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House of Commons, 2 May 1890, Canadian Confederation with Alberta and Saskatchewan

4373 [MAY 2, 1890.] 4374
[...]would be brought within the purview of the disabling provisions provided for by this section.
Mr. COLBY. I wish hon. members, especially those from the Maritime Provinces, and particularly the ex-Minister of this Department, to understand that their opinions have, as they are entitled to have, great weight in this matter. We desire to make what progress we can, and I would be glad to have the clauses pass this stage, with the understanding that we will leave the Bill still in Committee, if they so desire.
Mr. MITCHELL. That is reasonable, and I am satisfied that, when the Council reconsider the arguments pro and con, they will make the change desired.
Mr. COLBY. We want to make it right.
Mr. DAVIES (P.E.I.) The examination on which a certificate is granted is not simply in regard to technical knowledge, but also as to habits of life and character.
Mr. DAVIN. As a supporter of the Government, I am very glad to hear that the hon. gentleman intends to have this reconsidered, because I was trying to find some reason for defending the clause as it stood, but it seems to me contrary to true business principles.
Progress reported.

FIRST READING.

Mr. DEWDNEY moved first reading of Bill (No. 146) to amend the Acts respecting the North- West Territories (from the Senate).

BANKS AND BANKING.

House again resolved itself into Committee on Bill (No. 127) respecting banks and banking.

(In the Committee.)

0n section 86,
Mr. FOSTER. The only change in this clause is that "fifteen" is put in place of "twenty" in the fourth line.
Mr. KIRKPATRICK. I would suggest that the number of days for the banks to make their returns should be left twenty as it was before. The law has worked satisfactorily and there is no reason for changing it. If anything caused a delay of a day or two, the bank would be subject to a heavy penalty.
Mr. FOSTER. The only reason for making it twenty days was in regard to British Columbia before the railway was opened, and that has ceased to be a reason. Practically the banks can put in their returns within ten days from the furthest parts of the country, and fifteen days are quite sufficient.
Mr. DAVIES (P.E.I.) Must the return be in the Finance Minister's Department before the expiration of the fifteen days?
Mr. FOSTER. It must be sent.
Mr. DAVIES (P.E.I.) There might be some difficulty in getting the returns in from Prince Edward Island, when the steamboat is unable to run on account of the ice. Sometimes it takes eight or ten days to get a letter. If it is simply that the returns are to be dispatched within that time, it is another thing.
Mr. KIRKPATRICK. The clause says that the returns are to be made and sent in within that time. That must mean, that they are to be received by the Finance Minister.
Mr. TISDALE. If a bank has twenty or thirty agencies, it practically evades the law, because it is given to commence the returns sooner than it ought in order to send the report in promptly. If banks are established, as I hope they will be, in the mining regions in the North-West Territories, where they will not be able to send returns with the promptness they do now, there will be considerable difficulty, and very heavy penalties are imposed for a violation of the statute.
On section 89,
Mr. FOSTER. With reference to this clause and the sub-sections contained in it, I have a word to say which will, to some extent, modify what I stated upon the introduction of the Bill, and upon its second reading. There were two things included in section 89. The first part of the section, and a vital part, was that which provided for publicity being given to unclaimed dividends and balances in the bank. The second part was to provide that these unclaimed dividends and balances, or deposits, should, after a certain time, revert to the Government and be held by them for the public uses of the country. It will be remembered that I stated that we proposed to hold by this clause in its essence, but I foreshadowed at the time that certain amendments might be made. The change which I propose to ask the Committee to make in that is this: That we shall hold by the principle embodied in the first part of this section, and that we shall give up to a very large degree the principle that we contended for in the second part. With regard to the unclaimed dividends and balances in the hands of the bank after a certain period returns shall be made of them to the Minister of Finance and Receiver General; but these balances shall remain in the hands of the banks with the publicity given by the return enabling those who have a right to claim them to know that they are there, and to proceed to claim them and make what disposition they please with regard to them, saving that, with reference to banks which become insolvent, I shall have a clause to submit to the Committee which will provide that unclaimed dividends and balances in these respects shall revert to the Government.
Mr. MITCHELL. Revert to the Government for what purposes?
Mr. FOSTER. For the very same purposes as we proposed that the whole of them should so revert, always subject, of course, to the claims of individuals who may have a right to them. What I propose in the place of the 89th section, is this:
1. The banks shall, within twenty days after the close of each calendar year, transmit or deliver to the Minister of Finance and Receiver General, to be laid by him before Parliament, a return of all dividends which have remained unpaid for more than five years, and also of all amounts or balances in respect of which no transactions have taken place, or upon which no interest has been paid during the five years prior to the date of such statement; provided always, that in cases of moneys deposited for a fixed period, the period of five years, above referred to, shall be reckoned from the date of the termination of such fixed period.

Source:

Canada. House of Commons Debates, 1875-1949. Provided by the Library of Parliament.

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Selection of input documents and completion of metadata: Isabelle Carré-Hudson.

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