mr. ROGERS:

Owing to the small number of light tanks available, it was not considered possible for maintenance reasons to distribute these tanks among the mobilized and unmobilized mechanized cavalry and tank units in Canada. It was therefore decided to retain these tanks at the Canadian armoured fighting vehicles school at Camp Borden, bringing in as many personnel as possible from the mobilized mechanized cavalry and tank units to Camp Borden for training, and it was proposed that certain tanks would be allotted to these units for all purposes when they were concentrated at Camp Borden.

Mr. ROGERS:

I believe several questions were asked while I was not in the house yesterday afternoon, and an undertaking was given that they would be referred to me for reply. One question was asked by the hon. member for Cape Breton South (Mr. Gillis), in the following terms:

What is the regulation of the minister's department in respect of the_ following category: A married man with a wife and dependents who was parted before enlistment, but who, in accordance with the court decision, was compelled to support his wife and child before enlistment, neglects to make provision for them! His wife has presented her marriage certificate and a cony of the court order granting her support. This support had been taken from her

Government Loan -Mr. Hanson (York - Sunbury).

by virtue of her husband's enlistment, he having failed to register at that time. Have there been any complaints of that kind? If so, what is the ruling in such eases?

Quite a number of such cases have already arisen. The dependents' allowance board obtain a statement under oath from the wife and forward it, together with a copy of the court order or separation agreement, to the commanding officer of the soldier concerned, who is then paraded and given an opportunity to recognize his responsibility. Considering both the wife's statement and the husband's statement, the board then decides on appropriate action. If an assignment of pay by the soldier is not sufficient to make up the required sum under the court order or separation agreement, the board may then make an additional allowance up to the required sum.

I also have a question which was asked by the hon. member for Rosetown-Biggar (Mr. Coldwell), in which he refers to a class A boy, who under existing regulations suffered some special hardship with respect to his eligibility for dependent's allowance. The answer to that question is as follows: It is not understood what the hon. .member means by a class A boy, because there is no such category in the militia. It may be .that he refers to the grouping which applies to tradesmen's rates of pay under classes A, B and C. Boys under the age of eighteen are considered as learners or apprentices and are not entitled to tradesmen's rates of pay until they are mustered as men. The rate of pay for a boy is 70 cents a day. He may make assignments to a dependent and apply for dependents' allowance on behalf of the dependent. If the hon. member for Rosetown-Biggar would give me the name and the particulars of the boy to whom he refers, I shall have his case investigated in order to ascertain the reason for his being refused dependents' allowance on behalf of his parents. I believe that was the particular question raised by the hon. member.

Then two questions were asked by the hon. member for York West (Mr. Adamson), as follows:

1. Is the minister prepared to tell the committee how many Bren guns have been produced, and-unless he would consider this as not in the public interest-whether the Bren guns so far produced have been satisfactory?

2. Are we producing any 25-pounder guns, any anti-aircraft guns, and what is the production of small arms ammunition and of field ammunition?

My hon. friend is not in the house at the moment, but it is not considered in the public interest to supply the answers to these questions. I shall be very glad indeed to give him a further explanation of why it appears necessary to give such an answer at this time.

95826-19J

Mr. ROGERS:

I shall be glad to take note of the question and supply the information if it can be made available.