Legislative Assembly

Keith S. Harrington: That maybe so, Sir, but I would suggest, then, that we take some further action, Mr. Minister of Agriculture.

Honourable Daniel J. MacDonald: There’s no starch factories. Keith S. Harrington: No, there’s no starch diversion.

Honourable Daniel J. MacDonald: It’s on the records; Sir, action was taken

the day before yesterday. I had a man in Ottawa the day before yesterday. You do not know of what you speak.

Walter R. Shaw: Mr. Speaker, I think perhaps you had better let the man finish. These interruptions are not allowed.

Keith S. Harrington: Mr. Speaker, I don’t interrupt. I am making statements and I am making them in the light of what I know. These statements may not always be one hundred percent, but I certainly have faith and hope that they are correct.

Now if the Honourable Minister wants the truth, here’s the paper.

Now, Mr. Speaker, this Speech from the Throne — a long document. It is sort of impressive. It’s impressive probably not so much as what is mentioned in the speech, but it’s impressive for what was expected by the people of this province in order to fulfill the twelve-point election promises that are not there. This is why this document stands out so bare. Now, Mr. Speaker, of course we do not expect the government to be able to carry out all their promises in one year, but at least we expect, when the Speech from the Throne is presented to this House, that there will be a program outlined at least to cover most of the things that the people of this province expect and are rightly entitled to.

Last spring, prior to the election, many of the candidates and the members who are sitting on the opposite side went across this province and published in the paper that there was going to be universal Medicare and that there was going ha pened? No mention of it today, just merely putting the people of the province 0 . They are going to have a study of it and that will delay the thing for another year. Everyone in this province, too, looked for the elimination of school taxes. (Applause) But it did not come, no mention of it here. But in it’s stead, this is what the people of the province were promised in the Speech from the Throne, that there is going to be legislation which will allow greater borrowing facilities for the muni- cipalities and the rural school districts. That’s something quite different.

Now last year this province voted $7,500 for a Committee to study this very matter, and here is the picture and the write-up that was in the paper at that time. The honourable former Minister of Education, if he had of been there, the study would have been completed and probably there would have been a more workable solution found than by what is now put off by a promise of a study.

Parents of this province, too, were promised tax relief on clothing for children under eighteen years of age but in answer to that question, the Leader of the Gov- ernment has said that this province cannot afford it. Strange enough, at the time that it was promised, I heard many a candidate on TV say that the debt of this province was $75,000,000. I heard one fellow say, one candidate say, that it was as high as $90,000,000, and when the external audit came out it showed that the next debt of the province on March 13, 1966, was $49,000,000. (Applause) I can’t figure out the consistency in that briefing, Mr. Speaker. The people were promised facili- ties to establish pre-school learning, but now we find out again that the same old tactics were used, the same old delay. There’s going to be another study, going to be another study. I submit if it was feasible last spring, it is feasible now. They promised that there was going to be an expansion of industry in this province, and in turn what do we find? We find building crews stepping aside and the wrecking crew taking over. (Applause) Instead of a further development of industry we see plant after plant closed down; people thrown out of employment. We were all pro- mised, the people of this province were promised, the labourer, and the Minister of Labour just finished speaking that all labourers in this province were going to re- ceive $1.25 an hour.

Walter R. Shaw: See him smiling. —231—