Page & THE RIBUNE, WILLIAMS LAER, Ba. Thursday, August 4, 1985, Davie Fulton Gives This session of parliament has been one orf the most interesting T have attended. The issues to come be- fore us this year seemed to be not only important in themselves, but to involve the public interest to an un- usual extent. As the session is nearly over, it is time to send you again my annual report to let you know what has been going on. DEFENCE PRODUCTION The outstanding feature was of course the great fight on the Defence Production Bill, which kept us here practically a month beyond the nor- m4l duration of a session. The issue Was quite simple: were the absolute and abritrary powers of the Minister (Mr. Howe) to be made permanent, or was Parliament to remain su. preme and continue to hold the Min- the insertion of a limit, to preserve Parliamentary supremacy. The debate was strenuous, and the weather was hot Finally the Govern- rector of a comany having dealings with the y of which he is Min ter, was a The Prime Min: ment to the Cabinet. The imp that there can be two standa conscience, and that the Prim ister has no responsibility for eriliczed during some of the est exchanges of the session. / satisfied to have McCann by a Minister and a Director, but ment is far from satisfied. OTHER LEGISLATION Amongst other leigislative this year. the War Veterans’ ance Act was finally amended E. D. FULTON. MP. eee eee vigorous battle fought there, coupled with the fact that in a recent case the Court of Appeal of Ontario has severely censured the Department’s practice of refusing information to those concerned by its rulings, have, I believe. caused the Government to what had been asked for over slight relaxation of the Mean. diers who will benefit. His Annual Report on the Federal Session Department for that Minister's own: conscience. ter went on to say, however, that he himself had resign. ed all his directorships on appoint- mining the standards of his Govern- ment in this matter, was severely is written the Prime Minister appoars vide increases in allowances for burnt-out veterans. Although not years by the Canadian Legion — ana by many of us in Parliament — still such increases as there are, and the will be welcomed by many old sol- pings have pretty well. gone, in spite | your representative, : of the strenuous objections from With ‘best personal regards, and some. meat packe The foregoing are but a few of the! ment you have given me in my work many subjects of general and local as Member. concern which have occupied Par liament as a whole and myself as Lake run of C.P. Air Lines, It is wel! daily Yours sincerely Z and the pr e has been kept up constantly since then Better late than never seem to ne the motto. MISCELLANEOUS During the session, I introduced a motion asking for an investigation or the marketing of beef cattle, par- ticularly of grading methods and the spread between what the producer receives from the packer and what is charged out to the consumer. We nad a good debate, and a number of “embers supported the motion. The liscussion was wound up by the Min- ster of Agriculture. He excused fhe dominion Government by saying that | he authority over grading, etc. rests with the provinces. It is quite a usuai when things are well, the credit when they go bad, sponsible, matter ication rds of e Min- deter- liveli- As this oth as Parlia- items Allow- to pro- line; is claimed here someone else is r On a somewhat related subject was a Bill I moved calling for the aboli- tion of coloured or striped wrapping on meat products. The object of the Bill was to protect the consumer fraudulent colouring which misleads 8 lo the true quality of the contents, his move had a warm welcome from several s Test with thanks for all the encourage- ment one day moved a form of clos- show rather more concern about the consumers’ groups and housewives ure — to choke off further: debate; activities and policies of this Depart-| ed with the approval of all. Parties. | everywhere in Canada, many of then the next day of the debate an- ment than had been the case for| ‘rhe age limit for qualifications was | whom wrote me supporting it. At the nounced the acceptance of our re- many years. Mr. Pickersgill, the Min- lowered from 21 to 18 years and sub- same time the Government began quest. It was a complete victory for ster did not help the situation by stantial increases were made in in-| to take steps to eliminate the prac- the Opposition and for Parliament his unfortunate comparison between come allowed to married blind per-| tice. In the result, the striped wrap- made more remarkable by reason ot Canadian babies and immigrants sons. ——— the Government's long delay — from THE McCANN INCIDENT The concern aroused by the dis- March unil July — hefore conceding This was auother of the lively is- | (bing increase in unemployment the principle. This shows two things: sues. Dr. MeCann is Minister of Na- | Was reflected in amendments to the that the Opposition, though small tional Revenue; he is also a Director | Unemployment Insurance Act and the numerically, is yet a vital factor in of the Guaranty Trust Co. of Canada. |a'rangements made for a special Parliament; and that a vigilant Par- As Minister, bis duty is to collect 211 | Dominion-Provincial conference on Hement is still the only effective Possible succession duties and in- | this subject. Suardian of the people's rights ana come taxes for the National Treasury; | CONSTITUENCY Uberties against the power of the but the comany of which*he is a Di-| | Munictpalities throughout B.C., executive. rector frequently acts for Canadian | including several in our own con- INTERNATIONAL RIVERS taxpayers or estates who are anxious | tituency, have received notice of an One of the early issues to come UP/to keep their payments into that | increase in the