Mr. Armand Cloutier (Drummond-Arlhabaska):

Mr. Speaker, I am unable to restrain strong emotions as I rise in this house, to speak on behalf of the constituents of Drum-mond-Arthabaska whom I have the honour to represent in the Canadian House of Commons.

The emotion I feel springs from various motives; to start with, I would say that it is inspired by the fact that the constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska has known many very great politicians; I wish I were as eloquent today as were Laurier, LaVergne, Dorion and other great orators; thus, the voice of my constituency could be heard in this chamber with the brilliancy and the eloquence of former days!

I would have to be a poet to do justice to the constituency I represent. For I feel that Drummond-Arthabaska is no ordinary riding and it is the very breath of its soul which vibrates today in the recesses of my own heart.

There are several reasons why we should pay special attention to Drummond-Arthabaska. May I first of all mention the part the constituency played during the last war when it placed first in the victory loan campaigns held throughout Canada. The understanding prevailing in our plants between employers and employees should also be held as a model. We have very large industries as well as several private concerns that are quite prosperous. Everywhere there is harmony between English and Frenchspeaking citizens as well as between the various classes of society. Have we not there a reflection of our national life?

I would be remiss in my duty if I failed to mention the farmers of my county with whom I remain in close relationship. Those who remain faithful to the land deserve that we take an interest in their fate. There are several problems that I should like to mention here. Let us not forget that the farmer remains the cornerstone of society, the hope of tomorrow and of the future.

Since my election as member for Drummond-Arthabaska, I had made it a point to make one or two speeches during each session. Some will no doubt wonder why I have not yet spoken since my re-election in 1949. If I have not spoken sooner it is because the esteem and respect I have for my new colleagues prompted me to await my turn so that they would expound their views and policies.

The Address-Mr. Cloutier I avail myself of this opportunity to pay tribute to present members of parliament, who are undoubtedly the most active ever seen in this house.

I also wish to congratulate my distinguished colleagues, the mover and seconder of the address in reply to the speech from the throne. Gentlemen, you have fulfilled your duty in a very remarkable manner.

(Text):

Mr. Speaker, so many of my colleagues speak English that I shall continue in their language, with which I am not so familiar as it is not my mother tongue. I therefore beg your indulgence, Mr. Speaker, and that of the house.

I avail myself of this opportunity to pay a public and respectful tribute to the right hon. Prime Minister (Mr. St. Laurent) and to present to him the usual compliments, as well as to assure him of my most sincere admiration and attachment. His predecessor, Right Hon. Mackenzie King, left him a happy if difficult legacy in view of these troublesome times. He knows, however, how to fulfil this task. Thanks to his talents as a great lawyer, as a fair and just man and as an administrator, he has surrounded himself with eminent colleagues such as the Minister of Trade and Commerce (Mr. Howe) whom I should call this country's great builder since, under his skilful direction, Canada has become the fourth world power. I should also mention the right hon. Minister of Agriculture (Mr. Gardiner) who has so long devoted his talents, his experience, his oratorical skill and his persuasiveness to furthering the interests of the agricultural community.

It would take too long to mention each and every department, but I would like to underscore the personal integrity, the diligence and the very high qualifications of the members of the cabinet as well as their parliamentary assistants. All contribute in splendid fashion to make Canada one of the best organized powers in the world. On behalf of my constituents I therefore wish to pay tribute to these hon. gentlemen, and to thank them for the excellent co-operation they have never failed to extend in furthering the interests and the general welfare of the constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska.

Finally, Mr. Speaker, you will permit me to sound a note of sadness. In all the countries of the commonwealth 1952 is a year of mourning for our glorious monarch. He will be remembered as a very worthy king, both as a man of duty and a man possessed of great family virtues. In this connection I

wish to quote an editorial signed by Mr. Louis-Philippe Roy, editor of L'Action Catholique of Quebec city, who wrote:

AH his life George VI was a man of duty. There is no greater virtue than to perform one's task everywhere and all the time, whether it be obscure or exalted. It would moreover be ridiculous to believe that the kingly office has ini it nothing but glory, adulation and receptions. During the last war, as on numerous other occasions, the deceased monarch showed how human he had remained, how close to his subjects whose worries, hardships and sufferings he shared. These tragic tidings deeply affect all those countries over which George VI reigned, because it is the holder of authority who disappears; but if this sorrow is genuinely heartfelt it is because, under the kingly trappings, beat the heart of a father. The king was in truth the beloved father of a fine family. And therein most certainly lies the second lesson to be drawn from his life. Never did the splendours of the palace eclipse for him the more domestic happiness of a united Christian family.

Honesty of mind, gentleness of character, simplicity of demeanour, personal integrity; all these the Canadian people had occasion to observe in the person of this monarch who visited Canada in 1939. We therefore take our share of the understandable affliction of the royal family. We will make it our duty to pray for the deceased sovereign, for the noble queen who survives him and more especially for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II who acceded to the throne. It is all the easier to wish Her Majesty a peaceful and glorious reign since she has just concluded in this country a tour which accorded us the occasion of admiring in her person the qualities of her noble father, and above all, perhaps, the character of Victoria, her illustrious forebear. May God bless the royal family in its present bereavement as well as in the glamour of this glorious accession to the throne.

Indeed, Mr. Speaker, may God bless the royal family. Such is the hope I am expressing on behalf of the constituency I represent and especially of the city of Drummondville, which in November of 1951 was honoured by the official visit of Their Royal Highnesses The Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Another event which took place almost at the beginning of 1952 was the departure of His Excellency the Viscount Alexander of Tunis and his family. It must be emphasized that Viscount Alexander was, par excellence, the transition governor. Indeed., no royal representative was more Canadian than he; none of his predecessors had better understood the bi-racial and cultural character of this country. Viscount Alexander of Tunis will be remembered by all Canadians, both French and English-speaking, as a man who understood our country, who loved its people and who contributed largely to preparing that happy transition brought about by his departure for his mother country, where he has gone to assume important duties.

His Excellency the Right Hon. Vincent Massey, who succeeds Viscount Alexander of Tunis, will be the fifty-sixth governor general of Canada, in a succession of governors that

goes back to Samuel de Champlain, who was appointed as governor of New France in 1633. His Excellency will be the eighteenth governor general since confederation and the first Canadian to be appointed to this high office since the signing of this historic agreement. The investigation he led into the development of the arts, letters and sciences in Canada was to prepare him further for the high honour and heavy responsibility placed upon him. His Excellency the Right Hon. Vincent Massey has shown unequivocally and bravely that he too has understood the bi-racial and cultural character of Canada and its spiritual mission throughout the world. [DOT]

On behalf of all the electors I represent, I wish His Excellency the Right Hon. Vincent Massey success in his new responsibilities.

I was saying, gentlemen, that Canada, under the leadership of the present government, has become one of the best organized powers, as much by its freedoms, the privileges enjoyed by its citizens, its labour organizations, and its social security measures as by its resources, its economic development and, above all, by the part it has come to play in the international sphere, by its diplomacy, and its contribution to the various bodies entrusted with safeguarding "peace". Indeed, our country-as has often been pointed out by the Prime Minister-wants peace and not war! But it must be in a position to offer some resistance to the enemy; to that end, I am convinced that, according to the old saying, if we want peace, we must prepare for war: si vis pacem, para bellum.

It also appears to me that any unfair aggression should be checked and that is the reason why we have sent a brigade to Korea. With all my colleagues, I deeply deplore the death of those who have fallen on the battlefields, although casualties have been relatively low since there are only, thus far, 127 dead, 514 wounded and 5 missing. Despite the fact that the war goes on-which is very deeply regretted by all-those figures are not at all excessive.

