Hon. CHARLES MARCIL (Bonaventu.re):

I have not the time to discuss the broad issue of the Canadian National Railways; everyone agrees as to its importance. I would, however, crave the indulgence of the committee while I read a resolution adopted at a meeting of the Bonaventure county council held in New Carlisle, Quebec, on March 9, 1932. This resolution will indicate the feeling of the people of that district with respect to the way in which the Gaspe railway has been administered under the present regime, and the hope which they cherish that a change will be made under the new system which is about to be inaugurated. I could take up a good deal of the time of the committee covering the whole history of the railway, but in this resolution I find a

C.N.R.-Board oj Directors

concise statement of the facts. The resolution reads:

Whereas the federal government has purchased and taken over the railway known as the Gaspe branch lines and has made said branch lines a part of the Canadian National Railways; and

Whereas since acquiring said branch lines, the railway management has undertaken to remove from Gaspe, New Carlisle and Matapedia, all repair shops and terminal operations, and to establish said repair shops and terminal operations in the town of Camp-bellton, in the province of New Brunswick, to the great detriment of Gaspe, New Carlisle and Matapedia, and to the people in general in the counties of Gaspd and Bonaventure, and especially to those whose means of livelihood have been taken away by the removal of said repair shops and terminals; and

Whereas the reasons given by the railway management for these changes are economy and efficiency; and

Whereas after several meetings between the management and interested parties, the reasons given by the management were not substantiated but rather were shown to be without foundation; and

Whereas a meeting was held in Montreal, on May 15, 1931, where Sir Henry Thornton, president of the Canadian National Railways, gave definite assurance to a representative delegation along with federal members of parliament for the province of Quebec that these changes would not be made; and

Whereas four months after this assurance was given the terminal at Matapedia was closed without previous notice and terminal operations transferred to Campbellton, N.B., with a gradual removal of all repair shops and other works from New Carlisle and Gaspe to Campbellton, N.B.;

Therefore be it resolved that we, mayors from every municipality in the county of Bonaventure composing the county council, protest against these changes for the following reasons:

1st. That removal of repair shops and terminals do not make for efficiency or economy but rather for less efficiency and certainly greater cost in operations;

2nd. That removal of these repair shops and terminals from the province of Quebec to the province of New Brunswick is a serious infringement of the rights of this province, which has made valuable contributions in both lands and money for the construction of these lines, with the just expectation that all reasonable benefits obtained in the operation of said lines should be for the people of this province;

3rd. That the removal of these works and terminals is a direct violation of the tacit understanding and promise arrived at with Sir Henry Thornton, and shows a serious disregard for the rights of the people in the counties of Gaspe and Bonaventure, and disrespect for the chosen representatives of the people of this province with whom said understanding was arrived at;

Therefore be it further resolved that we, the members of this county council for the county of Bonaventure, in regular session at New Carlisle, and representing the divers interests in every municipality throughout the county, place ourselves on record as being

opposed to the removal from this county and province of the railway repair shops at New Carlisle and terminal operations at Matapedia or anything else the removal of which would be detrimental to our communities, county and province, and do hereby urge upon the railway management the necessity of reestablishing as soon as possible all works and terminal operations that have been removed;

And be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be sent to: The Honourable the Prime Minister, the Minister of Railways, Sir Henry Thornton, Honourable Doctor E. Paquet, Lucien Moraud, K.C., Henri Larue, M.P., and Mr. Beaudry Leman and Hon. Charles Marcil, M.P. of Bonaventure county, and E. A. D. Morgan, K.C.

Mr. Morgan was the Conservative candidate in 1930. Nothing has been done since the passing of this resolution except that the western terminus of Matapedia has been removed from the place where it has been located for forty years into the province of New Brunswick, so that the railway has to go thirteen miles backwards to reach Campbellton, to the great dissatisfaction of the community. I congratulate the Minister of Railways on bringing about this change, so that that part of the province of Quebec, one of the oldest parts of Canada, may obtain that fair treatment to which it is entitled.

Mr. MARCIL:

Does the post office exercise any supervision? As far as I am concerned that is the important point. The question of revenue is secondary.

Mr. MARCIL:

I have had opportunity on several occasions of discussing the moral aspect of this matter. The economic side has been thoroughly discussed and explained. We are not interested just now in knowing the amount of revenue that will be received by the government-although heaven knows we need all we can get-but what we are chiefly interested in is to bar out the class of literature which should not come into Canada at all. There are two ways by which it reaches Canada, one through the post office and the other by railway or aeroplane. I should like to know what censorship exists over that class of reading matter. Is there real censorship in the minister's department or the Post Office Department to prevent that class of reading matter from coming in? No matter how high the tariff against it may be, people who are inclined to read that rubbish will pay the price to get it. In the interests of the younger generation it should be barred from the country. I discussed this matter many years ago with Mr. Hocken, who frequently made references to it in the house; I shared his views, and I know the house realizes that this is the greatest service we can render to the younger generation. I should like to know from the minister whether there is a real censorship, and under what department it operates, to keep this class of matter out of Canada.

Mr. MARCIL:

How many publications

have been barred, say during the last year?

Mr. MARCIL:

One great argument of the late Mr. Maclean had to do with the administration of the federal system and the weakness of its laws. The laws are passed here but they are put into force by the provinces.

If the provinces take no action the law becomes a dead letter. That- has been the great objection to the federal law as it now exists. As the leader of the opposition has said, at the present time the enforcement of federal laws rests largely with the provinces, and if a province takes no action that is the end of the story. I have often heard discussed in this house whether we should not have an officer, with something of the standing of the Lord Chamberlain in England, who would exercise general censorship all over Canada, and have authority from the dominon and the provinces to control theatres and matters of the kind to which reference has been made. There has always been this controversy between the provinces and the dominion. Of course it is primarily a matter for legal gentlemen to discuss, but undeniably it is one of the weaknesses of our federal system.