Wednesday, March 6, 1968 and you will receive $20 per month for Feb., Mar. and April". Now, this is in reply to some poor people who have no other means of support. I wonder, how does he expect them to live in the summertime. The berries aren't ripe at the end of April and even if they were. . . . Hon . Robert Campbell : I'll tell you all about that when I speak. Lloyd G. MacPhail : I just can't wait. Deliver it any time, or let me go on. But when he changes his hat to the Minister of Tourist Development why then, Mr. Speaker , money is no problem at all. On Sept. 29th we read, and it's under a nice picture here as you see of the Minister leaning up against a small tree, "The Bru- denell 18 hole golf course is progressing favorably. The project is being carried out under ARDA on a 50-50 cost sharing arrangement and the total cost will run about $87,000." Hard to find but the next we hear about him and his golf course is about five months later on Feb. 21, 1968; we read $325,000 approved under the ARDA program for this golf course" from the . This increase in cost from $87,000 to $325,000 is an increase of 274%. This indicates, Mr. Speaker , no scarcity of either Federal or Provincial money. Hon . Alex B. Campbell : What's your authority again, the ? Some Member : The , what's that? Lloyd G. MacPhail : And, incidentally, the same information was available in answer to a question in the House of Commons given by one of the Federal Liberal Minis¬ ters. Mr. Speaker , perhaps this Minister should be Premier or at least Minister of Agriculture as long as he keeps his Tourist Development hat on and continues his affluent spending habits as on golf courses. I'm sure he would experience no dif¬ ficulty declaring a moratorium on payment arrears due by farmers this year on loans which either Provincial or Federal Government administer over a period. I am thinking particularly of the Farm Establishment Loan, the Farm Credit Corporation Loan and the Farm Improvement Loan. Now this would cost the government nothing and would ease somewhat what would probably be a very tight situation for many farmers this spring. Through no fault of their own, many farmers find more bills facing them at the moment than they are able to meet. If this situation is allowed to continue it can lead to impaired credit standing for these people if they have arrears in too many places. This could further lead, in some cases, to drastic moves on the farmers part, like selling land, cattle or other assets which are an integral part of his income producing set up. If this set up is decreased or if it is impaired long range ill effects in his effort to effect a temporary solution will result. The payments on various government loans which the farmers have difficulty with this year could be added, of course, at the end of the term of the loan, which would therefore be extended by one year in each case. That, in most cases, would allow the farmer to maintain a liquid position fin¬ ancially and he would thus retain also freedom of movement and ability to satisfy other debts and make credit arrangements with normal suppliers without government assistance or interference in arranging for his 1968 crop requirements and other normal expenditures. Most other solutions could result in considerable dislocation one way or ano¬ ther. The advantages again, Mr. Speaker , of this solution would be (1) The farmer's credit would not be jeopardized. (2) The farmer retains his independence and freedom of action in making plans for 1968. (3) The government loses nothing by extending the term of loans by one year. (4) The government would assume some of their responsibilities to assist in combating some of the havoc that they have allowed to set in. (5) The government would gain goodwill and increased taxes in the long run by assisting now in the farmers' struggle to remain solvent. Mr. Speaker , this moratorium should be universal for Prince Edward Island farmers. This would exclude the need to impose another "means test" and I know, and you know, Mr. Speaker , that farmers who did not need this assistance would be only too happy to make payments on the original basis. —151—