Legislative Assembly

him up with half his performance last year, so we will call it 2.5 million. When you add them together, the over-estimation on taxes, the overexpenditure on capital ac- count, the over-expenditure on ordinary account, you came up with 7.4 million of dollars of a probable deficit when the Provincial Treasurer stands up here next year, if he lis still Provincial Treasurer, and presents his Budget. Now perhaps Hr. Pro- vmc a . . . .

Honourable Alexander B. Campbell: For the purposes of the record, what are you going to do if you are not right?

L. George Dewar: If it is not over five million if it is not over five million, I will be prepared to stand up here and apologize to the Provincial Treasurer for pre- suming that he couldn’t present a better picture than that. (Applause)

Honourable Alexander B. Campbell: That’s on the tape. That’s on the record for next year.

L. George Dewar: We will wait and see now what he can do.

Honourable Alexander B. Campbell: I hope you are not defeated in the mean- time.

L. George Dewar: This is a very bleak picture to have to paint and I am sure that the Provincial Treasurer realizes that it is a bleak picture. I know that he is a fairly “wise bird” and that he recognizes a “cold chimney” when he runs into one, and I am sure that he realizes that in this Budget presentation is a bit of a “cold

chimney”, Mr. Speaker.

Now, what about the estimates? The strange part of it is that in spite of all this gloomy picture, in spite of all this revenue, and increased expenditure, I main- tain that this is a short-changing Budget, that he is short-changing a lot of the De- partments and this hardly seems possible under the situation. But I am goi to show that he is short-changing in a number of instances and what are they? IWell, welfare for instance. The Minister of Weflare is in his seat this afternoon and we welcome him here. I have a number of questions to ask him and it is hard to get around to doing that. But anyway, the Provincial Minister of Welfare has t the welfare of under-privileged people at heart in the Province and I am sure t he would like to do something for them all. I would like to enquire, and this is a very pertinent question: He has a new Canada Assistance Act to administer and we are told that this is going to do all things for all men. I have not found out yet who the general Welfare Assistance Board is, or who the chairman is, or who the mem- bers of it are. I have only two or three days left in this House and if I don’t get the Minister of Welfare in his seat, I am frightened I am not going to find out who that committee is.

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: I can tell you that. L. George Dewar: Can you? Oh I would like to hear right now.

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: We have not appointed a Board yet. We are still using the old Welfare Board.

L. George Dewar: Well, that is a strange thing because I understand that under the agreement with Ottawa that you were supposed to appoint a general Welfare As- sistance Board. and you said that you have signed the agreement, although they say in Ottawa that you have not signed it. I don’t know, but I would rather believe you than believe Ottawa, so I take it for granted that you have signed it, but I under- stand that you are supposed to appoint this Board, The General Assistance Welfare Board, and I would like to know who the Chairman is going to be, and I would like to know who the members are. I hope it is a Board that knows something about administrating Welfare, because many of the Boards in the past didn’t know anything about administrating Welfare, and I don't think that is a good situation. Now, this is a dangerous situation because you are taking the Mother’s Allowance and Disabled People out from under the Act and you are putting them under this General Welfare Assistance Board. If it is anything like the previous Boards, they are not going to fare very well. I can almost guarantee that.

Honourable M. Lorne Bonnell: Who was on the previous board? —422—