§ Lieut.-Colonel MORDENasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Agriculture if his attention has been called to the statement made by the Canadian Minister of Agriculture in Toronto that the embargo on Canadian cattle was a gross injustice to Canada; that 3,000,000 Canadian cattle had been slaughtered in Great Britain without a sign of disease; and that if the embargo was only maintained as a measure of protection the fact should be admitted; and can he take steps to remove this embargo?
Sir A. BOSCAWENMy attention has been called to a report in "The Times" of Monday last of the statement referred to, but, for the reasons which I gave in2130W my reply to a question put to me by the hon. Member for Montrose Burghs (Mr. Sturrock) on the 25th October last, my Noble Friend the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries is unable to see his way to approve the suggestion that steps should be taken to remove the existing embargo on the importation of Canadian store cattle. The Minister of Agriculture made it clear in the statement which he made in another place on the 12th November last year that no slur is implied on the health of Canadian cattle, and that the embargo could not be justified on the ground that such cattle would, if imported, be likely to infect the herds in this country. As I pointed out in my reply to the hon. Member for Montrose Burghs, there is no embargo on the importation of Canadian cattle for slaughter at the port of landing.