In fact, I believe that the city of Drummond ville has lost only two or three of its sons in Korea, among whom there is unfortunately a man whom I considered as one of my warm personal friends, a very devoted and likeable figure, who knew how to sustain our boys' courage. I refer to Major Rosaire Lupien, one of my fellow citizens, who had the honour of being appointed principal chaplain of all the forces of the commonwealth in Korea. And this, after he had played an active and courageous part during the last war on the main battlefields of Europe!

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Here are the words of the New Year's message which was sent to me by my excellent friend, Major Lupien, and it is with the deepest emotion that I quote:

I have deeply appreciated in this far away place the good wishes you have sent me. The letter you wrote to my father in connection with my recent promotion has caused him much pleasure. Please accept in return my religious wishes for the New Year.

A few days ago the Hon. Messrs. Claxton and Lapointe were in Korea; I had the honour of conversing with both of them.

My health is excellent and all is well.

Religiously yours,

Korea, January 4, 1952.

Rosaire Lupien, priest.

Army Chaplain.

Is that not, Mr. Speaker, a very moving echo of the great morale of that brave apostle, of that priest and soldier who spared neither his zeal nor his devotion to hold up the courage of those who were committed to his care. That is why I wished to pay officially to Major Lupien my most respectful and loyal tribute and may I be permitted to extend this tribute to the good family of my late distinguished fellow citizen.

But since I am now talking about our men in foreign lands, I wish to repeat a request which I have already had the honour of making in this house. In fact with what fervour and impulse wouldn't the hearts of our boys thrill if they had been given a symbol of their country, the flag. "The flag" calls forth courage and discipline; it bears in its folds the salvation and glory of a people.

Why, gentlemen, I ask you, should Canadians be left any longer without a standard? Canada has truly become a nation which should have "its flag", an emblem to represent her not only as a free people but also as a power to be reckoned with.

Nothing great will be accomplished if the whole soul of a nation does not breathe in the folds of a common flag. The spirit is everything and the sense of the ideal and the divine in man, and in society, of that which transcends the life of the individual, and gives it its value, vibrates in a flag, is carried in its folds over the wide spaces and beyond the seas, a symbol of self-respect and justifiable national pride.

Let us hope that in the very near future Canada will have a truly national and distinctive flag, a standard, an oriflamme which will find its place among the most beautiful, the most respected and the most beloved national emblems, the world over!

It is only logical that the idea of a national anthem should be linked with that of a flag, and, here again, I must voice for the second

520 HOUSE OF

The Address-Mr. Cloutier time in this house the regret that a national anthem has not yet been adopted. I do not see why we should not simply decide in favour of "O Canada", since all the virtues it extols belong equally to each of the two groups which make up our country!

The soul of a nation expresses itself through its national anthem, the beauty of which is in direct relation to the nobleness of the feelings it conveys. Could there be a better choice than that of "O Canada", this inspiring hymn, flowing from the source, the very heart of a religious and heroic race, an anthem of pride and hope, a song extolling our tenacity, our bravery, qualities which are still admired overseas on the battle front, the war song par excellence:

Canada was born of a proud nation Thy history is an epic poem Relating the most brilliant deeds!

Our national anthem "O Canada" is not only a recalling of the past, it is an inspiration for the future, and it is easy to interpret it as the inspiring symbol of Canadian unity: Let us be a nation of brothers Under the bond of Faith!

Let us sing out as our fathers did

The victorious cry: "For God and the King!"

"O Canada" is the hymn, the very anthem of our country, rising from the soil and which is echoed back as the thrilling voice of the past and the dynamic voice of the future by our great rivers and our immense forests from the east to the west. As I have said, "O Canada" should remain our national anthem, for no other hymn can better express "the soul of our country." It reflects the past, the present and the future, the very aspirations of a vast, of an immense country. As someone so rightly said the day "O Canada" is sung from Newfoundland and: Cape Breton to Vancouver and Victoria our Canadian nation will have made much progress towards the union of hearts and minds.

These young Canadians from both racial groups who some years ago took part in a forum on Canadian unity came to the following conclusion: "Canada can become a nation only if she achieves a common purpose. The other provinces must understand Quebec at least as well as Quebec understands them. And Quebec, for her part, must realize that she is the most difficult part of Canada to understand."

In the past twenty-five years we have no doubt made constant progress along the path to Canadian unity, And as was stated by the hon. Senator Adelard Godbout, it was during those years when national unity was at its peak that Canada achieved the greatest strides in the economic as well as the military and international fields.

We therefore have everything to gain by fostering closer relations between our two races. Who are the French Canadians? Colonel Goforth, director general of the Canadian army general staff in Ottawa, during the last war, asked that question and answered it in a very eloquent manner. Here is what he said of the French Canadians:

They came from small villages in Normandy, Brittany, on the other side of the narrow sea that separated them from the native country of our ancestors. The French expression "La Manche" brings something very suggestive to our minds, because it compares that sea to Neptune's sleeve. In that imaginative sense, those of us who are of English descent and have received an important adjunction of Norman and Celtic blood, are made of the same stuff from that same sleeve as those with whom we share this Canada of ours.

And Colonel Goforth points out that history books give no information about everyday life and the thoughts of the people which really constitute the history of a nation. The glorious tradition, Mr. Speaker, of Canadian arms did not begin with Wolfe's victory on the plains of Abraham, but with the heroic struggle of a tiny band of French colonists against an enemy. The desperate and never to be forgotten resistance of Dollard, Sieur des Ormeaux, and of his comrades on t'he shares of the Ottawa river, is as much an epic in our history as the heroic deeds of Cecil Merritt at Dieppe or Paul Triquet at Casa Berardi.

When our Canadian soil was invaded during the revolutionary war and again in 1812, it was the unswerving loyalty of New France towards the British crown and the heroic deeds of her sons, de Salaberry for instance, which laid the foundations for the future glory of Canada. For more than a century our French-speaking fellow countrymen have always found a noble and inspired leader who understood the value and necessity of Canadian unity, who rallied his own people and ours to his own vision of our common destiny, who successfully toiled to communicate this ideal to those of his generation. These leaders were not men of the same political party. The first was Sir Louis Hippolyte Lafontaine, whose association with Baldwin created the happy union of Upper and Lower Canada. Then at the time of confederation under Sir John A. Macdonald's quite long administration, it was the well-balanced leadership of Sir Georges-Etienne Cartier and Hector Langevin which preserved the harmonious agreement between Quebec and the other components of the new dominion. The era of Sir Wilfrid Laurier might be called the golden era of Canada's growth and prosperity. The fires of racial language and religious prejudices never

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burned less fiercely in all our history, while the light of our patriotism shines with renewed glory.

To these names which recall the political milestones of Canadian history, Baldwin, Macdonald, Lafontaine, Cartier, Laurier, must immediately be added another sympathetic and recent figure, whose prestige at once appeals to the imagination; I mean the Right Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King. His memory remains dear and ever alive, not only to his followers and to those who knew and loved him, but also to all Canadians, whatever their social class or their religious and political convictions.

"William Lyon Mackenzie King," it has been said, "what a marvellous name to add to the greatest and most brilliant names forever inscribed in the annals of Canadian history!" His predecessors Macdonald and Laurier in particular had played an important part in the triumph of responsible government, national unity and the development of Canadian autonomy. Well, the Right Hon. Mr. King, by a slow and difficult, but sure and successful process, has obtained for us the statute, universally recognized today, of a free and powerful nation and, may I add, has led us to a point very near to full autonomy.