charges to be made was the Bill to give the Dominion (reasury to a minimum. We have | for R.C.M.P. services this year, too Government control over works con- often criticized the Prime Minister late for them to make provision in structed on rivers crossing the boun- for permitting this situation, with its | their 1955 budget for the extra cost. | dary into the United States, or their inevitable conflict of interest. On their behalf I urged the Minister tributaries. This was bitterly criti- This year, the issue was forced | of Justice in the House to defer the cized by the B.C. Government which when Dr. McCann gave to the Prem- coming into effect of the increase — correctly — interpreted it as a ier of Ontario certain information as | until next year. Several other Mem- | weapon to strike down their propos- to a taxpayers estate, in such a way | bers supported this request. I regret | ed Arrow Lakes Dam deal with Kai- that it was bound to become public | that the Minister stated he was not | ser Corporation. However, after pro- information, and so raised the ques-| able to do so; he blamed the Provin- tracted committee hearings at which tion of whether he had either used | cial authorities tor the delay in ad- = B.C. delegation appeared, com-| sor an improper purpose information | vising the municipalities, However, promises were offered which result-| ne had acquired as Minister, or else | he did accept the suggestion that, al- ed in amendments to the Bill which betrayed a confidence acquired by | though the liability would be regard-| seemed acceptable to both sides. him as a Director of the Guaranty | ed as accruing this year, actual pays} One of the changes I was most - Either way, the possibility of | ment might he postponed until nest anxious to obtain from the outset conflict between his personal and his | year, if that would be of any help. 5 eared ee To mention a few lines in-our complete stock was the exception of irrigation and official position was immediately Both the southern and northern domestic water works from the Bill emphasized. portions of our constituency will, T H. J. Gardner @ Sons Lid. 80 that it would not be necessary to! mye Prime Minister was question-| know, be glad that at long last the | some. to “Olawal-tor théae licences; | 64° shout, thissaua took the position | Post Office Department has erantea'| Your Building Supply Dealer in this we were successful. that the decision as to whether it|the request for air mail service on| . i EXTERNAL AFWAIRS was proper for a Minister to be Di-| the Vancouver - Kamloops - Wiliams | AND DEFENCE International relations, in the light of the grim realities of the power of devastation of A- and H-bombs, oc- cupied a great deal of Parliamen time. Canada continues to spend nearly one-half her total budget on defence. We urged that the organiza- tion of Canada’s Armed Forces he re- designed to take aecount of the prob- Jems of swift-moving battle of air- borne troops that would develop over Canada’s vast distances if the dis- aster of another war should ever occur. In common with the other western nations, Canada has shared a cau- ticus optimism that the “new look” in Russian diplomacy, and the meet- ings of national leaders now being arranged, may produce real results in a lessening of tensions and that it may then be possible, for the first time, to begin a cautious reduction of the cost of national defence. The opinion was expressed on all sides of the House that no effort should he spared in following up any overture made by the Russians, to test thor- oughly the chances that they may be sincere. It was therefore welcome mews when the External Affairs Min- ister, Mr. Pearson, told us he had. de- cided to accept an invitation to Mos- cow. IMMIGRATION Another controversial subject ta- ken up early this session was the question of immigration. Misgivings felt in Parliament as to the treat- ment accorded to prospective en- trants to Canada and their Canadian Telatives, were echoed last fall by the findings of a special committee of the Canadian Bar Association. ‘When, after a further controversy in the House, we finally had the De- partmental estimates referred to the Estimates Committee, we were told that those who had made this special study and reported adversely would not be called as witnesses, We had Wanted this independent evidence as to what was wrong with the adminis. tration of the Department. Hight separate attempts were made | to prevail on the Government and its majority to alter this decision; each one was rejected. The result of course was to make the Committee | much less effective, Even s0, the very | Ghomas Mdams Distillers RLZA AMHERSTBURG, ONT, The Blind Persons Act was amend- VANCOUVER, B.c. s This advertisement is not published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia Roofing Veneers Cement - Brick - Lime - Sash - Doors - Mouldings - Wall Boards Puts a new light in its owners CVES... the all-new Pl yMou Ti fi | See the reasons yourself in the sparkle of metion-design siyting...in the | glow of colour-keyed interiors...in the flash of thrifty 6 aid V-8 power You'll find thrilling beauty in the Take in the glamour of Plymouth’s motion-design styling of this long, low. smart interior. You’ll find more Plymouth. In the trim, taut lines that “living”? room than in any car stress its Forward Look. -in its field. es Or turn the key and let Plymouth’s To try the car that puts a gleam in engine whisper soft and low. Then the eye—simply phone your Chrysler- step on the throttle, Surely, this lively Plymouth-Fargo dealer. He’ll bring a power is for you. new Plymouth right to your door! PLYMOUTH ...NOW BEING SELECTED BY MORE CAR BUYERS THAN EVER BEFORE IN PLYMOUTH’S HISTORY! CENTRAL SERVICE LTD. ae Phone 29 Williams Lake, B.C. : sf BRIGHTEST VALUE IN THE LOW-PRICE FIELD