1972-02-16

MESSAGE FROM THE SENATE

Mr. Speaker:: I have the honour to inform the House that a message has been received from the Senate informing this House that the Senate have passed Bill C-176, an act to establish the National Farm Products Marketing Council and to authorize the establishment of national marketing agencies for farm products, without any amendment.



THE ROYAL ASSENT

[Stage Direction]
A message was delivered by the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, as follows:
Mr. Speaker, the Honourable the Deputy Governor General desires the immediate attendance of this honourable House in the chamber of the honourable the Senate.
Accordingly, Mr. Speaker with the House went up to the Senate chamber.
And being returned:
Mr. Speaker informed the House that the Deputy Governor General had been pleased to give, in Her Majesty's name, the royal assent to the following bill:
An act to establish the National Farm Products Marketing Council and to authorize the establishment of national marketing agencies for farm products.
Mr. Speaker:: Pursuant to order made Friday, December 31, 1971, this House stands adjourned until February 16, 1972, at 2 p.m.
At 11.21 a.m. the House adjourned, pursuant to special order.

Wednesday, February 16, 1972.



PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT

Mr. Speaker:: I have the honour to inform the House that
1	have received the following communication:
Ottawa, February 14, 1972
Sir:
I have the honour to inform you that the Right Honourable Gerald Fauteux, P.C., Chief Justice of Canada, in his capacity as Deputy Governor General, will proceed to the Senate Chamber at
2	p.m. on Wednesday, February 16, for the purpose of proroguing the third session of the twenty-eighth parliament of Canada.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your obedient servant Esmond Butler
Secretary to the Governor General
Pursuant to the message just read, the arrival can be expected momentarily of the messenger from the other place. It is my understanding that the practice of our parliament is that when the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod arrives he is to be admitted immediately. At the same time I should advise hon. members that I have received several notices relating to questions of privilege.


Some hon. Members:: Hear, hear!


Mr. Speaker:: In particular, a notice has been received from the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre, and the hon. member for Peace River sent me a notice on the same matter.
I would suggest that to the extent that time is available the hon. members might be allowed to state briefly what the question is. In view of the fact that the notice from the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre was received first, unless there is agreement between the two hon. members I would have to recognize the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre first. However, I gather that the hon. member for Peace River has been chosen to speak first on this matter.



PRIVILEGE


Mr. G. W. Baldwin (Peace River):: Mr. Speaker, it is to uphold the dignity of this House, of myself, of the hon. member for Winnipeg North Centre and of all other members of the House, that we reject the attempt by the government to defraud members of the House of their traditional rights.


Some hon. Members:: Hear, hear!


Some hon. Members:: Oh, oh!


Gerald William Baldwin: This constitutes a contempt of the House. In order to show our protest I want to call to Your honour's attention the presence of strangers in the House and I ask you to put the question forthwith that strangers be ordered to withdraw.


Some hon. Members:: Ring the bells.


Mr. Stanley Knowles (Winnipeg North Centre):: Mr. Speaker, my question of privilege, notice of which I sent to Your Honour yesterday, is substantially the same as that raised by the hon. member for Peace River.
This is an ordinary sitting day in the third session of the twenty-eighth parliament. It is a Wednesday on which normally questions on the order paper would be answered. There are scores, if not hundreds, of questions on the order paper for which I am sure the government has answers ready which should be given today, before they disappear from the order paper.
There is also the fact that a special committee of this House and the other place has been meeting while the House has been in recess and it is our understanding that it has a report ready to table. If we go ahead with prorogation without the calling of routine proceedings it will not be possible for the report to be tabled and, indeed, that committee will be dissolved as a result of prorogation. Any suggestion that this can be corrected by going through the proceeding of setting up the committee again in another session is, I suggest, an affront to parliament. We are here in session and there are many matters of substance on which hon. members have questions that should be asked. There are statements which should be made.


Some hon. Members:: Hear, hear!


Stanley Howard Knowles: I suggest that the government is hiding behind the royal prerogative because it is afraid to face the music.


Some hon. Members:: Hear, hear!


Some hon. Members:: Question!


Mr. Speaker:: Order, please. The matter before the Chair at the moment is whether a motion should be put as suggested by the hon. member for Peace River. Obviously the Chair has no motion. According to the Standing Order the Chair has the power to order the withdrawal of strangers, that is, of all people in the galleries, which would include members behind the Chair. I suggest to hon. mem-

Prorogation of Parliament
bers that this might be an exercise in futility. This would be done, of course, without putting a motion and without a vote. Hon. members must realize that the Chair has the power simply to order at this point that strangers withdraw from the chamber. I suggest to hon. members that it would not be proper for the Chair to take this initiative at this stage.
I did bring to the attention of hon. members right at the start of our proceedings this afternoon that it is a long established practice, both in this chamber and in Westminster, that when a summons, manifested by a knock on the door, comes to us from the other place it is the duty of the Chair to admit the messenger and to ascertainwhat the message is that he carries from the other place.