Indeed, the Right Hon. Mackenzie King, in most difficult times and in circumstances which might have riven the country in two irreconcilable blocs, contributed more than anyone else to the unity of Canada. He found a nation sorely divided, riven by the controversies of the first war, torn by political disputes, which set east against west and race against race. Nevertheless he was called after his death, and rightly so, "the man of peace, the greatest single force for a united Canada."

The Right Hon. Mackenzie King, in an extremely serious and critical period, achieved the miracle of national unity. Under the able guidance of this great leader, Canada has become in the climax of his leadership not only a power but a great power, with a wealth of destiny still before it in the world.

William Lyon Mackenzie King immediately takes his place among the great leaders who helped to fashion the destinies of Canada, our young and beautiful country. And I suggest it is fitting that we honour his memory as soon as possible.

A group of distinguished Canadian citizens are at present seeing to it that a monument is erected in Montreal to the memory of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the great French-Canadian statesman whose constituency I have the honour to represent in this house.

May I be permitted to express the wish that on a prominent spot on parliament hill there may soon be erected, to the memory of the Right Hon. William Lyon Mackenzie King, a monument of bronze, of brass or perhaps of marble, which will recall the sympathetic and familiar features of the great lamented man whose moving as well as indestructible memory lies in the hearts of all our people.

If I take the liberty of bringing forth today such a request, possibly it is because I was favoured with a particularly gracious gesture on the part of the Right Hon. Mackenzie King, who was most sympathetic and friendly towards me. And I remember that other speech on national unity I delivered a few years ago, on the occasion of which I received words of congratulation from Mr. King, to the effect that I was imbued with true Canadian spirit, the very spirit that inspired such great men as Laurier and other outstanding statesmen. I did not think the incident would have any repercussions, but a few days later I had the privilege of being called to a private meeting where I was warmly received and of which I retain-need I add-an unforgettable and very touching memory.

Therefore, in view of the interest which the Right Hon. Mackenzie King seemed to have taken in that speech, may I conclude by referring to the broad picture which Canadian unity had evoked in my mind, and which the mention of those great statesmen from Lafontaine and Baldwin to Laurier and Mackenzie King recalled to my memory; that gigantic country of ours, Canada, which covers the whole St. Lawrence valley, Newfoundland, this new Canadian province which has sent us such worthy representatives, the fertile lands from the bay of Fundy to the great lakes region, the western prairies, the Rockies, and the lands bordering the great Pacific ocean.

In concluding, Mr. Speaker, may I quote again from the works of one of our Canadian poets these few lines from "The Mixer", whose meaning reaches the very depths of my soul, and which I should like to share with you:

In the city, on the prairies, in the forest, in the camp,

In the mountain-clouds of colour, in the fog-white river-damp,

From Atlantic to Pacific, from the great lakes to the pole,

I am mixing strange ingredients into a common whole,

Every hope shall build upon me, every heart shall be my own,

The ambition of my people shall be mine and mine alone,

The Address-Mr. Dinsdale Through the pangs of transformation in my fiery furnace blast,

Do I shape and mould and make them "Canadian at last."

Mr. ARMAND CLOUTIER (Drummond-Arthabaska):

Mr. Speaker, I have listened with deep interest to the remarks and expose of the Minister of Veterans Affairs (Mr. Mac-

The Address-Mr. Cloutier

kenzie) in regard to veterans housing, and on behalf of the electors of the historic constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska, which I have the honour to represent in the Canadian House of Commons, I wish to congratulate him most heartily.

Availing myself of your customary kindness, Mr. Speaker, I shall continue my speech in French, the language of my forebears, and conclude it in English in order to show my esteem and regard for my English-speaking fellow members, from whom I have received so many marks of kindness and consideration since I entered parliament.

(Translation):

Mr. Speaker, ever since my election as mem-; ber for Drummond-Arthabaska, a constituency which has had outstanding representatives, it lad been my wont to deliver one speech in the course of each session. To those who may be wondering why I have not risen in .my place since I was reelected in 1945, I may say that, owing to my esteem and consideration for my new fellow-members, I felt I could wait, thus affording them the opportunity of stating their views and their policy. I avail myself of this occasion to pay a tribute to the present members, who form the finest body which, so it seems to me, we have had for a number of years.

Mr. Speaker, I cannot but take advantage of this opportunity to extend to you the customary congratulations and to tell you that every citizen in the fine constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska was as delighted as 1 have been when you were called upon to fulfil the high functions of Speaker of this house. No better choice could have been made. As a grandson of the great Honore Mercier, you have, through your talents, your personality and your industry, attained the high post which you occupy with so much dignity. You may be assured of the best wishes of all -the electors of my constituency and myself.

May I sincerely compliment the mover and the seconder of the address in reply to the speech from the throne. The hon. member for Prince has performed his task in a most admirable manner, and I could hardly tell how glad I was to note the truly Canadian spirit he evidenced in speaking as well as he did the language of my ancestors.

As regards the seconder, I knew beforehand that he would be equal to the task, as I had frequently had occasion to admire him in political contests. I knew that he would make good use of his eloquence and that he

would win the plaudits of all members of this house through his gentlemanly qualities and his quite personal appeal.

I am now constrained to introduce a note of sadness. I cannot forgo this opportunity of paying a tribute to a great Canadian, who was minister for my district and whose death is lamented by all. I have known and esteemed him and he has often given me sound advice. I am referring to that great Canadian, the late lamented Hon. P. J. A. Cardin. His thirty-five years of active political life will ensure him an honoured place in the history of this country. During his splendid and fruitful career, Hon. Mr. Cardin enjoyed the respect of all, because he was always upright and sincere. He had firm principles and his courage was indomitable. The sterling qualities which made him a beloved and respected leader will always cause him to be cited as an example. His name will live in history, with the radiant qualities of heart and mind of a great statesman. Through his ability, his eloquence and his powerful mind, he rose step by step in the political sphere and attained the highest functions in the federal administration. While proud, he was never haughty and to him honours were of minor importance, as against the respect of his principles -and the interest of his fellow-citizens. I was deeply moved when I saw his noble countenance immobilized by death, but still keeping an expression of gentleness and firmness. I felt I still heard his musical voice, his eloquent words, when I pondered the heavy loss his death meant for his compatriots and all Canadians. Now that he has left for the great beyond, many among those who knew him less will better realize the important and patriotic part he has played in our public life. His memory will endure and his life will remain a symbol, an unforgettable example of public spirit and devotion.

The population of the constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska is made up of the two best elements that can be found, as it includes both farmers and workers. We know what an asset the land is for a country, and what vitality the people derive from it. The farmers in our district keep on, peacefully but without respite in this twentieth century, ploughing the toilsome and everlasting furrow which was begun in the seventeenth century by the settlers of Richelieu, Colbert and Talon.

As regards the workers, I feel quite close to them, because for nearly twenty-one years I was paymaster, accountant and statistician for the Drummondville Cotton Co., which is

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a subsidiary of the Dominion Textile, and whose plant is one of the most important in Drummondville, employing as it does more than 1,600 workers. I say, Mr. Speaker, that my contact with them has enabled me to understand their problems and to sympathize with their most legitimate wishes. Drummondville, Victoriaville and other industrial centres of my constituency deserve mention for the harmony and the good spirit which exist between employers and workers. Both groups are cooperating whole-heartedly and their relations are of the best.

