Legislative Assembly Speech from the Throne. I want to give you my reactions when I aat here on the open¬ ing day, six weeks tomorrow. I could not help recall the words of the Poet Horace. Honourable Alexander B. Campbell : No, he didn't write it. M. Alban Farmer : No he didn't. But he said something that has a very strong application to it. "The Mountains are in labour, and a ridiculous mouse will be born." Honourable Alexander B. Campbell : Your Leader told that one last year. M. Alban Farmer : Yes, it is much more applicable this year where we have a great deal of verbage and so far it is difficult even to find that mouse that we were supposed to have. The time has been spent chiefly with a good many speeches from the Treasury Benches , but nothing in those speeches. No policies, no outline, no definite indication of what the Government, what the various heads of Government, heads of Departments, propose to do. This is, as I say, something that we should have expected. We are supposed to expect great things from the Government, but to date the mouse hardly even appeared. Various suggestions have been made as to the authors of the Speech from the Throne. If the Leader of the Government is not responsible for it, then he has shirked his responsibility. If he is responsible then he has produced a very "mousy" program. (Laughter) Honourable Alexander B. Campbell : Mousy? M. Alban Farmer : Yes, a very mousy program insofar as the economy of this province is concerned. Honourable Alexander B. Campbell : House mouse or field mouse? M. Alban Farmer : I might say that something better was expected. Since this Government took office it has been a sorry performance. Even in these weeks since we have assembled here, the most independent observer would only conclude that there is no leadership of the Government, and the Government has no policy. I say no leader¬ ship because the person who should be giving leadership permitted himself to be in¬ fluenced by advisors with no responsibility to the people of this province. I say there is no policy because nothing has been done, no effective solution has been found for the different problems which have arisen. The first one was the stoppage of communi¬ cations at Borden. A very, very sorry spectacle happened there and with a little bit of consideration, a little bit of thought, a little bit of co-operation with all who were concerned, there was no reason for having the boats stopped at Borden. Honourable Alexander B. Campbell : What would you have done, Sir? M. Alban Farmer : Well. I wouldn't go around getting my picture taken any¬ way, because that seems to be the policy of the Government benches, to get their pict¬ ures taken. That solves all the problems — get their picture taken, put it in the paper — or put it on T.V. You asked me what I would do. That is a most strange question coming from that particular source, "What would you do."? If that is the extent of the Premier's sincerity in discussing and in contemplating the responsibility of a Government then that is the reason why we are not getting any results. In speaking to the Draft Ad ¬ dress the Premier spoke about the liquor store, and that happened to be one of the de¬ partments over which I had the authority to report to the Legislature. The Premier in his discussions made some references to the liquor stores and the rents that were charged. He multiplied the monthly rent by twelve, and he multiplied it by twenty and he came up with some large figures. Now that is quite a trick to make these figures seem astronomic by putting it over a twenty-year period, but any person that is paying rent at $75.00, a month, and he takes it for twenty years, will find that it looks like a big amount of money that he is going to pay out. So for that reason, I submit it was just an attempt to pile up a story that would make the former policy which was carried out by The Liquor Control Commission and approved by the Government of that time look bad. Now let us look at the facts. There were three new stores opened. The first one was opened on Upper Queen Stret, or near Upper in Charlottetown . The rental is $2.00 per foot, which is an excellent rate and it was arrived at because there was a desire on the part of the people who were building there to get their space rented. They got it rented for a period of twenty years and it was a very, very good rate. The next place that was opened in Summerside after a great deal of talking, but I notice now nobody on the other side has anything to say or any objections to make —277—