Gerald William Baldwin: On that point, Mr. Speaker, at Westminster this practice has now been changed because of affronts of this kind. Now a written statement is given on royal assent. May I conclude by saying that in view of this fact I urge that the Speaker take note of this particular issue and seek advice on whether or not the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod should come into this chamber without the consent of the chamber.


Mr. Speaker:: Order, please. Without entering into a debate with hon. members, may I say that since the notices of this question were received I have studied the precedents very closely and I could not find a single precedent which would justify the Chair, on behalf of hon. members, refusing admission to the chamber to the Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod as the messenger on behalf of His Excellency's representative. We will admit the messenger.


[Stage Direction]
A message was delivered by Major A. G. Vandelac, Gentleman Usher of the Black Rod, as follows:
Mr. Speaker, it is the desire of the Right Honourable the Deputy of His Excellency the Governor General that this honourable House attend him immediately in the chamber of the honourable the Senate.
Accordingly, Mr. Speaker, with the House went up to the Senate chamber.
Whereupon the Deputy Governor General was pleased to close the third session of the twenty-eighth parliament of Canada with the following speech:
Honourable Members of the Senate:
Members of the House of Commons:
The third session of the twenty-eighth Parliament was opened on October 8, 1970. The 496 days that have elapsed since that time represents the longest period in history to pass between the opening and the prorogation of a session of the Parliament of Canada. During this period, the Senate has held 138 sittings, more than in any other session, and the House of Commons has held 244. You have enacted much important legislation and approved many government actions of great significance for Canadians.
During this session, Canada was honoured by the visit of Her Majesty the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and Princess Anne, all of whom participated in the celebrations of the Centenary of the Province of British Columbia.
The session began at a time when the peace and order of the nation was threatened. You approved actions to deal with these dangers and as a result the use of violence to attain unlawful objectives was discouraged and the rule of law maintained.
In the sphere of external relations, the Government has continued its policy of seeking new friends while strengthening relations with old ones. Canada exchanged ambassadors with the People's Republic of China and voted at the United Nations to install the Peking Government in the China seat. The Prime Minister visited the Soviet Union and in return the Soviet Premier visited Canada. The Prime Minister and his colleagues received the Presidents of Yugoslavia, Nauru and Niger; the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Ceylon, Ghana, Malaysia. Fiji, Senegal, and Israel; the Foreign Ministers of France, Ireland, Rou-mania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Poland; and the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The Prime Minister visited the United States and the President of the United States has indicated that he will visit Ottawa this year.
Consistent with Canada's desire for closer relations with the countries of Latin America and with its determination to assume a more positive role in the Western Hemisphere, the Government applied for, and was accorded Permanent Observer status within the Organization of American States.
Aware of the significance for the world as a whole and for Canada in particular of the enlargement of the European Economic Community, Ministers have had frequent consultations with the European Economic Commission, the Government of the United Kingdom and the governments of member countries. The Prime Minister and his colleagues also received the President of the European Economic Commission.
The Government signed a Protocol on Consultations with the Soviet Union and entered into agreements for scientific and technological exchanges with Belgium, the Federal German Republic and the Soviet Union.
In furtherance of the priority Canadians have accorded to disarmament and arms control in the maintenance of world security, the Government has continued to take a leading part in the work of the Committee of the Conference on Disarmament, particularly in the efforts to reach a comprehensive Test Ban that would prohibit the testing of nuclear devices in the atmosphere, the oceans and underground.
To assist the developing nations of the world you have increased the total aid budget. In the recent tragic events in India and Pakistan, the Government moved quickly and effectively to bring humanitarian relief to the refugees in India and to assist in the rehabilitation of the war torn area.
Conscious of the need to explain to Canadians the changes taking place in defence policy and in defence planning for the future, the Government tabled in the House of Commons a White Paper on Defence.
In the past year, the growth rate of Canada's real Gross National Product has exceeded that of any industrialized country in the world. The rate, too, at which Canadians entered the work force surpassed that of all industrial nations. It is a matter of continuing concern to the Government that the rapid increase in the labour force has left many Canadians without work notwithstanding the impressive increase in the number of jobs created. The rise in output and in employment has been attained, however, without jeopardizing Canada's unmatched achievements in the area of price stability.
You have had to deal with some unusually difficult economic problems including a major crisis of the international monetary system. You passed the Employment Support Act to assist companies adversely affected by the temporary import surtax of the United States. In order to ensure continuing expansion of the economy, increasing employment and decreasing unemployment, the Government invoked a series of measures including a reduction of individual and corporate income taxes. To meet the special requirements of certain segments of our population, stimulate employment and encourage initiatives at the local level, Opportunities for Youth and Local Initiatives Programs were implemented.
[Stage Direction]