Mr. Speaker, permit me to extend my most sincere congratulations to the hon. Minister of National Health and Welfare (Mr. Martin), the former Secretary of State in this government, for his splendid work in connection with the citizenship act, both in sponsoring the bill in the Canadian parliament and in supervising the administration of the act. That legislation affords fresh hope for a prompt and sincere effort toward the achievement of a Canadian spirit. But it should not be forgotten that this agreement, this Canadian unity will only be attained if the spirit of 1867 is strictly adhered to and it is realized that the people of this country are all Canadians, having equal rights, there being neither a conquered nor a conquering element.

Canadian unity has long been a moot question. I know, Mr. Speaker, that there will always be narrow-minded people who will seek to curb any movement toward good understanding and unity among all Canadians. Those extremists form a small minority and they are more vocal than dangerous. However, I say that the Canadian nation is gradually developing.

Bilingualism is the very basis of our great national principles; it is for us an element of strength, marking as it does our racial duality, and the union of two great modern civilizations through a double classical and scientific education. Our cultural idealism is blended with a practicalness which permits us to benefit from that deep, culture.

The French element does not exist only in Quebec; the French Canadians are prolific and they have preserved the adventurous spirit of their forebears. They have spread over every part of the country. They are good settlers, they know how to clear new land and they are born builders and pioneers. Courageous and industrious, they have at heart the success of their task and the preservation of their language. Western Canada as well as the maritime provinces have many Frenchspeaking communities. Two million French Canadians are to be found in the United States. Recent statistics show that in these last two or three years, more than 11,000 people from Quebec have taken up residence in Ontario.

A great Toronto periodical, Saturday Night, notes these facts and states that such a trend cannot be changed and that it is likely to become more and more noticeable. The Ontario writer states in conclusion:

Under such circumstances, why should we not improve our relations with the French Canadians and admit once for all that Canada is a bilingual country, a confederation of two racial groups having each its own language and its own culture. At the present time, bilingualism means more particularly that the French Canadians must learn English.

The writer goes on to deplore the fact that the French language is poorly taught outside of Quebec and he emphasizes that sooner or later the majority of Canadians will have to speak both languages.

That article from Saturday Night reflects credit on Its writer and it greatly enhances the cause of Canadian unity. It recalls the very principles of the Canadian confederation and opens out new prospects for this country.

It is indeed desirable that the French language should be better taught throughout the country, so that English-speaking Canadians may better understand us. At the same time, it must be stressed that the English language should also be taught more efficiently within our province, for similar and other still more important reasons. Otherwise, we shall always have but one official language, our own. Newcomers in this country prefer English because it is easier to learn. It would be to our advantage and interest to learn better the language of the majority. If we did so. and if the rest of the people followed the advice given by the author of the article published by Saturday Night, Canada would become a bilingual country and we could rightly speak about a Canadian nation.

Mr. Speaker, how shall we be able to attain to the rank of a true nation or achieve Canadian unity? We shall reach such an objective by giving our country an emblem, a truly Canadian and distinctive flag, which will enable us to identify ourselves clearly, proudly and promptly. In this connection, I must compliment the government, on behalf of all my electors, for having included that commendable measure in the speech from the throne last year and having appointed a committee for that purpose. That committee in which I did not sit included outstanding

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people from Quebec and other provinces, men who are no doubt conscious of their responsibilities and of the importance of their task, an enlightened and competent committee which will do justice to all, willing to consider the legitimate Claims of the people and of the press as well as the merits of all the designs which have been submitted to it. We all know that the committee has reported that in its opinion Canada should have a national and distinctive flag.

Mr. Speaker, what more shall we have to do in order to attain to the rank of a true nation and achieve Canadian unity? We shall have to adopt a national anthem. I know of nothing more beautiful or loftier than the anthem O Canada. It is a martial poem which evokes our whole past featured by struggles, toil, efforts and pride, a true epic from wdiich the people derive courage, strength and ideal, as well as a purpose for living, fighting, conquering, and if needs be, generously sacrificing their lives.

And what can be more stirring than that music to the rhythm of which our boys, in these times as in the past, have marched and defeated the enemy.

Canada's national anthem does not belong exclusively to my kinsmen, who find in a distant past the chief reasons of the love they feel for their country. The other racial groups who live in Canada also have their heroes and their martyrs. We all sing the same anthem; may we all understand it, and make it the basis of our thoughts, of our very life, and of our common love.

0 Canada is the true anthem of this country; its accents arise from the land and are echoed by our great river, by the boundless forests w'hich extend from the east to the west, forming the poignant voice of the past, the dynamic voice of the future. 0 Canada should remain our national anthem, it should continue to give expression, in this country as outside, to the spirit and the soul of our people.

Mr. Speaker, the French Canadians, like all other racial groups, are proud of their nationality, of their glorious past, featured by intellectual endeavours and contributions to moral improvement. They are proud of their language, they cherish their institutions and they intend to survive, to preserve their position in a country they have developed and in which they have multiplied. I consider national unity as a vital pact so lofty and noble in its scope and its inspiration that the

parties to the agreement should esteem and respect each other. We are the most truly Canadian among Canadians, inasmuch as we have long been rooted in this country and we have benefited for many centuries from the numerous influences of our environment. In passing, I wish to recall with pride that my own ancestors came from France in 1616, eight years only after Samuel de Champlain had founded Quebec, but nevertheless, my only claim is that I am simply a Canadian.

We are of French and English descent, our culture is both French and English and that is the very reason why we feel impelled to safeguard the sacred heritage which our ancestors and yours have left us, those principles which are the very basis of our lives, which condition them and give to Canada a truly distinctive character.

(Text):

Mr. Speaker, so that this appeal of mine for cooperation, for Canadian unity, may also reach my English-speaking colleagues, I shall now complete my address in English, a language not altogether unknown to me, of course, but understandably less familiar to me than my own.

I thus wish to show my esteem and regard for my English-speaking colleagues both in and outside the province of Quebec, so that all may hear and understand my message, this appeal of mine, for earnest cooperation in the furtherance of national progress. Since Quebec members are ever ready to share in this effect, I too have wanted to do my bit in the furtherance of Canadian unity. I shall therefore continue my remarks on Canadian unity, following those I have just spoken in French. I can well imagine two great races of different backgrounds growing side by side in mutual respect, each striving better to understand the other. It is my feeling that war, in demanding closer contacts between provinces, between eastern and western Canada, between the French and the English elements of this country, has enormously helped a closer association of the people of Canada, a country so vast that differences may be noted in the mentality, outlook, habits and customs of people in the various provinces.

No wonder then that English and French Canadians, though living side by side, but being of different backgrounds and extraction, remain strangers. It may be that war shall have served to establish unity, wrought this miracle of rapprochement and mutual regard which long years, nay, a whole century of striving failed to bring about. The scourge of wrar then has had this beneficial result, for it has brought us to the threshold of a true and

The Address-Mr. Cloutier

real understanding. I believe there is not a single member of the armed forces in this country who does not count good friends in some of the other provinces.

Mr. Speaker, on behalf of my constituents, and as representative of the historic constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska, once represented here by Sir Wilfrid Laurier whose voice I modestly echo, I say that we Canadians of French ancestry from old Quebec are ready to extend a cordial hand of friendship, to cooperate in the attainment of this common ideal, so that in the surge of progress now apparent throughout the world, Canada may play a part befitting this vast, wealthy, young and free country. It is necessary that we strive not for a national but for an international outlook. Let our thoughts and discussions no longer dwell on the past but let them carry us into the future in union, harmony and unity.

