House of Commons, 20 July 1903, Canadian Confederation with Alberta and Saskatchewan

6891 COMMONS 6892

INQUIRIES FOR RETURNS.

Mr. BORDEN (Halifax). I would like to bring to the attention of the government the fact that the documents which have been printed, purporting to be a return to an address of the House of Commons dated the 11th May, 1902, for copies of all Orders in Council and other documents having reference to the granting of provincial autonomy to the North-west Territories, are extremely defective. I had procured a number of prints of these documents from Regina, and. doing the work of a clerk this morning, I compared them with the return which has been brought down, and I found that a very great number of the documents have not been printed. In order to show my right turn as printed, I will read a list of the documents which have not been included in it, some of which are of no great importance, but others of which are of the greatest possible importance for the purpose of an intelligent discussion of this question. I may say that one or two of the documents which I have included in the list, while not directly referring to the question of provincial autonomy, are nevertheless in answer to correspondence which does touch that question as well as the question of better financial terms ; and these, I think, ought to be brought down, because they are part of the consecutive correspondence dealing with these matters. The letters which have been omitted, which I had to take from a number of documents and therefore have got them arranged in chronological order, are as follows : January 31, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton : February 11, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton : February 9, 1903, Mr. McGee to Mr. Haultain : February 16, 1903, Mr. Keys to Mr. Haultain : March 19, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton : March 21, 1903, Mr. Sifton to Mr. Haultain : April 15, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton : December 17, 1902, Mr. A. L. Sifton to Mr. Clifford Sifton : February 5, 1903, Mr. Sifton to Mr. Haultain : February 11, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton : February 21, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton : April 16, 1903, Mr. Fielding to Mr. Haultain : April 17, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Fielding : April 20, 1903, Sir Wilfrid Laurier to Mr. Haultain : April 20, 1903, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Fielding : April 24, 1903, Lieut.-Gov. Forget of the North-west Territories to the Secretary of State, Inclosing an address : June 2, 19003, Mr. Haultain to Sir Wilfred Laurier : June 6, 1903, Mr. Fielding to Mr. Haultain : June 15, 1903, Mr. Pelletier. acting Under Secretary of Mr. BORDEN (Halifax) State to Lieut.-Gov. Forget ; January 30, 1901, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton ; March 21, 1901, Mr. Sifton to Mr. Haultain ; March 30, 1901, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton ; April 5, 1901, Mr. Sifton to Mr. Haultain : June 4, 1901, Mr. Haultain to Mr. Sifton : June 5, 1901, Mr. Sifton to Mr. Haultain : August, 11, 1901, Mr. A. L. Sifton to Mr. Clifford Sifton ; August 14, 1901, Mr. Clifford Sifton to Mr. A. L. Sifton ; January 11, 1901, A. L. Sifton to Sir Wilfred Laurier ; January 22, 1902, Sir Wilfred Laurier to Mr. A. L. Sifton ; March 15, 1902, Mr. Haultain to Sir Wilfred Laurier ; March 18, 1902, Sir Wilfred Laurier to mr. Haultain ; March 27, 1902, Mr. Sifton to mr. Haultain ; April 2, 1902, Mr. Haultain to mr. Sifton ; April 29, 1903, Mr. Pelletier, acting Under Secretary of State, to Lieut.-Gov. Forget. I thought it would be desirable to read this long list in order to indicate to my right hon, friend how very defective is the return which has been brought down and printed. I recollect that at the time the papers were first brought down, the right hon. gentleman mentioned to the House that there would be some other papers. Possibly these have not yet been prepared ; but might I be permitted to suggest that, in bringing down correspondence of this kind, it would great diminish the labour of members who desire to deal with important subjects of this character, if the documents could be printed in chronological order, beginning with the documents, of an earlier date. That has not been done in this case, and if we have another return printed, with the documents that I have mentioned, I am afraid that the matter will be in rather a confused condition. Possibly it would be advisable to nave these documents arranged in chronological order, if it would not take too long, and printed, so as to have them in an intelligible form before the House. The correspondence is quite voluminous, and it will be difficult to gather its bearings unless we have it in that form.

The MINISTER OF FINANCE (Hon. W. S. Fielding). I think that some part of the difficult arises from the fact that my hon. friend's remarks dealt with two subjects, which probably the officials who prepared the return did not associate together, although they do in some respects touch each other. My hon. friend's remarks had relation to the question of provincial autonomy, and he has mentioned some correspondence which took place between Mr. Haultain and myself which has not been brought down. I had no correspondence whatever with Mr. Haultain on the question of provincial autonomy. I did have correspondence with him in respect to the grants to the North-west Territories, and I quite admit that the two questions tones each other, and I think that may be the explanation for he absence of these documents.

6893 JULY 20, 1903

Mr. BORDEN (Halifax). That explains two or three of these documents, but not all. Two or three communications, principally telegrams, passed between Mr. Haultain and the Minister of Finance. I referred to those in mentioning that some of the documents contained no reference to provincial autonomy. But there are a great many other documents not brought down which refer to provincial autonomy, although they may refer principally to better terms. some of those omitted relate entirely to the question of provincial autonomy.

The PRIME MINISTER (Rt. Hon. Sir Wilfrid Laurier). When I brought down this return I stated that something more would have to come. I noted that some correspondence subsequent to the date of my hon. friend motion is not included, but I will have this brought down. Would my hon. friend be kind enough to let me have the list he has just read ?

Mr. BORDEN (Halifax). I am afraid that it is not legible to any one but myself, but I will have a copy made.

The MINISTER OF FINANCE. It will be in 'Hansard,' and can be got there.

Mr. BORDEN (Halifax). I would like to bring to the attention of my hon. friend the Minister of the Interior the fact that he promised to bring down a return which had been moved for by my hon. friend from Marquette (Mr. Roche). I don not know whether it has been brought down or not, but I have not seen it. When we were proceeding with the estimates a few days ago, the hon. gentleman said that it would be brought down the next day or the day following. He said also that he would bring down certain information with regard to the lands still obtainable in the organized territories for homestead entries.

The MINISTER OF THE INTERIOR (Hon. Clifford Sifton). I have instructions to have the return referred to by the hon. gentleman brought down and expected to have it this morning. It is, however, being attended to. As to the lands, I have a statement, but my hon. friend was not here at the time. You will find it in 'Hansard.'

Mr. LANCASTER. I desire to call the attention of the hon. the Minister of Marine to a return ordered the 1st of June for correspondence with regards to fishing rights in James Bay. When may we expect this return ?

The MINISTER OF MARINE AND FISHERIES. It must be in the hands of the Secretary of State, because I sent him the papers a long time ago.