§ 86. Mr. Carmichaelasked the President of the Board of Trade if he has considered certain facts put before him by the hon. Member for Bridgeton in regard to the recent deal which the Government have made in Canada for the supply of timber to this country and the high prices agreed to; and if he will make a statement giving the complete facts of the transaction, including the prices originally put forward by Canada and those agreed to by this country, respectively.
§ Mr. BelcherI have seen a newspaper report which my hon. Friend sent to me. There is no substance in the statement in that report that any timber was purchased by the Government from Canada at prices higher than those demanded by the sellers. The facts are that a large volume of softwood timber was purchased in British Columbia in February, 1947, for delivery over a long period. At that time the sellers were urged by us to do their 317W best to offer us additional quantities if they were able to do so. Between April and June of this year they offered an additional 90,000 standards at the same prices as the main contract which we purchased but in a better specification. In fact, the prices paid were less than those which were then, and are still, obtainable by sellers in other markets.