In my enthusiasm and sincerity, Mr. Speaker, I am reminded of those glorious monuments on parliament hill that recall our political history and the memory of past statesmen: first, the great Queen Victoria,

of whom our elders still speak with reverence and whose memory remains dear to all Canadians, then Sir George-Etienne Cartier, an outstanding father of confederation, an inspired patriot, who gave us the song "0 Canada", my beloved country, and whose [DOT]death w'as truly a national loss, Sir Alexander Mackenzie who, in 1878, asked Sir Wilfrid Laurier to join his cabinet, George Brown, who may well remain as the symbol of the hard task that had to be faced by our first Canadian politicians at that decisive period. At the base of his monument the sculptor has placed a ballot box, a sword at rest, an olive branch and a banner upon which are inscribed the words, "Government by the people, free institutions, religious, liberty and equality, unity and progress of confederation." These are the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty more enduring than the stone upon which they are inscribed. May this ever be the monumental position of a nation of liberty loving peoples unshackled by injustice and tyranny.

At a distance I see the monument of D'Arcy McGee, the great Irish patriot, murdered by the Fenians, whose memory remains green in the hearts of all true Canadians; Lafontaine and Baldwin, who struggled side by side for responsible government, whose administration is not forgotten. Though of different creeds and of different racial origin, they found in their common desire to serve their country and their countrymen, as well as in mutual esteem, grounds

for union and lasting affection. What an example of understanding; what a testimony to Canadian unity!

Sir John A. Macdonald was another father of confederation, and not the least, who did much to build up this great and beautiful country, and whom Canadians rank as one held in high esteem in all parts of this country.

Finally 1 see, gazing eastward as if still watching over his province, the great Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the silver-tongued orator who, in a memorable speech in Paris, once said: "France gave us life and England gave us liberty." How dearly he loved that province of his, and yet, truly a Canadian, he remains the great advocate of friendly understanding.

In the presence of those statues or material symbols, which are so many landmarks in Canadian political history, there comes to me a vision, an insight into the future of this great country of ours. I can imagine a Hill; a Louis-Philippe Hebert, a Soucy, a Brunet, a sculptor shaping Ins medium, gathering and putting together bits of material that will soon blend into a complete harmonious whole. What a marvel. It is possible only for a genius, this creation of a living, animated being. Would I were that genius, Mr. Speaker, this sculptor before his task, a creation unlike any other, strong, huge, endowed with the breath of life.

At this moment, Mr. Speaker, I can well picture our country, this Canada of ours. And to close this allegory, I shall quote from the works of one of our poets these few lines from "The Mixer", whose meaning reaches the very depths of my soul, and which I should like to share with you:

In the city, on the prairie, in the forest, in the camp,

In the mountain-clouds of colour, in the fog-white river damp,

From Atlantic to Pacific, from the great lakes to the pole,

I am mixing strange ingredients into a common whole.

Every hope shall build upon me, every heart shall be my own,

The ambition of my people shall be mine and mine alone.

Through the pangs of transformation in my fiery furnace-blast,

Do I shape and mould and make them "Canadians at last."

Mr. ARMAND CLOUTIER (Drummond-Arthabaska) (Translation):

Mr. Speaker, on February 17, 1919, death came to a great Canadian statesman, one whom the gracious queen Victoria had called the "silver-tongued speaker", Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

We reverently preserve many a memory of that great public man who spent long beautiful years in Arthabaska, a town of my constituency which will always be proud to have numbered among its citizens this great Canadian, this famous patriot, who has remained the symbol of national unity and a model of straightforwardness and fair play toward all nationalities and sectional groups in our fair country.

This illustrious Canadian has bequeathed his political will and testament to his successor. In it he condemned conscription. The original of this document is in the hands of the Right Hon. the Prime Minister of Canada (Mr. Mackenzie King) who, in accepting the legacy of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, agreed to abide by the tenets of his last will. For a quarter of a century, a copy of the political will of this great Canadian citizen has been in the hands of every member of the Liberal party and has been quoted in numberless speeches in every election campaign.

In 1940, as every other Liberal, I was given a copy of this document and I visited the most remote corners of my constituency. Knowing the pledges taken by my leaders, I told every one of my constituents, men and women alike, that the Liberal party would never pass conscription for overseas service, adding that, if it ever did, I would oppose with all my strength any government which would endeavour to apply such a measure.

In June, 1940, in view of the fact that the events which had occurred since the outbreak of the present war had given rise to an extraordinary crisis and that the national security of Canada was in jeopardy, the government introduced Bill 43 entitled "An Act conferring certain powers upon the governor in council for mobilization of national resources in the present war," in other words, the Mobilization Act. I must say, Mr. Speaker, that at the time,

I supported the enactment of that measure, which was also unanimously supported by all the political parties of the loyal opposition.

On January 22, 1942, at the opening of the third session of the 19th parliament, one of the features of the speech from the throne was the announcement that a plebiscite would be held in regard to the utilization of man-power.

I understood that the government were asking the people to release them from their former pledges in regard to overseas service. It would have been preferable to my mind if the government had asked directly to the people: "Are you for or against conscription for overseas service?" But inasmuch as the government was asking the electors whether they agreed to release it from its pledges in this connection, I was under the impression that both questions were synonymous, even though the one selected appeared ambiguous. I voted for the holding of the plebiscite, inasmuch as it was merely a public expression of opinion which gave me an opportunity to ascertain the views of my constituents when they were being asked by the government whether or not they were willing to release it from its former pledges in regard to overseas military service.

Fully conscious of my duty and responsibility, I addressed myself to my electorate during the plebiscite campaign,, in spite of the fact that I was then in very poor health, endeavoured to explain to them that they were free to vote as they saw fit, to think as they liked in this matter, but that, as far as I was concerned, I could not accept the responsibility of an affirmative vote to the plebiscite question and would vote against it. My personal opinion was supported by 98 per cent of the electorate in my riding. The province of Quebec refused, by an overwhelming majority, to release the government from its pledge.

On the day following the plebiscite, a bill to authorize conscription for overseas service was introduced in the house. It was claimed that, in view of the result of the plebiscite, such was the decision of the electorate. How can this lame explanation be reconciled with the interpretation which, at that time, the Right Hon. Prime Minister himself gave to the plebiscite question in asserting that conscription was not the issue at stake? Had it been so, could the government feel released from a solemn pledge when the only electors to whom the guarantee had been given formally refused to cancel it? Such was Quebec's decision.

Bill 80 advocated the repeal of section 3 and, once this had been struck out, the Canadian mobilization act would have authorized' compulsory service in any theatre of war, that is to say, conscription.

I voted against Bill 80 in the house, in other words against conscription, and I am proud of it, for in so doing, I honoured the mandate which I had received from my supporters.

On November 23, 1944, a date which, to my mind, marks a "national tragedy", the present government passed order in council No. 8891,

War Effort-Government Policy

providing for the dispatch overseas of 16,000 draftees. I have said, Mr. Speaker, that it was a surrender to the blackmail of the con-scriptionist gang and to the collective frenzy of the eight English-speaking provinces, thoroughly aroused against the French-speaking province.

Fully aware of my responsibility, I say that I shall never be a party to this breach of the plighted word by the imperialists within the government and the opposition. The latter showed no regard for the memory of Laurier, who, during his whole life opposed that banfeul measure, and in this I shall meet the wishes of my constituents who elected me on the principle of no conscription for overseas service.

I shall therefore vote against the main motion, which requests us to support the whole war policy of the government, including order in council No. 8891 which provides for the dispatch overseas of 16,000 draftees, just as I voted against Bill No. 80, that is against conscription for overseas service.

I realize, of course, that the right hon. the Prime Minister of Canada was the victim of a foul conspiracy hatched by a majority blinded by old prejudices and by new political-military and financial schemes.

