Mr. CASTLEDEN:

I have some notes.

Mr. CASTLEDEN:

Was it not made

retroactive?

Mr. CASTLEDEN:

Thank you, sir. The common peril at this time, and the common good of this and future generations, demand the public ownership of all the natural and industrial resources of this country. These are the wealth that provides the sinews of war. We also believe that if you take the profits out of war, you would do a great deal to abolish war. If that is done, perhaps the world and humanity may yet be saved. Canadians have inherited a great land, and they are willing to sacrifice for it. Our government should be immediately condemned if they fail to take these natural resources, the things that belong to the people of Canada, and use them in this hour of trial. Western Canada has been betrayed by the governments of this country. The people in that land have been exploited; the organization of society in the west is but a shadow of its former self. The other evening this house listened with bated breath to the cry of humanity-the cry of a mother starved for her brood. I watched, with sinking hopes, the looks of disdain on the faces of some hon. members opposite. She

spoke for thousands. Let me warn this administration that out of that great land of suffering humanity will rise a voice which will demand the restoration of the heritage that has been taken from them. They will demand that measure of equality and of social justice and the opportunity to live which have so far been denied them. If this government fails, there will sweep across Canada, when this war is ended, a rising protest which will take this present administration and drive them into the "abysmal depths of oblivion" from which they never should have emerged.

Mr. CASTLEDEN:

While men offered

their life-blood in the hour of danger, profiteering industry refused to provide the sinews of war. To-day Canada hangs her head in shame as we find our earliest efforts thwarted for want of supplies. Canada and the empire were sold out.

Quoting from Hansard of September 12, 1939, page 179, I find these words of the Minister of Transport (Mr. Howe):

I can say to my hon. friend that from that day to this the defence purchasing board has done its very best to place contracts on that basis and has used every pressure that could be brought to bear in the form of patriotism and so on, but to date it has not succeeded in placing a single contract on that basis.

This is one of the most revealing cases of the attitude of industrialists toward the war. From this statement it is quite evident that there was agreement among the contractors. It is abundantly evident, too, that patriotism and sacrifice mean nothing to them-profits mean everything. Profits to them mean more than Canada or the British empire. They are largely responsible for our present plight with regard to the shortage which is paralyzing our war effort. Instead of yielding to the demand for a greater increase in profits, why

[Mr. Castleden.l

did not this government or the administration nationalize the industries which are so vital to our very existence?

Is money again to be considered of more importance than life? Many boys from the western plains leave debt-ridden homes as they go to fight for Canada. After enlisting, they hear that relief quotas are to be drastically reduced, farm machinery prices are raised within ten days after the election, and the soldier goes into battle wondering how his aged parents and his sisters can live on the meagre returns from the home he has left. There are no profits for him. To-day he looks to this house for leadership. He asks why, if he is willing to give his life, the money-lenders should not be willing to give a part of their money. In the last war Canada socialized her greatest natural resource, the blood of her manhood; and while this was being poured out, profiteering industry and money-lenders enriched themselves with tax-free bonds, and laid upon coming generations a debt so staggering that we can but borrow to pay the interest. Too soon wives and parents will be sent telegrams to tell them that their husbands and sons will not come back. No telegrams will come to tell the money-lenders that some of their contribution will not come back.

Mr. CASTLEDEN:

The western province^ have been the victims of vicious exploitation. Uncontrolled grain exchanges, unchecked machine combines and ruthless mortgage and finance companies have looted and ravaged the great land of the west. The price of everything the farmer buys is controlled, but he is given no assuranoe even of a minimum price for the commodities he sells. Over ninety-five per cent of the farmers of Saskatchewan are in debt; almost ninety per cent have mortgages on their farms and forty-five per cent of them have lost their land and become mere tenants and share croppers. About one-third of the people in the constituency which I have the honour to represent are of Ukrainian birth. They came to Canada, have worked to build a home, and now in the hour of trial they are willing to offer themselves to fight for that measure of freedom which they know should be the heritage of every Canadian, and which was denied them in Poland from which they came. These men are offering themselves willingly. To the eternal shame of Canada we find these dispossessed people more willing to die for Canada than are the money-lenders to surrender their pound of flesh. Give to Canadians the assurance that when this war is over and they come back, opportunity will exist for all. They look to you for that guarantee. Demonstrate to everyone that action and a square deal will be the great achievement of this parliament; that will inspire our people to great sacrifices, and so great will be their morale that they will win against all odds. This administration has been in power for over five years; it has been returned with the greatest majority ever enjoyed by any government in this house-