To assist further the development of Canadian industry, you have approved the Textile and Clothing Board Act, and you have amended the Export Development Act, the Anti-Dumping Act and the Canadian New Zealand Trade Agreement Act.
You approved amendments to the Farm Improvement Loans Act, the Fisheries Improvement Loans Act and the Small Business Loans Act to facilitate, by means of a government guarantee, the provision of term credit by the chartered banks and other designated lenders to farmers, small businessmen and fishermen.
To assist the orderly conduct of business you have passed the Investment Companies Act and the Co-operative Associations Act.
Consistent with the Government's policy of encouraging the economic development of the less prosperous parts of Canada, you have amended the Regional Development Incentives Act.
To help develop and maintain strong Canadian-controlled and Canadian-managed corporations in the private sector and to provide Canadians with greater opportunities to participate and to invest in the economic development of Canada, you have approved the creation of a Canada Development Corporation.
Much of the time of this session has been occupied by the question of taxes. You have approved eight Acts affecting all manner of taxation in Canada and affecting some international tax agreements. The approval of one of these Acts resulted in the complete revision of the Canadian system of taxation and in a more equitable distribution of the tax burden amongst all Canadians.
You have also responded to the needs of Canadians for improved social services. You have provided more adequate income support for older citizens of modest means by amending the Old Age Security Act. You have made better provision for those who served their nation in time of war by amending the Veterans Pensions and Allowances Act, the Civilian War Pensions Act, the War Veterans Allowance Act and the Pension Act. You have provided workers with better employment conditions by approving amendments to the Labour (Standards) Code and you have given working Canadians improved income protection by amending the Unemployment Insurance Act and the Merchant Seamen Compensation Act.
Aware of the increased protection required by the Canadian consumer, you enacted the Packaging and Labelling Act and amendments to the Weights and Measures Act.
Your respect for the principle of equality before the law and your desire to protect Canadians in their dealings with the law caused you to enact the Bail Reform Act.
To protect the cultural diversity of Canada and to encourage Canadians of all cultural inheritances to contribute of their values and traditions to our society, the Government established a policy of multiculturalism.
During this session you have addressed yourselves to the concerns of the agricultural community, you have considered the problems of the marketing of agricultural products and you have
Prorogation of Parliament
passed the Farm Products Marketing Council Act. Appreciative of the particular problems of prairie farmers, you have revised the Grain Act and you have amended the Prairie Grain Advance Payments Act. You have passed the Crop Insurance Act. Farmers have also benefitted from the introduction of a two price system for wheat.
Your deep concern for the preservation of the environment for present and future generations of Canadians has led you to establish a Department of the Environment. To combat pollution you have amended the Canada Shipping Act. You have also passed the Clean Air Act and the Weather Modification Information Act. Recognizing that all nations must act in concert if the earth's vital resources and environment are to be preserved, Canada has continued its efforts to gain international agreement that will result in better protection of the interests of coastal states and in measures that will safeguard the quality of the environment.
In order that government respond more quickly and more sensitively to the needs and aspirations of Canadians in the seventies, you approved a measure establishing the Ministries of State. To enchance the quality of our urban life and to meet the new and immense challenges of technology, you have enacted measures which have resulted in the creation of Ministries of State for Urban Affairs and for Science and Technology.
As further evidence of your desire to adapt our legal and governmental institutions to the contemporary needs of our society, you have amended the Judges Act and the Senate and House of Commons Act and you have passed the Federal Court Act. You have approved the Statutory Instruments Act and to supervise its implementation you have established a Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.
During this session, both Houses of Parliament have permitted their Committees to continue the important task of reviewing Government policy and administration.
A number of other significant initiatives and items of legislation were approved in this third session of the twenty-eighth Parliament. The laws which you have enacted and the Policies which you have undertaken are amongst the most important in our history. Though we have accomplished much, we have yet much to do. The pace of legislative reform and innovation must continue rapidly if we are to meet the challenges of the future. By applying oufselves to this task with energy and imagination, together we will make a lasting contribution to the strength, justness and prosperity of Canadian society.
Members of the House of Commons
I thank you for the provision you have made for the public services in the previous and in the current fiscal year.
Honourable Members of the Senate,
Members of the House of Commons.
May Divine Providence continue to bless our country.
This concluded the third session of the twenty-eighth parliament.