My convictions are those of a liberal, and I shall remain a liberal. From now on, I reserve the right to pass judgment on the war policy as time and circumstances may warrant. I know that the right hon. the Prime Minister and his cabinet have done great things. I heartily approve of the general administration of the country in war time, such as the exemption granted to farmers' sons, industrial workers, war plants employees, commercial employees, and heads of families. I also support the social measures, such as family allowances, and post-war plans. Finally, I do not hesitate to say that the present head of the Government is still, to my mind, the only one who can lead our great country to a prosperous destiny.

Mr. Speaker, on every occasion when a national issue or a difficult situation arose, even if detrimental to some of their legitimate and acknowledged rights, French Canadians have yielded ground; they have set an example of generosity and patriotism in order to maintain and strengthen perfect unity between the two great races of this countiy. However, whatever our interest in a principle so important and so vital as that of national unity, there comes a time, tragic, indeed, when one can no longer afford to yield without accepting complete surrender. Self-denial, in the case of the individual, may assume the form of an almost supreme unsel-

fishness but, in the case of a nation, it must not become cowardice or treason. Much has been asked of French Canadians since Confederation and much has been received from them. But, let it be noted that their survival as a race is more important than anything else, that their hearts are filled with national pride, that in their veins flows a blood inherited from heroes who sacrificed all but their honour.

Mr. Speaker, my ancestors came from France in 1616, that is more than three centuries ago. I am a citizen of the province of Quebec; I speak the French language which I have learned with respect and devotion on my mother's knees. I have the right and the duty to love my mother tongue and I would be despicable if I failed to fulfill that obligation. I have the same respect for those who speak another language, which they love so dearly and have learned in the same way.

Must we be divided simply because the accident of birth has made us to pray to God with a different accent and in a different language? When we speak of our mother, it is with equal love, equal devotion and the same feeling of gratitude. We use the same words even if we choose them from different languages. In both cases, the tongue is but the interpreter of the heart. National unity is in the heart, not in the language or the customs. Our forefathers brought Christian civilization to this land. They built villages in spite of the red man's bow, hatchet and scalping-knife. Without any mechanical instruments, they made the earth produce food and disgorge part of its treasures; they set up business enterprises and industries. They built the country in which we live happily to-day.

Our political background is no less replete with glorious pages. As to our part in world affairs, it has been getting more and more important for a number of years until to-day Canada ranks among the first nations of the world.

At this very hour, thousands of our gallant men are giving their all to free the nations crushed by the enemy and to make possible for us a new order in which we shall know liberty, peace and happiness.

Nothing can deprive us of our tongue, our faith and our traditions. We must not forget that Canada stretches from Halifax to Vancouver, from the Arctic to the forty-fifth parallel. It is all this Canada, so great, so rich, so beautiful, so full of promises that we must love. Our patriotism should not be confined to a small part of the country where life is good, where we are rich in historical

War Effort-Government Policy

associations, but which is not the only part of Canada where our forefathers have written glorious pages.

Canada for Canadians. Let us, Mr. Speaker, set this sane example of enlightened and intelligent patriotism whenever, as in this instance, we 6ee a group foolishly attempt, through blind imperialism, to pass such a baneful bill of conscription, a bill which is anti-Canadian and a cause of national disunity.

Fellow-Cansdians, we have reached the turning point. As a representative of Quebec, I appeal to you in these grave hours. Let us not be disunited, but rather let us stand1 side by side; let us not pass a law that would disrupt our national unity; let us consider our country's future, and have faith in our ability to achieve national unity in this country of ours. If we are able to perform a national miracle of this sort, we shall be all the more justified in proclaiming ourselves the builders of our country.

On March 22, 1943, in a speech which I made in this house, I said:

I feel bound to make the following statement: as long as my leader, the right hon. Prime Minister refrains from putting conscription into force for overseas service, I shall remain among his most_ faithful followers; however, I must say to him that if he ever gives way to the imperialists, even though they be members of the present government, or to the opposition, and puts conscription into force for overseas service, it shall be my painful duty to fight him, for I am opposed to conscription for overseas service and as a gentleman, and a man of honour I shall keep my pledge: in other words.

I shall discharge the trust reposed in me bv my constituents in this respect.

I will therefore vote against the main motion, by which we are asked to approve the government's entire war policy, including order in council 8891, with regard to the sending of 16,000 recruits overseas; I shall vote against it for the same reason I voted against Bill No. 80, namely because I oppose conscription for service overseas.

Mr. ARMAND CLOUTIER (Drummond-Arthabaska):

Mr. Speaker, may I rise to a question of privilege? I have received a telegram from a citizen of my home town of Drummondville which reads as follows:

Approximately 600 employees Celanese will be dismissed in a few days unles immediate intervention hon. Minister of Munitions and Supply. Here is summary of facts. Celanese requires five carloads per month anhydric acetic acid. Controller chemical products just rationed Celanese two cars per month which will reduce production and labour twenty per cent. Information proves that Canada produces [DOT] enough of this acid for requirements of this country but exports large quantities to England not for military purposes but for production artificial silk which is afterwards exported to Canada. Should make inquiry in house immediately to assert Drummondville interests.

I would like to ask what measures the Minister of Munitions and Supply will take to avoid this situation in my locality.

Mr. ARMAND CLOUTIER (Drummond-Arthabaska) (Translation):

Mr. Speaker, I would have liked to take part in the debate on the address in reply to the speech from the throne, but I preferred leaving my elders in

politics put forth their ideas and make recommendations while I listened attentively to their speeches and their political programmes which were no doubt inspired by the feelings of the electors in their respective constituencies.

May I first of all be permitted, Mr. Speaker, even at this late hour, to congratulate the Right Hon. Prime Minister (Mr. Mackenzie King) on having given the old province of Quebec three new French-Canadian ministers. This representation was anxiously expected by the electors of that province and you may rest assured that these truly patriotic people shall not fail to remember. I wish to extend to these three new members of the government, who have nearly all lived with us, the greetings and congratulations of the electors of the historical constituency of Drummond-Arthabaska which I have the honour to represent in the Canadian Commons.

Let the Minister of Public Works (Mr. Fournier) be assured that our people rejoice at his appointment. While he does not come from our section and has never lived there, many of his relatives and friends are to be found in my constituency, particularly in Victoriaville. On their behalf as well as on my own I wish him success, good health and a long career.

To the hero of Mont-Sorrel and Vimy, the Hon. Minister of National War Services (Mr. LaFleche), I would state how glad my electors were to learn of his appointment, particularly in Victoriaville where he spent part of his youth and still counts a large number of most sincere friends.

As for the Minister of Fisheries (Mr. Bertrand), a native son of our district, since he first saw the light of day in the charming town of Princeville, also in my constituency, we are delighted to see him occupying such a high post and we are confident that with both his colleagues whom I have just mentioned he will continue the long line of great politicians who have represented my constituency, the Dorions (l'Enfant terrible), the Lauriers, the Lavergnes, the Perraults and the Girouards, and that history will see fit to link his name with those who have been the pride of French Canada, of their province and of their country.

Since the budget debate, Mr. Speaker, offers to every member scope for remarks on a variety of subjects, you will allow me to touch briefly upon every question, for I have no intention of detaining the house unduly at this late date. I intend merely to bespeak the mind of those who in 1940 did me the great honour of calling on me to represent them as member for Drummond-Arthabaska on the highest court in the land.

The Budget

Mr. Cloutier

I have had no occasion to speak in this house since the resignation of the former Minister of Transport and Public Works (Mr. Cardin) for whom I have always had and still have the greatest admiration. A man of great culture, a fluent speaker, a great parliamentarian and a great Canadian, I wish him to know that my electors would have had him remain a member of the government where he would have scrupulously watched over minority interests through the preservation of a truly national spirit in this country. Unfortunately, without notice to the Quebec members of whom he was the leader, he resigned from the present government to become a private member. No doubt he had serious, very serious reasons for doing this.

