Hon. HUMPHREY MITCHELL (Minister of Labour):

Mr. Spea*ker, in announcing on November 27 that a new formula had been agreed upon which I hoped would have the effect of settling the strike of the employees of the Ford Motor Company at Windsor I refrained from giving the details. I now wish to place on the record copy of the letter which was addressed to both parties and signed jointly by Hon. Charles Daley, Minister of Labour for Ontario, and myself.

The letter read as follows:

Ottawa, November 27, 1945

Mr. D. B. Greig,

Treasurer,

The Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited, Windsor, Ontario.

Mr. George Burt,

Regional Director, UA.W-C.l.O,

Windsor, Ontario.

Gentlemen:

The strike of employees at the Windsor plants of the Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited, has reached a stage where the welfare of a large number of citizens is in danger and all reconversion plans are being seriously retarded. The strike is now going into its seventy-sixth day and many and earnest attempts have been made to bring about a settlement.

The company has agreed to arbitration of all issues in dispute and we are aware that the arbitration principle is not repugnant to the union.

After very careful and exhaustive investigation we have concluded that the strike can be disposed of by the dominion government appointing an umpire and an arbitrator and through the compliance by the parties of the terms stated herein.

We call upon both parties in the' interest of the many Canadian citizens concerned to settle this strike by putting this plan into effect at once.

The Minister of Labour shall appoint an "umpire of labour relations", to yvhom shall be referred by either of the parties, during the period pending the execution of a collective bargaining agreement, any alleged breach of the conditions of this plan or any injustice alleged by an employee with respect to conditions of his employment and the decision of such "umpire" shall be final and binding upon both parties.

fThe Chairman.]

2. The Minister of Labour shall appoint an "arbitrator" from among the judges of the supreme court of Canada to whom may be referred by the parties any points remaining in dispute between them following a period of collective bargaining negotiations (not to exceed ten days or such longer period as the parties may mutually agree to) concerning a new collective agreement, and his decision upon the points in dispute with respect thereto and *with respect to the wording in any particular of the agreement to be negotiated shall be final and binding save that all matters over which the regional war labour board for Ontario or the national war labour board has jurisdiction shall not be decided by said "arbitrator''.

3. The company shall reopen its plants and recall the employees back to work as rapidly as practicable and without discrimination and in accordance with seniority principles. The union shall declare the strike at an end.

4. Upon compliance with this direction, collective bargaining is to be resumed forth-

* with, and such points, if any, upon which the parties cannot agree shall - be referred to the "arbitrator" to be dealt with as indicated herein. In order to expedite negotiations and in order that the arbitrator may be familiar with the details of the matters at issue between the parties, he shall be present at collective bargaining meetings. *

Yours faithfully,

(Sgd.) Humphrey Mitchell,

Minister of Labour, Dominion Government. (Sgd.) Charles Daley,

Minister of Labour, Ontario Government.

I was informed by the Ford Motor Company yesterday that the executive of that company found the proposals acceptable. The letter I received, dated November 2S and signed by Mr. D. B. Greig, treasurer of the Ford Motor Company of Canada Limited, reads as follows:

Windsor, November 28, 1945. The Honourable Humphrey Mitchell,

Minister of Labour. Dominion Government, Parliament Buildings,

Ottawa, Ontario.

Dear Mr. Minister:

This letter will acknowledge receipt of the communication dated the 27th instant issued jointly by the Honourable Charles Daley, Minister of Labour, Ontario government, and yourself.

The company is prepared to carry out its part of the plan outlined in the above-mentioned communication.

Yours very truly,

Ford Motor Company of Canada, Limited, (Sgd.) D. B. Greig,

Treasurer.

I have no official word from the union in respect to the meeting of the workers held yesterday, nor have I any details other than those I am sure hon. members of the house ha.ve noted in the newspapers this morning.

Unemployment in Vancouver

Mr. C. C. I. MERRITT (Vancouver-Bur-rard):

Mr. Speaker, I should like to ask a question of the Minister of Labour, of which I have given notice. In view of the-Department of Labour statement of November 24 showing the 8,000 excess of job seekers over jobs in Vancouver to be partly due to lack of skilled key men in certain industries, will the minister state in particular, (a) what steps his department is taking -to overcome the shortage of skilled men in these industries, and (b) give a general statement on the mounting unemployment situation in Vancouver and the means available to him alone or in conjunction with his colleagues whereby the situation can be eased?

Mr. SPEAKER:

Order. The hon. member is out of order. His question should be brief and to the point. In asking a question an hon. member is not supposed to give information to the house. He is asking for information from the minister.

Mr. MERRITT:

On a point of order, I have asked my question, of which I have given the minister notice. Certainly this is an urgent matter, and he should give an answer to it.

Hon. HUMPHREY MITCHELL (Minister of Labour):

I did not receive notice of the question until late this morning. I take the responsbility for it; I did not get to my office in the parliament buildings until eleven o'clock. If my hon. friend wishes, I could answer it verbally, but I think a question of that nature might better be put on the order paper. I believe, Mr. Speaker, that that is the position I must take. .

Mr. MERRITT:

Will the minister take this as a notice of question, and answer it tomorrow?

Mr. SPEAKER:

The hon. member should put his question on the order paper.

Hon. DOUGLAS ABBOTT (Minister of National Defence):

Yesterday when I was unavoidably absent the senior member for Halifax (Mr. Isnor) asked if I would make a statement about the report that the Queen Elizabeth would no longer call at Halifax but would call at New York instead, and I am very glad to do so now.

This question first arose about three wTeeks ago, when the quartermaster general informed me he had been advised that the captain of the Qu6en Elizabeth was in doubt as to whether he would be prepared to bring the ship to Halifax during the winter months. She is an exceptional type of ship because of her great' size, and apparently he feared that in a southeasterly gale, which I understand is rare in Halifax, there might be some danger if she were moored alongside the only pier available. I asked him to take up the matter with the captain and with the British shipping authorities, to endeavour to see if that view could' not be changed. He did so. Further discussions have been had with the British ministry of war transport, but unfortunately the captain and the owners of the ship adhere to the view that they would not be willing to bring the Queen Elizabeth into Halifax during the winter months, for the reasons I have mentioned.

I may say that the opinions of our own officials of the ministry of transport do not entirely coincide with the views of the captain and owners of the ship; but, as the house knows, in matters of this kind the captain is master of the ship and is responsible for her safety, and in case of difference of opinion his view must prevail. So the Canadian government has not been able to do otherwise than accept that decision, and for the winter months the ship will call at New York and not at Halifax.

Mr. ISNOR:

Then will the minister consider bringing Canadian troops home in ships other than the Queen Elizabeth1

Mr. SPEAKER:

Order. The statement made by the minister is not debatable. If the hon. member wishes to ask a further question he should place it upon the order paper.

Mr. BROOKS:

Is it not a fact that the port of Halifax has been used by the Queen Elizabeth all during the war years without any complaint?

Mr. ABBOTT:

Yes, it has been used, but I believe not in winter time. The captain takes the view that a certain type of gale, a southeasterly gale, would involve some risk to his ship if it were moored alongside the only pier available for her. The officials of the Department of Transport do not agree with that view, but, as I said a moment ago, this is a British ship, the captain is a British captain, and she is chartered to the British ministry of war transport. Therefore in the final analysis their decision must govern.

Dominion-Provincial Conference