Legislative Assembly

Leader of the Opposition the unanimous cement of the House. to give me about five minutes more to finish off my little say, so that tomorrow morning you fellows can . . .

Walter R. Shaw: Okay. Very good, very good; you go ahead. Good enough.

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: Welfare. Under the new program in Welfare, the Canada Assistance Act, which was passed in the Legislature last year, was never proclaimed. We could have been receiving, from Ottawa, approximately 35% of the supplementary allowances which we have been paying out to our Senior Citizens, our disabled and our blind. But no effort was ever made by this province, or by the former Minister, to even claim five cents back from Ottawa.

L. George Dewar: Didn't the Canada Assistance Act just come into force the first of April this year ?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: Right. L. George Dewar: How can you claim before that?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: You couldn’t claim before that. You didn’t start paying until May but he should have been claiming from May to July for the money that was paid out.

L. George Dewar: How could you when the Act was only proclaimed the first of April this year?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: No, 1966; one year ago.

Walter R. Shaw: Was it proclaimed then. Mr. Minister?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: The Act came into effect April 1st, 1966. Walter R. Shaw: Was it proclaimed ?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: It was proclaimed — no — it was proclaimed in this province by the Campbell administration after we took office in August.

Walter R. Shaw: That’s right, that’s right. So you couldn’t have . . .

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: But you could have proclaimed it, Mr. Leader of the Opposition. Your Minister should have advised you to proclaim that Act. You pass- ed the Act in this Assembly and it came into force on proclamation, but your Minister

never advised you to proclaim it, and as a result he made no effort to claim the money from Ottawa.

Walter R. Shaw: When was it proclaimed?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: In August of this year, about a month after we took office.

L. George Dewar: Isn’t that a federal Act?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: A Provincial Act that you passed in this As- sembly last year in order for us to participate in the Federal Act.

Walter R. Shaw: But wouldn’t the Federal have to proclaim it?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: Oh it was in effect, Mr. Leader of the Opposit- ion, before that. It came into effect April 1, 1966.

Walter R. Shaw: Yes but did the federal proclaim it? Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: April 1, 1966. Walter R. Shaw: Sixty-six or was it not just passed then?

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: It was passed and into effect April 1st, 1966. In that Session I would say it was passed about the tenth day of A ril, I am just not sure of the dates, but in our province we passed it here at our last ession, but it was never proclaimed; it should have been proclaimed on April lst.

Walter R. Shaw: Tell me this, what Act are you referring to Mr. Minister? ._292_