The subamendment recently moved by the hon. member without first consulting his colleagues from Quebec has produced quite a commotion among us and we have often wondered what were the intentions of the hon. member in this connection. Personally, and especially at first, I would have been inclined to endorse at once this subamendment purporting to suspend the calling of men under the National Resources Mobilization Act.

However, after having taken the advice of my colleagues more experienced in politics, after having spoken to the Liberal leaders of my constituency and especially after having heard the masterly speech delivered by my leader, the right hon. Prime Minister of Canada, against this subamendment, on February 19 last, in which he enumerated the effects which the adoption of such a subamendment would1 have among the armed forces of Canada, as well as in Great Britain and the other dominions, in the United States and other allied nations and, above all, among our enemies, I realized that voting in favour of this subamendment would mean casting a vote of non-confidence in my leader and his government. On this occasion, Mr. Speaker, I adked myself who would be called upon to replace the right hon. Prime Minister who, upon losing the confidence of the deputation, would tender his resignation. Would it be such men as Mr. Meighen, Mr. Bracken, or the leader of the Cooperative Commonwealth Federation group (Mr. Coldwell), or the Social Credit chieftain (Mr. Blackmore), every one of whom, since the beginning of the war, has persistently advocated conscription for overseas service and criticized the Liberal government, claiming that they have not gone far enough in the prosecution of the war and that Canada should participate to the last man and the last dollar? [DOT]

I have gladly voted with the government on this occasion and I say without fear that,

at the present time, the right hon. Prime Minister of Canada is the only man qualified to prosecute the war. This fact is acknowledged by right-thinking Conservatives in my constituency.

I feel bound to make the following statement: as long as my- leader, the right hon. Prime Minister refrains from putting conscription into force for overseas service, I shall remain among his most faithful followers; however, I must say to him that if he ever gives way to the imperialists, even though they be members of the present government, or to the opposition, and puts conscription into force for overseas service, it shall be my painful duty to fight him, for I am opposed to conscription for overseas service and as a gentleman, and a man of honour, I shall keep my pledge; in other words, I shall discharge the trust reposed in me by my constituents in this respect. Doubtless, my constituents would have preferred to see the hon. member for Riehelieu-Vercheres (Mr. Cardin) refrain from obstructing the government's policy. On the other hand, had the hon. member had good reasons for moving his subamendment, I still feel that this conflict between these two outstanding figures of Canadian politics should never have occurred. After the work accomplished in Quebec during the last quarter of a century by the hon. member, to promote friendship, to preach conciliation, to establish mutual understanding between the two great races of our country, we would have wished to enjoy seeing these two great men marching hand in hand, in close cooperation, and pursuing the tremendous task they had undertaken in the footsteps of their great and revered leader, Sir Wilfrid Laurier.

Mr. Speaker, I have followed with great interest the budget speech delivered by the Minister of Finance (Mr. Ilsley). Generally speaking, this budget brings a marked improvement to the condition of the people. It remits half the liability for war taxes on 1942 incomes; it simplifies the final settlement of accounts with the income tax office through a 5 per cent increase of the deduction from wages or salaries.

The new taxes, unimportant as they are, will not affect him, if he will only tone down on alcohol and tobacco. It must also be remembered that the workers are assured by the government that the buying power of the Canadian dollar will be maintained, and thus they are freed from all material worries till the end of March, 1944. This is truly a workingman's budget, Mr. Speaker. The increase of more than 20 per cent on alcoholic beverages ensures both moral and practical

The Budget-Mr. Cloutier

results; it fosters temperance and economy, and both these things are conducive to the greater industrial and financial effort which we will have to put forth during this critical year. On this point, the civil and religious authorities from the province of Quebec willingly approve the federal government.

Canada will spend the enormous sum of nearly four billion dollars on its war effort and will contribute a billion dollars to aid the united nations this year. What classes will benefit most from the five billion dollars which the government will spend for war purposes, on food, munitions and arms, if not the farmers and the workers? The farmers in my county are prosperous nowadays as they never were before. Many of those who had borrowed money from the Canadian farm loan board have asked the board to reimburse both principal and interest on their loans.

As to the working men of my constituency, many of them who are working in the war plants of the district and who only earned $15 a week in the past, though they were glad to earn that sum then, are now earning from $75 to $100 a week. Not long ago I met a working man from my town who, during the depression had to wait six months before obtaining a job at S14.99 a week. He told me he had earned $116 in a single week; he added that he had paid $30 in taxes of all kinds, namely, income tax., unemployment tax, compulsory savings, etc., and that he had SS6 left for the week, instead of the $14.99 which he earned heretofore. This worker, a true Canadian and a real patriot, told me that, even if the government were to double his taxes, in order to preserve his religion, his tongue, his freedom of action, his freedom of speech in this countiy, he would still be quite satisfied.

I must congratulate the hon. Minister of Pensions and National Health on his vast programme of social security for the post-war period, a programme which he himself laid before the parliamentary committee on social security, whose chairman is the hon. member for Queens (Mr. Macmillan), the operation of which will cost the enormous sum of one billion dollars a year. I have gone through that report and I have been glad to see that it advocates a great deal of social legislation.

There is first a contributory health insurance proposal that would cover the whole population and would be subsidized by the central power subject to certain conditions to be fulfilled by the provinces.

Second, the report offers also to pay children allowances of $8 or $9 a month for each child or graduated according to age, without taking into consideration the family revenue, but doing away with the income tax exemptions for dependent children.

Third, there is a provision with regard to unemployment insurance. It tends to increase the insurance benefits paid to workers with dependents.

Fourth, it mentions free medical care for every one.

Fifth, maternity allowances for women workers only.

Sixth, sickness benefits with rates comparable to those of the unemployment insurance.

Seventh, increase of old age pensions from $20 to $30 a month and lowering of the age for eligibility from seventy to sixty-five for men and sixty for women.

Eighth, setting up of a new contributory system of superannuation.

Ninth, payment of pensions for total incapacity to those unfit for work.

Tenth, death allowances at the rates of $100 for adults, $65 for children and $25 for infants.

Such are, Mr. Speaker, the principal measures embodied in that social security plan.

I was glad to note that the recommendations made by my good friend the hon. member for Compton (Mr. Blanchette) and endorsed by myself concerning family allowance have been incorporated in this plan. And1 I must congratulate him on the forcefulness which he has displayed in the speeches he has delivered in this house, particularly in that of February 19, in which he so brilliantly and so eloquently pleaded for the enactment of such a measure.

As I wanted to endorse the recommendations made by the hon. member for Compton with regard to family allowances in the event of this report on so-called social security being presented after the adoption of the budget, I intended also to demand an increase of old age pensions, which doubtless had become imperative, and I am glad to find that a provision calling for that increase has been included in the report.

While I am dealing with the matter of social security, may I call the attention of the government to female labour, particularly to industrial female labour at night.

One of the most deplorable effects of industrial capitalism has been to take women out of their homes and throw them in increasing numbers into industries. Women have re-

The Budget-Mr. Cloutier

sponded, actuated in the first place by the necessity of supplementing a family income which is entirely inadequate and lured by a selfish and blind propaganda setting woman's dignity not in her role as wife, mother and queen of the home, but in the assertion of her personality, in the organizing of her own life and in her emancipation.

