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!...4E C ':' -.'»,.". < f '/ y PC March 46 i m ,..I s is I w.' +4 wigy brought out new ammunition by ask-- that m'&w'&fi + ing Mr. Roebuck for a report of a .| Hydro. 1929. He was credibly informed, he of Hydro--and considering the said, tha WEl s t several Hydro engineers had they have attempted to undermine the bfcn present and backed up the re-- undertaking by their accusations--it port made by the Commission to the looks as though they have tried to Government. They had calculated fu-- leave their offspring with a face that ture power demand, Colonel Price said, only a mother could love," and arrived at a figure which Mr' The whole question, Mr. Heighington Roebuck had given as Gaby's. | declared, cannot be settled in the Leg-- | Says Contracts Legal. i lslaéure.l he Said, "this [ 'F 4 "Surely," he said, " matter must tss diagreement itM the Yiey | | be settled by arbitration or by fudicial 3: * C reference., It is up to the Gov t "hl'f'e Quebec power contracts were to decl o moas 1 ernmen illegal and unonforceable was ex-- ecide their course. | pressed by Colonel Price. Affirms Legality of Contracts. | _"I say they are legal and can be . | _ There was no doubt in the mind of sustained in the courts," he declared. Mr. Heighington that the Quebec con-- "HMas the late Government consid-- | tracts were perfectly legal, and he ereod the legality of the contracts?" lrevealed considerable legal research to asked J. J. Glass, Liberal, St. An-- _ | SUPPort his contention. drow. | _ _'"The sugzested prohibition against "The late Government always con-- the Gatineau and other companies sidered them legal." Coloncel Price _ : Within Ontario simply does not exist," replied, and added: "My honorable friend the Attorney--General talked he maintained, and was applauded by what I thought was a lot of non-- Opposition benchers. s sense. The flimsy grounds for illegal-- "All that we have done," he con-- ity which the Honorable the Attor-- tinued, "is to authorize by the Power ney--General put in were ridiculous. Commission Act our Commission to If there nad been some grounds to purchase power or energy from a per-- his contention, I would have listen-- son or corporation authorized to do ed to them." business within Onterio." Coloncl Price maintained that the Mr. Heighington then referred to "seerct agreomonts" woere no different the legal opinion expressed by Aime from the main agreements. Geoffrion of Quebec to the effect that "Did you know about the five secret . | the Quebec power contracts were legal. agreements?" asked Hon. Harry C. Wwhom does the honorable member Nixon. from St. David rely on for legal au-- "I know there were minor agree-- thority? 'g:,u m:ble hm"? ments," answered Mr. Price. "I have mentioned . Is not he (Geof-- it on good legal authority they were m:'l" :'eolikc.}dwl;hfeor Aone of t.lgzeoom]- minor agreements." p.Mr"k l"hl |dm| ritted .t.ha:'egls "Not minor agreements at all," put . Heighington r in the At G 1 was correct, and then referred to his oA s e nc d fel" r research in connection with cases on Forget," Colonel Price urged, "that A A constitutional law participated in by you ever made political speeches. Lewis Duncan, K.C. on "honce Sn conizct of Hyago-- He declared that out of 46 cases on * w o oc innmen o mare constitutional matter in Ontario law and in my opinion Hydro is more reports, and 126 cases in Dominion political than ever now. law reports on Constitution, the name People Want to Know. of Lewis Duncan had appeared only "I am not attacking the Govern-- once; and in the instance before the ment now," continued Colonel Price, Privy Council this appeal to the high« "but want to know what they are: _ {est court in the Empire had been lost. going to do. The people of the coun-- try want to know." Coloncl Prics referred to some "alarming headlinecs" in newspapetrs concerning the Attorney--General's address. \ _ "What object was there in those \ headlines?" he asked. *"What object | was there in the speech delivered? | "These headlines reveal the situa-- | tion the Attorney--General created," * | he continued "I had nothing to do with the cre-- ation of the situation--the late Gov-- ernmont created it," declared the At-- | torney--General. "¥You say you want to save Hydro + . from bankruptcy,"*~ Mr. Price con-- | tinucd. 5 \ _ "Save it from your bankruptcy." Mr. Rocbuck interjected. Conflict of Opinion , _ It is a serious thing, Mr. Heighington , declared, to express an opinion on t.he' legality of the Quebec contracts on the fioor of the House when the Govern--| ment has not yet decided on a course of action. 1 In the opinion uf the speaker there exists a conflict of opinion in re-- spect to the recommendations of Hydro | engineers on the power purchases. This & matter, he said, was dealt with in the ' Hydro Commission on May 20, 1929. "There is conflict of opinion at this minute," Mr. Heighington said, "and I maintain that a committee of the 'House should be summoned to straighten the matter out. The engi-- neers should be summoned here to give their opinions." The alleged secrecy of the agree-- ments was discounted by Mr. Heigh-- ington, and he quoted a letter written by former Premicr Ferguson to former Prime Minister King setting out the power situation in Ontario. If there l was so much secrecy, he declared, why should a Conservative Premier write § f to a Liberal Prime Minister in connec-- tion with the power problems of On-- | tario? LM'._'"AM