The Ontario Scrapbook Hansard

Ontario Scrapbook Hansard, 28 Feb 1929, p. 1

The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

In explanation of his measure. Pro- discuss gressive Leader Lethbridge admitted tee, an that there was "very little new about Minist it/'---that it was chiefly a. composition other of the Anderson and Rowen bills of sistanc IN4----that, it was practically the same i' bill in bill as Hon. Mr. Justice Raney. his! thing] predecessor, had brought down to the' gest, t House at the 1927 Session. Revelations ,That ' during the Customs probe ot distillery ithan i contributions from Montreal and Brit- I "But ish Columbia Concerns; the recent To- ously, ronto Central Conservative, Association square appeal for "wet" funds: and the still imay a: more recently contribution exposure in be wa Manitoba circles. in connection with the legislat Seven Sisters Falls power development. " had, he said. actuated more than any- Fifty thing the drafting ot the bill before the He House. Coming. as they did, on the heels of Premier Ferguson's and Liberal Leader Sinclair':; comparatively non- bellicose concurrence in Mr. Lethbridge's suggestion that the bill be read a sec- ond time and sent on to a special committee for consideration. Mr. Pin- ard's all-round protest against the legis- lation; his cry ot "Quit the hypoerisy--- we all get subscriptions"; his sharp de- nunciatiou of the people who do not mind "coca-cola" money, but who won't take "wet" funds; and his gibe at the Sinclair leadership through the boast that "Legault, Proulx, Beianger and my- .-.elf were the only four Liberals in the House who proved so much tonic to a headachy sort of day, and kept the slim House on edge and in uproarious laughter in turn.", - l " am satisfied." shrillcd the East Ottawa member, "to accept money from all quarters. Last election I had money from both the wcts and the dries. And it it yysp'.t. tor a personal friendship, .-_.-.. _c°.v.......n w\- an au cauumu cut)". Albert Pinard, Liberal member for Htolgrapphe i\tvith {1:115 problem success- . ' ,5 uly. an 's per raps a bit ot irony East feat?,: upset the calm, complac {that the first man to introduce a. bill ency and whatnot of the Ontario Leg- of this kind-Mr. Anderson-was the islature yesterday when he went after. first man ever to be unseated in the the principle of Progressive Leader Province for accepting a. consideration Lethbridge's new "prohibition ot. po- td get out ot a campaign. litical contributions" bill with all tht 'tlt/l', Best 'il',': be dash t B rc n ll aft I' a ma. ' Publ city. as T e Glo _" stressed, de- t 3 f.) nl, a elo a bu e .e1ared the Prime Minister. was the best a Drs tag. . sh 'cure for the contribution evil, but it The bill would stop brewers, disul- gstruck him rather funny that the party lers, liquor associations and such tron with ittili1, lair-h Iéethbrcildge once had . . een on e a ma e no move in aiding campaign funds, but Mr. Pin 'this particular direction. Mr. Ferguson ard wouldn t, and he made that atu. lreferred to the "contribution" instances tude perfectly plain in the House ir i'e,t,n,t.lt,.Pe. by the Progressive Leaders one ot the most impassioned, merry-go- gaddhlg that the Customs probe had round arguments that the Legishrfiveiproduee4 no evidence. that money had? Press Gallery has ever had acasioni,Yep paid to any political party in oryt to record. ytario. Public opinion had frowned. in} " am satisfied." shrillcd the Eastlbhis Province, on that sort of thing. andi all quarters. Last election I had moneinhu" agreeing that every effort should) from both the wcts and the dries. And be made to eliminate all corrupt prac- it it wasn't tor a personal friendship, tices and illegal procedure in connection I could tell where I got the money with elections, there was little chance. to beat the Jew they put up against he believed, of stopping a distiller from me in my municipality." contributing by saying tthe law (orbids. . The distiller, if he wan ed to, could get, Cubes at Leadership. . _ around the law by contributing through: Coming. as they did, on the heels some other person or in some other) of Premier 1i'turuson's and _ Liberal name. ', I could tell where- I got the "tiid/urs; to beat the Jew they put up against me in my municipality." Gibes at Leadership. SECOND REA DING GI VEN MEASURE " "Quit the Hypocrisy, ') Cries Ottawa Liberal. On Contributions Bill Ve All Get Subscrip- tions," Argues Albert Pinard, During Lively Argument in Legislature ----"Legauli, P r o u I x, Belanger and Myself Only Real Liberals in House," He Says 'fry, be- F35 " f bill in the best shape to prevent any- ;'. thing happening-or, better, let me sug- trest, to prevent anything getting out. ,That part of it should be stressed more What} We happening: -- _ A - i "It's ttfi,ecn years," he said, "sinee ithis Legislature began an earnest effort "do grapple with this problem success- ifully, and it's perhaps a bit ot irony {that the first man to introduce a. bill of this kind-Mr. Anderson-was the gtirst man ever to be unseated in the Province for accepting a. consideration to get out of a. campaign." Publicity Best Cure. He suggested that Mr. Lethbridge revise the clause in his bill requiring a statement ot contributions of $50 and f'.'