§ Mr. REMNANTasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies what were the terms of the standing offer of reciprocity made by Canada to the United States; and when, and under what circumstances, was this standing offer discontinued?
Mr. HARCOURTThe Canadian Customs Act of 1867 contained a provision enabling the Governor in Council to admit free from the United States certain specified articles such as grain and flour and timber, in case of reciprocity, and the Duties of Customs and Excise Act, 1879, enabled the Governor in Council to reduce or remit duties on a similar though not identical list. This provision, subject to modification in detail, remained in force until 1897, when the Canadian Government passed a new tariff which, as the Minister of Finance explained, was based on the principle of having two tariffs, one for the countries which were willing to trade with Canada and one for those which were not. It also gave a preference to British goods. He explained that the Dominion Government had done their best to bring about better trade relations with the United States and had made known their willingness to negotiate for a fair and reasonable reciprocity treaty.
§ Mr. MARTINasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies if he will procure a Canadian Hansard copy of, and circulate among the Members of the House, Sir Wilfrid Laurier's speech on reciprocity delivered in the Canadian House of Commons on Tuesday last?
Mr. HARCOURTWhen the Hansard is received I will gladly have some copies placed in the Library for the convenience of Members, but, pending their arrival, I would refer the hon. Member to the verbatim reports which have appeared in the London Press within the last few days.
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§ Mr. SPEARasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether his attention had been directed to the error in the figures of Canadian and British trade that were given by Sir Wilfrid Laurier in his speech to the Imperial Conference of 1907, as reported in the blue book, Cd. 3523; whether the reports of the speeches at the Imperial Conference, as reported in the blue book, were ever examined in the Colonial Office and submitted to the Colonial Premiers for correction; and whether he will take steps to have the erroneous reports altered?
Mr. HARCOURTThe hon. Gentleman presumably refers to an error in the figures in Sir W. Laurier's speech printed on page 410 of Cd. 3523. Those figures should have been in dollars, and not pounds. In every case the reports of speeches at the Conference were forwarded to members for correction before being finally printed off In view of the fact that full trade statistics were printed in Cd. 3524 I do not think it necessary to pursue the matter further.
Mr. PIKE PEASEasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies whether any report has been received or called for from His Majesty's Trade Commissioner in Canada, indicating the effect of the proposed arrangement between Canada and the United States upon British Trade in those articles which, in his previous report, he urged British manufacturers to send to the Canadian market?
Mr. BUXTONreplied to the question: Information bearing on these matters as well as other affecting British trade has been received from time to time from His Majesty's Trade Commissioner, but no special report of the character indicated in the question has been furnished or called for.