So, for the last three years, the enlistment of thousands of men in the armed forces and the building up of new industries have created an urgent and extensive need for additional labour and such is the need that our Canadian women are called upon to meet. Such is the terrific tax raised by modern total war. Tens of thousands of Canadian women are already serving on the industrial front.

It behooves our political and industrial leaders, conscious of their responsibilities to the nation, to restrict to the real needs the taking on of women in industrial plants, particularly in war plants. Now, far from being so, in a good many war industries, men, even of military age are being freely set aside in favour of girls who, of course, are paid less and thus removed from their home and from school, for a great number of them are barely more than children, and laid open to the moral dangers of the factory and even to many a physical hazard.

Many employers of Canadian war industries do not seem to have realized the impropriety of having women work in the night-time. Night work exposes women, and especially girls, to a multitude of physical and moral hazards, leading to the disintegration of the home.

To this very day, nations most busily engaged in the conflict are endeavouring to secure strict adherence to the provisions of the International Labour office which, for half a century, has striven to prohibit women from doing night work in industry.

For instance, in Great Britain, the employment of female labour on night shifts in factories is prohibited by law and is allowed exceptionally only on special permit.

Is it not truly deplorable, therefore, that our own country should countenance, as it does, girls, wives and mothers engaging in a form of labour which amounts to the sabotage of our nation?

I trust I may be allowed, Mr. Speaker, to read a copy of a resolution passed at the Quebec Province Catholic Action Congress, recently held in Montreal. It reads as follows:

Resolutions respecting female labour.

The following are resolutions passed by special organizations of the Quebec Province Catholic

Action gathered in congress at Montreal and are to be referred for adoption to the provincial and dominion governments:

1. Prohibition of night work for girls and married women;

2. Prohibition of factory work for married women with children under 18;

3. An 8-hour day and a 48-hour week;

4. Prohibition of too strenuous work and the lifting of too heavy weights;

5. Improvement of sanitary and safety conditions wherever these are still below standard;

6. The general extension of industrial social service;

7. The creation of working conditions and of standards of supervision calculated to ensure the moral safeguard of girls and women;

All of which will serve as a protection against the abuses of female labour and as a safeguard to the family, unit of a sound nation.

Inasmuch as the same resolution was passed in the various towns of my county, I feel bound to express in this house the feelings of my electors on this grave issue.

Mr. Speaker, I listened with the deepest interest to the splendid speech delivered in this house by the hon. 'member for Shefford (Mr. Leclerc). It contained many thoughtful statements, and constituted a magnificent plea on behalf of the workers of the small manufacturing towns of the province of Quebec.

The present plight of the small town industrial worker is obviously unfair.

Wages have been frozen to the lowest level of any industrial province of the country. Had not the federal authorities acted with such speed, these workers would have been better off. The freezing order came into force on November 15, 1941. At that time, the provincial government of Quebec was considering the adoption of various orders to raise the basic wages. Notices to that effect had already appeared in the Official Gazette of the province. The orders would have been in force after three months. The federal order was enacted before the expiration of this delay, with the effect that a legitimate adjustment of wages in small industrial towns of the province of Quebec was prevented and, at the same time, a rank injustice was perpetrated. All these workers who, during the depression, could not obtain a readjustment had their wages frozen at the level obtaining during the depression. With the hon. member for Shefford, and on behalf of the working class of my constituency, I strongly protest against such discrimination and I hope the government will take the necessary steps to remedy the conditions existing at present in the small manufacturing towns of our province.

The Budget-Mr. Cloutier

Mr. Speaker, I would feel derelict in my duty, if I refrained from pointing to the house the sorry plight of weekly newspapers at the present time, especially those published in the small towns of our province and circulated mostly in rural districts.

As a result of the restriction imposed upon publicity by the government a large number of these newspapers will find themselves in a most embarrassing financial condition and may even be forced out of business. Yet, no one has contributed more generously to our war effort than our newspapers. We have in my county five weekly newspapers and I wish here to commend them for their earnest cooperation with the government during the campaigns in connection with the victory loans, the sale of savings certificates and) the Red Cross. .

Our weekly newspapers must be maintained, Mr. Speaker. I therefore respectfully suggest to the government that they compensate for the loss in commercial publicity by a large amount of advertisements concerning the different departments of administration.

I feel it my duty on behalf of the farmers, the farmers' help and farmers' sons and of the persons employed in a part-time capacity in industries connected with agriculture to thank the government for having adopted the measure which came into force on March 23, 1942, exempting these classes of citizens from military service. This measure, Mr. Speaker, has been a real boon to the agricultural population. Here is, for example, what happened in a parish in my constituency. After that law came into force, a few citizens of that parish came to my office seeking more information and the proper procedure in the matter of getting a postponement should any one be called for military service. I explained that the procedure was as follows:

(a) The farmer's son, the farmer's help, the farmer or part-time farm help who receives notice to pass his medical examination, must do so within three days from the date of such notice ;

(b) Should he wish to apply for a postponement, he must apply in writing, within fourteen clear days from the date shown on the notice, to the registrar of the division where the notice originated.

In filing his application for postponement the applicant must:

1. File with the registrar of the division an affidavit stating that on March 23, 1942, he was wholly employed in agriculture or that he was employed in a part-time capacity only in lumbering, forestry, fishing, hunting or trapping;

2. File a letter signed under the seal of his parish priest or the mayor of his municipality, attesting the truth of the statements.

I must say, Mr. Speaker, that these men went to work with a fine desire of cooperation and that out of ninety persons called for military service from the agricultural municipality, eighty-eight were granted a postponement.

The difficulties which I met in connection with the mobilization act came from people who, although acting in good faith, instead of consulting me, chose to take advice from persons with political opinions different from those of our party. These individuals to whom I shall refer as petty politicians, dissuaded them from seeing me and advised them not to pay any attention to the notice. In advising them to do so, they knew that these young men who had been called for military service would have trouble with the authorities concerned and thus supply an opportunity to state that the Liberal party was not any better than their own and that we had conscription. They even went as far as to say that conscription was effective for overseas.

I had to deal with a good many of those cases, and I accompanied the young draftees concerned to Montreal so as to explain their cases to the registrar-by the way, I did all this without any compensation, to help them -whom, I must thank as well as all the members of his staff for their hearty cooperation.

I imagine that some of these young men have not yet legally applied for the deferment to which they would be entitled and who are worried and living in fear of the .military police for not having obeyed the law. I join with the hon. member for Labelle (Mr. Lalonde) who, in the magnificent speech he has made in this house, has requested an amnesty for these young men who have been deceived by shortsighted politicians.

Mr. Speaker, I would have liked to tell you about the war effort of my constituency, particularly in connection with the third victory loan, but I presume that I will have a chance to take up this subject before the end of the session. I shall then speak in English so as to be understood by my English-speaking colleagues for whom I have the greatest regard and consideration.

Before I conclude my remarks, I shall say a few words about the airmen, sailors and soldiers from my constituency. Our people are proud of them. As to those who have fallen on the field of honour, I wish their relatives to be sure that we will always keep a pious and grateful remembrance of our heroes. To the family of Flight Sergeant

The Budget-Mr. Tripp

Beliveau, who died for his country, I offer in the name of the whole population of my constituency the most sincere sympathy.

I do not want to forget Corporal Cloutier, severely wounded at Dieppe, presently in the hospital. According to the medical men both his legs will have to be amputated. He is only twenty years old. What a pity to see such a young one become an invalid for the rest of his life! I am proud to tell you that this hero is a son of my county. He has been a fine representative of his race at the Dieppe raid: "Rather die than surrender." His name will never be forgotten among our people who will remember this victim of the war who risked his life for them in the defence of justice, right, liberty and honour.