Mr. ROCHE:

We have no record of that.

Mr. ROCHE:

Yes, a number of applications have been received. We are awaiting the assent of His Excellency to the Bill and the appointment of the commission to administer the Act. We have put this amount in the Estimates with the idea that it will cover advances to those who locate on the land during the first year. We hope that we shall have to ask for more next session, because the larger the number of soldiers locating on the land the better for the country, as well as for the soldiers themselves.

Mr. ROCHE:

The sum is to promote Dr. J. S. Plaskett, D.Sc., F.R.S.C., from Subdivision B to Subdivision A of the First Division. Dr. Plaskett is in receipt of a salary at the rate of $2,800 per annum. He was appointed by an Order in Council dated April 10, 1917, director of the Astrophysical Observatory at Victoria, B.C., and, upon assuming his new duties, it is only fair that his salary be increased in accordance with the importance of the position to which he has been assigned. As the promotion of Dr. Plaskett is to be made above the minimum of Subdivision A of the First Division, it is necessary that the amount be specially provided in the Estimates.

Mr. ROCHE:

From time immemorial agents have been working amongst the French Canadians who migrated from Canada, principally from the province of

Quebec, many years ago, to work in the mills of the New England states.

Their children have been growing up, and it has been the desire to secure our fair share of immigrants from the United States, including the repatriation of Canadians who have gone to the New England States. Colonization agents have been employed for that purpose for many years past under this Government and under preceding governments. I understand there are three of those gentlemen working in the New England States, Rev. J. B. H. Giroux, whose headquarters are at Montreal and whose salary is $600 per annum; Rev. J. B. Bourassa, whose headquarters are at Montreal and whose salary is $1,200 per annum, and Rev. O. Corbeil, whose salary is $600. We have no. separate statistics as to the number of French Canadians brought into Canada from the United States. They are all classed as immigrants. Roughly speaking, however, I should say about fifteen per cent of those coming back to Canada from the New England States are repatriated Canadians. They are not classified-as French Canadians, English Canadians, etc,-they are all repatriated Canadians. The idea is that a propaganda should not be carried on in any one province to get a movement into another province. There were some complaints made to me on that score about two years ago against one particular colonization agent. He was at my office one day, and I told him about these complaints, explaining that the province of Quebec had objected to any propaganda tending to take their people away and locate them in the northern portion of Ontario, or any other province. I told him we were not spending money for that purpose. He said he had not been carrying out any policy of that character except in a few -instances where he knew the people were about to move away from Quebec to the United States, and rather than see them leave Canada entirely, he had done his best to get them to settle in other provinces of the Dominion.

Mr. ROCHE:

I believe Rev. Mr. Bourassa receives the larger salary because he devotes more of his. time to the work. As a matter of fact, he devotes his entire time to it. He is very much more energetic and he has brought in many more immigrants from the New England States than the other two gentlemen have. I think one of these agents is temporarily taking the place of another gentleman who went to the front. It is impossible to give even an approximate idea as to the number of immigrants who have been brought in by these officials. All I can. tell my hon. friend is that about fifteen per cent of the total immigrants from the United States are repatriated Canadians. Some of them are located along the Transcontinental railway, in the northern portions of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec, some of them are taken right through to Saskatchewan and Alberta. There is quite a colony in Northern Alberta, and quite a colony at Prince Albert.