Mr. Blake moved an address for copies of the
correspondence between the Imperial and Canadian Governments. He said
that a rumour had been current last session in that House that a
portion of the loan raised for the purpose of the construction of the
Intercolonial Railway had been expended to meet some of the
general expenditure of the country. That rumour had been commented on by
various members of the House as presenting a serious breach of the
obligations which their Government owed to the Imperial
Government, considering the terms on which their loan had
been made. A motion was made by him (Mr. Blake) for an address on the
subject, but the address was presented at the end of the session, and it being so
late the correspondence was not brought down. He
begged to call the attention of the gentlemen opposite to that fact.
He would say, however, in advance of the papers that he had asked for, that
the course which was taken by the Government in the matter was not
such as ought to have been taken. The Act provided that the Imperial Government
might guarantee the interest on a loan of ÂŁ3,000,000
to the Government of Canada for the purpose of constructing the road and
further provided that the guarantees should not be given
until provisions had been made on the part of Canada for appropriation and
expenditure on the construction of the Railway Loan, so
that the money thus raised by Act of Parliament was secured to the
appropriation and expenditure on the construction of the line. In
accordance with that Act, the Government passed an Act which was accepted by
the Commissioners as a satisfactory fulfillment of the
obligations which were obliged to be fulfilled by the Government before the
money could be raised. A part of it was left in the Treasury, the
money being raised before they were ready to expend it for financial
consideration, which it was not now necessary to explain, and, under
these circumstances, he thought that it was the duty of the Government that
that balance should have been kept intact, so that it should be ready
for expenditure on the completion of the road, and that its duty to the
Imperial Government, by reason of their common interest with
them, and of the conditions under which it had guaranteed the interest of
the
168 COMMONS DEBATES February 23, 1870
loan, gave it a
just right to complain if the money had been expended in any other way,
even if the finances of the country should enable the Government to
"recoup," which was the felicitous phrase by which it had been
described, the money so expended. He believed that a rebuke had been
received from the Imperial Government on that point, and that rebuke
was followed by remonstrance, and an intimation that a change might take
place in the policy of Her Majesty's Government What was the fate of
that remonstrance he did not know, nor care how this Government thought
they could bring sufficient power to bear upon the Imperial Government
to induce them not to change their policy; but when the papers came
down the House would have more information on the point. He
thought that the transaction was not one which was creditable to
the Government which had made this country responsible for it.
Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald said there could be no
objection to bringing down the papers; but the Government declined to enter
into a discussion on the matter before they were so brought down. A
discussion had been entered into last session before there were any
papers on the table, and had been replied to by Sir John Rose. He believed
that Sir John Rose's answer was satisfactory, and that the honour and
credit of that House had been fully sustained by the hon.
gentleman. He believed that the House would be of opinion when the papers
were brought down that the honour of the House and the pecuniary
interests of the country had been guarded. It would be found that
there had been no breach of faith on the part of the Government. The
papers would be brought down without delay, and the House and the
country would have every opportunity for discussing the question.
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