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THE LEADER THURSDAY MORNING, JUNE 25, 1903.
ASSEMBLY DEBATES.
FINANCIAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL
QUESTION.
The Premier also laid on the table
copies of further correspondence with
the Federal Government relating to
the subject of the memorial of the
Legislative Assembly of May 2, 1900,
upon the financial and constitutional
position of the Territories; also
the correspondence between the
Federal and Territorial Governments
respecting the amount to be appropriated by Parliament for expenditure
by the Government of the Territories
during the calendar year 1903.
The correspondence on the financial
question shows that the Dominion
Government, proposes to ask Parliament to provide the following amounts
for Government of the Territories: To
provide for the over expenditure of
1902, $250,000; vote in main estimates
for fiscal year 1903-04, $457,979; supplementary vote to main estimates,
$250,000; advances from time to time
as required for local improvement on
on capital account up to $250,000, the
sum of $84,000 to be charged to this
account for the rebuilding of bridges
at Macleod and Lethbridge.
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THE LEADER.
REGINA, N.W.T., THURSDAY MORNING, JULY 2, 1903.
LAURIER AND HAULTAIN.
Further Discuss the Question of Autonomy for the Territories.
The correspondence on the subject of
granting the provincial status to the
Territories which was laid on the table
in the Legislature a couple of weeks
ago is concluded with the following letters between Sir Wilfrid
Laurier and Premier Haultain:
OTTAWA, June 8th, 1903.
Hon. F. W. G. Haultain, Regina.
Sir, —I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
2nd instant. The Minister of Finance
has, by this time, communicated with
you respecting the financial grant to be
given to the North-West Legislature.
With regard to your further request
that legislation be introduced this
session conferring on the Territories
full provincial organisation, I have had
the honour to discuss the matter with
the members of the House of Commons
from the Territories. I have asked
them to consider whether it would be
advisable to have such legislation
introduced this year. We are, as you
know, introducing a redistribution
measure at the present session, and we
are giving to the Territories a much
larger representation in the House of
Commons than they would be entitled to
were they to become organised at once
as a province. In fact the Bill which we
have introduced allows to the Territories a representation in the House of
Commons of ten members. Were they
to be admitted at once as a province,
they would be entitled to only six
members. It would be a question of
extreme difficulty, and complications
to give to the Territories at the same
time all the advantages of full provincial organisation, without the corresponding
disadvantages. I have the
honour to be, Sir,
Yours truly,
REGINA, June 15, 1903.
The Right Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier,
G.C.M.G., President Privy Council,
Ottawa.
Sir, —I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the
eighth instant, relating to the question
of Provincial institutions in the Territories, and to express regret on the
part of the North-West Government
that that question has again been put
on one side for a reason which seems
quite foreign to the subject.
With all deference to the opinion
expressed by you, I cannot see that
the representation proposed to be
given to the Territories under the
Redistribution Bill could be in any
way affected by the passing of concurrent legislation granting the Provincial
status to the Territories.
The provisions of the B.N.A. Act
relating to the representation would
not, I submit, apply to a Province
which, at the earliest, could only come
into existence at the same time as the
Redistribution Bill became law. Even
if legislation creating a Province were
introduced at the present session of
Parliament, the actual coming into
existence of the Province would necessarily be postponed for some months
to enable Territorial affairs to be wound
up, and thus any question with regard
to representation and the effect of the
B.N.A. Act would be removed. I
might also remind you that upon the
admission of British Columbia into the
Confederation and upon the creation of
the Province of Manitoba larger representation was given than these two
Provinces were respectively entitled to
under the B.N.A. Act.
You say that you have discussed the
question of Provincial organisation
with the Members of the House of
Commons from the Territories and
have asked them to consider whether
it would be advisable to have such
legislation introduced this year. Your
letter does not make it clear what the
opinion of these gentlemen is, but I
feel justified in asserting that that
opinion was not in accord with the
wishes of the people they represent
unless it supported the claims made by
us which are unanimously endorsed by
the North-West Legislature, and were
practically unanimously endorsed by
the people of the North-West Territories at the general elections in May, 1902.
The question of larger representation
in the Federal Parliament is without
doubt an important one, but the
infinitely more urgent question of
Provincial organisation should not be
subordinated to it. The two questions
are quite separate and independent,
and cannot, I think I have shown,
affect one another. Under any circumstances, however, the obtaining of Provincial
powers is in our opinion of much
greater importance to the people of the
Territories than additional representation in a Parliament whose failure to
fulfil the duties and obligations it has
assumed with regard to the North- West is one of our strongest reasons
for demanding home rule. I have the
honour to be, Sir,
Your obedient servant
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