§ MR. C. FITZWILLIAMsaid, he wished to ask the Under-Secretary for War whether 143 the Canadian Rifles, now proceeding to the Red River, have been sent at the request of the Hudson's Bay Company; and whether for the purpose of protecting the trade of the Company, in consequence of information received that any portion of the territory north of the boundary line is likely to be, or has already been, occupied by settlers from the United States.
§ SIR JOHN RAMSDENsaid, his hon. Friend was quite right in assuming that the Canadian Rifles had been sent to the Red River at the request of the Hudson's Bay Company. They had not been sent, however, in consequence of any infringement of the British territory by the settlers of the United States, but merely for general purposes, it being considered undesirable that so large and isolated a settlement should be left entirely unprotected. The force now sent was not a new one; it was merely the re-establishment of an old garrison.