fi 7 m _‘ ‘ Wednesday, March 13, 1968
Walter R. Show: Now we know who wrote it.
Hon. Cecil A. Miller: How many showed up, Mr. Speaker? None. Yes, I’ll have to change that. One individual did come in there on several occasions as an observer and took a series of notes. There was one, Mr. Speaker. One man appeared relig— iously and took notes. the senior representative, the Honorable Member from First Queens. Is it a wonder, Mr. Speaker, when in conversation this man was heard to
exclaim. “I knew that things were not right there but I never dreamed that they were as bad as the record shows here.”
Hon. Robert E. Campbell: Isn’t that terrible.
Hon. Cecil A. Miller: Others within the rank of the Tory party have been endeavour- ing in the light of this sorry record to unload all the blame for their collective actions. Recently, we are told, the former member from Fifth Prince and the present Honorable Member from Third Prince have been loudly disclaiming any duplicity in this horrid business. They claim now that they had no idea of the nature of the business that the former Minister of Fisheries was conducting. Yet we know. Mr. Speaker, that they are not fooling the general public. The general public know that they were closely related in every action of that business. In fact. one of those members travelled quite far with the Honorable Member, the Minister of Fisheries. The people of Prince Edward Island will not be fooled one bit by these former asso- ciates now pretending to cast overboard the sacrificial goat. We heard some days ago an Honorable gentleman from the Opposition state his dedication to the welfare of the Province and I want to say, Mr, Speaker, that I too feel the spirit of dedica- tion to the welfare of this Province. Specifically I am dedicated wholeheartedly to a very, very high purpose and I am dedicated to the principle that the general public shall know every sordid action brought to light in respect of this whole sorry mis- handling of the Georgetown opportunities. No amount of fancy footwork on the part of those associated with the former Minister of Fisheries will serve to separate them from the consequences of their conniving support of him in his vicious treat- ment of the Georgetown matters. If one associates with scoundrels, then that person must certainly share some blame. When such a scoundrel sets his back to the wall he will sell his associates down the river for an immediate gain. That is pre- cisely What Mr. Moe has done, Mr. Speaker. When faced with the whole public know— ledge of his actions, what did he do? He had no hesitation whatsoever in sacrificing those who had helped him most in providing him with the information of the most confidential nature covering every contemplated action of the Government. Little did it matter to him that these persons might have been literally destroyed by his testi- mony. Little did it matter to Moe that even Cabinet Ministers, that even a Govern- ment. was destroyed by the catastrophe into which they were lead by his bidding. The Tory party wishes to place all the blame upon the senior Member from Second Kings. They say we did not know what was going on. They want to place all the blame on their former Titan of Industry. Well. Mr. Speaker, they cannot make that stick. Every man on that side of the House, with one exception, is as guilty ththls betrayal of the public trust as the Honorable senior Member from Second Kings. One exception is the junior Member from Sixth Queens who did his best to prevent such acts of pillage of the public treasury. He pleaded With his colleagues to have nothing to do with this yet he was called an obstructionist and was howled‘down. Had this Tory party followed his advice we would never have found ourselves in this mess. All the others are as guilty as the ringleaders. Indeed, it is shocking to note the kind of leadership they have, the kind of support that they mustered behind this financial genius from Second Kings. But you know, Mr. Speaker, in the land of the blind the one eyed man is king and apparently the former Mimster of Fish- eries was king of the roost. The shocking lack of leadership at the top is demon- strated from the confusion expressed by the Honorable Leader of the Oppos1tion back in 1964 when he was Premier. He cannot deny that he. knew something was amiss. Otherwise he would never have written a letter to which I Will’refer. That he did not follow his fears up and do something about them is unforgivable under the circumstances but, Mr. Speaker, this is exactly what he'did. He confessed his frustration. He confessed his amazement and he confessed his fears. He confessed his lack of understanding of the whole horrid business and what then, Mr. Speaker? Nothing. Mr. Speaker, I’ll let you be the judge. I read you the record. A letter written on Dec. 23rd, 1964, by the Honorable Leader of the Oppos1tion, then Premier, to his then Minister of Fisheries.
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