Mr. Boulanger:

Mr. Speaker, I do not think I can answer the hon. member for St. Hyacinthe-Bagot.

Mr. Boulanger:

I will refer you to the federated co-operative, Victoriaville branch. They will give you the figures I have given today.

Mr. Boulanger:

I was saying, Mr. Speaker, that we have in our rural areas unscrupulous merchants who victimize our farmers, not only in so far as the buying of their products is concerned but also in so far as the sale of consumer products is concerned ...

Mr. Boulanger:

I was saying that some unscrupulous merchants exploit our farmers themselves when it comes to selling consumer goods and trade products such as fertilizers, farm implements, feeds, etc.

Under this new bill, merchants will be held as dictators in some parishes because they control credit, they will go around the concessions and tell credulous farmers that the government set the price of some commodities at such a level and that they cannot pay more than that price. Some may say that this is no concern of the government. I should think that the government has no right to put weapons in the hands of those unscrupulous merchants, weapons with which they will be able to exploit the agricultural class.

I say that the act in its present form-

Mr. Samuel Boulanger (Drummond-Artha-baska):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to direct a question to the Minister of Public Works. Has the minister received a request from the city of Victoriaville for a grant for the construction of a protection wall? If so, is the minister favourable to such grant, and when might it be expected?