.?',', and make this "fifty cents and up.' "But," Mr. Sinclair declared seri- ously, "this matter should be looked square in he 'ace. Legislate as you may and define as you may. there will be ways and means by which such legislation can be evaded." "Fifty Cents and Up." The Progressives applauded these re- marks with enthusiasm. Then Mr. Sin- clair rose and told the House that he doubted it, with the present con- struction of the bill, Mr. Lethbridge would get the results he hoped for. The Liberal Leader expressed his favor of discussion of the measure in commit- tee, and continued, saying: "The Prime Minister, in view of his statements the other day, will no doubt lend his as- sistance to the Legislature to get the " think," Mr. Ferguson concluded, "that this House is in sympathy with the spirit in which the bill has beer brought before us. and is desirous of purifying elections of the suspicions ot corrupt. practices. It should give con- sideration to the bill, and I suggest that the bill go to the committee deal- ing with the Election Act." Doubts Results. Premier Ferguson. after expressing his belief that the House would endorse the sentiment behind the moving ot the bill, stated that the Conservative Party was proud of the fact that. since 1905, when it had been entrusted with the administration of the Province, there had been a new era in elections. and corrupt practices had been at a minimum. Mr. Lethbridge thought that all mem- bers of the House were ot the opinion that election laws should be clean, and the administration of the same equally above board. The great body of the press, he stated, had endorsed the prin- ciple of the measure. On those grounds he appealed for a. fair hearing, and the granting of second reading. "We tire (ery plriyiiy"ii'ierc," inter- Jetted _Li_l?qra1 Leader Sinclair. "This is no matter of one political party," said Mr. Lethbridge. "We've btttt.La11. guilty of receiving." "All Been Guilty." " 2973. "No Leader. , '"rttit 1 tinued, i Tht pt 1, "This matter," Mr. Sinclair con- itinued, "is one ot great importance. (The public has been thinking on these (matters, and recently they were given 3 cause to think more. I hope that the i committee will arrive " some solution ; better than the present legislation." _ He would, he said, be glad to join with the Prime Minister in referring the hill to the committee. But he wanted to object to what he considered to be the Premier's point of view, that the Conservative Party was the only one that was free of the stigma of "con- tributions." There was, said he, no evi- dence that the Liberal Party "received funds." And, said he, in conclusion, so far as the Conservative Party was con- cerned. sometimes "something gets by" the Prime Minister. He referred to the Toronto Central Conservative commit- tee incident. Keep Premier Informed. " have always the Star and my honorable friend to keep me informed," Mr. Ferguson retorted jocularly. - - " knew it was happening. but I didn't, expect it to be so publicly an- nounced on the floor of the House," said Mr. Sinclair. and referred to the Pre- mier's reading of the Central's letter to wineries and the Ferguson letter to J. R. L. Starr, K.C. Mr. Ferguson retorted that on the Monday that the matter came up in the House, he could have given Mr. Sinclair a. lot more information. In fact, said the Premier. he could have shown him copies of telegrams sent out by the Star to wineries asking if they had received letters from the Central and if and how much they had con- tributed. 'asn't it as good as the money that was saltpetered during the war?" Mr. Pinard continued. "I am not going to "Probably," said Mr. Sinclair, "the Premier could tell us how much money was sent back." - "Hear, hear," shouted some back- benchers on the Government side. "Why not accept that kind ot money?" he went on. "I could get the information," Mr. Ferguson smiled. - -- --- "You don't know now whether Mr. Starr obeyed your commands," said the Liberal Leader. "Admonitions." "I am satisfied"--). Pinard ignored the interruption --"to accept money from the wets and to accept it from all quarters. Last election I had money from the wets and the drys. And it it wasn't for a personal friendship I could tell where I got the money to: beat the Jew they put up against me in my municipality." "Why Not?" He Says. ' "Mine were not commands," the Pre-. mier was still smiling, "but admoni- tions." _ ' "Well," said Mr. Sinclair, "we how! for better days. The Premier has con-' sented to the bill going to the com- mittee. Let us hope that legislation is evolved that is a credit to the Legisc lature and to the people of the Prov- Inca." Then Mr. Pinard opened his born- bardment. And first he denounced the people who "dont mind coca-cola money," but "object to wet money." Then he wanted to repeat what he said in the House last year. He want- ed to reiterate, said he, the words of an honorable member at Ottawa, now in the Senate, the declaration that "elections are not won by prayers." . Wants to Correct mm. And A. C. Calder (Conservative, West Kent), saying that he understood that Mr. Pinard referred to Sir George Foster. wanted to correct him. Mr. Ca1- der attributed the words to Andrew Blair. "Order," members protested against Mr. Calder's ipte.rryptlon, '" ""'iiilsi1," Mr. Pinard retorted, "he said many a time, "rum on the tap and leave the oil flow.'" "To put, forth this bill," Mr. Pinard continued. vigorously, "is the greatest hypocrisy. I get subscriptions. Why we all get them. The Labot party gets them; maybe a hundred dollars from one man and then they put down a hundred names. It's the old question of whether you can check it up." "You ought to know," P. G. McBrien (Conservative. Toronto Brockton) in- terrupted Mr. Pinard, amid laughter from the Tory members. "No, no," Progressive members ob. jected. 'tfo objection," Said ttiii' Progressive

Powered by / Alimenté par VITA Toolkit
Privacy Policy