Mr. W. G. Weir (Portage-Neepawa) moved:

That the name of Mr. Wright be substituted for that of Mr. Gillis on the special committee on railway legislation.

1. Are registered pharmacists in charge of all defence dispensaries?

2. Are all registered men so employed in good standing with their respective provincial pharmaceutical associations?

3. Are all armed service district medical stores under the charge and supervision of a registered pharmacist?

4. If not, what are the exceptions?

1. Yes.

2. Maintaining good standing with the provincial pharmaceutical associations is not mandatory for pharmacists in the armed forces, but is the personal concern of the individual.

3. Yes.

4. Not applicable.

1. How many radio receiving sets are there in use in Canada?

2. How many home radio receiving sets are there in use in Canada?

3. How many homes in Canada, by federal constituencies, have radio receiving sets?

4. How many automobile radio receiving sets are there in use in Canada, by federal constituencies?

5. Is there a licence fee for radio receiving sets? If so, what is such fee?

6. How many radio receiving set licences have been sold in Canada during 1950, and to date in 1951, by federal constituencies?

7. How many licences have been sold for home radio receiving sets in Canada during the year 1950 and to date in 1951, by federal constituencies?

Mr. Benidickson:

1, 2, 3 and 4. No records maintained.

5. Yes. (i) Commercial receiving licence- fee $2.00 (for reception of commercial radio communications); (ii) private receiving licence-fee $2.50 (for broadcast reception by electric sets and automobile sets); (iii) special private receiving licence-fee $2.00 (for broadcast reception by home battery sets).

6 and 7. Licences are not recorded by federal constituencies. The following statement shows issues by provinces.

Licences Issued for Private Receiving

Stations in Automobiles

1950-51 1951-52*

Newfoundland 743 862Prince Edward Island 475 490Nova Scotia 5,751 6,764New Brunswick ' 4.924 5,051Quebec 46,851 43,703Ontario 32,793 34,101Manitoba 10,492 11,162Saskatchewan 26,986 28,604Alberta 21,842 24,570British Columbia 5,750 11,190Yukon and Northwest Territories 6 6156,613 166,503Licences Issued forPrivate and Special Private Receiving Stations in Dwellings 1950-51 1951-52*Newfoundland 43,740 43,112Prince Edward Island 10,387 9,881Nova Scotia 99,566 91,154New Brunswick .... 69,494 60,068Quebec 588,151 571,647Ontario 675,219 625,397Manitoba 114,879 112,118Saskatchewan 137,084 130,551Alberta 135,503 122,188British Columbia 181,392 170,753Yukon and Northwest Territories 407 2962,055,822 1,937,1651950-51 1951-52Total licences issued 2,212,435 2,103,668**To September 30th, 1951

1. Has the government received representations at any time since January 1, 1950, calling for the establishment of a 40-hour week in industries which come under federal labour jurisdiction?

2. If so, from whom have such representations been received?

3. Has consideration been given to same and with what results?

1. Yes.

2. (a) Mr. George Burt, director, region 7, United Automobile, Aircraft, Agricultural Implement Workers of America, Windsor. Letter dated July 4, 1951, to the Minister of Labour, referring to the June 25 news release of the Department of Labour on the "Normal Work Week in Manufacturing Continuing to Decrease in 1950" and requesting the government to consider legislation "to institute the 40-hour week at the next session of the House of Commons", (b) The Canadian Congress of Labour (1951). Among additional recommendations made in its brief presented to the federal government on April 11, 1951, the congress requested "The establishment of a national minimum wage of 85 cents per hour and a maximum work week of 40 hours", (c) United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, Toronto. Petition from 16 members of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America, employed at the Canadian General Electric Royce works, Toronto, dated January 30, 1951; (d) Mr. N. Allison, executive secretary, Rubber, Cork, Linoleum and Plastic Workers of America, Kitchener. Circular letter informing the Department of Labour of the passing of a resolution favouring the establishment of the 40-hour week which was adopted at a convention of the district No. 6 council of the union held a short time prior to the date of the letter, which was October 24, 1950; (e) The Canadian Congress of Labour (1950); In a memorandum on unemployment supplementary to its brief presented to the federal government on March 31, 1950, under section 14(h), the congress recommends that "The government should do all it can to encourage the adoption of the 40-hour week"; (f) The Trades and Labour Congress (1950). Under "Improvement in Conditions of Government Employees" the congress requested "that the principle of the 40-hour week be established

[Mr. Benidickson.l I

for all employees in the corporations and undertakings coming within the jurisdiction of the government" in its brief presented to the federal government on March 9, 1950.

3. On July 24, 1951, the Minister of Labour replied to the communication of Mr. George Burt, copy below, and on August 16 the Right Hon. the Prime Minister wrote to Mr. A. R. Mosher, President of the Canadian Congress of Labour, in connection with the various representations made by the congress in its brief, and in connection with the recommendation for "The establishment of a national minimum wage of 85 cents per hour and a maximum work week of 40 hours" advised that "the matter of minimum wages and the maximum work week is within the jurisdiction of the provinces".

Ottawa. July 24, 1951

Dear Mr. Burt:

I am interested in your observations contained in your letter of July 4, concerning our recent news release on the normal work week in manufacturing, based on our last annual survey in October, 1950.

The results of this survey, as you will appreciate, refer to the normal work week rather than to the actual hours worked. In October, 1950, the average actual weekly hours worked in Canadian manufacturing, according to the regular monthly employment and payroll survey conducted by the dominion bureau of statistics, were 42-9. This average is affected by variations in hours of work from week to week caused by such factors as unpaid holidays, absenteeism, and overtime.

It is rather significant, I think, that the changes in the average actual hours worked in the manufacturing industry in Canada during recent years have not varied as much as have the normal hours; in fact, during most months of the past year the average actual hours worked have shown increases over the same months in the previous year, whereas normal hours have continued to decline.

These increases in actual hours have, of course, occurred due in large part to our efforts to meet the demands of our stepped-up preparedness program as well as to maintain, wherever possible, our civilian production.

You suggest that workers are more productive when they work shorter hours. Kxperience has indicated that this has been the case when hours of work have been excessively high, as for example, in the British isles during world war I and II. On the other hand, I think it is clear that a point would be reached in reducing hours, below which total production would decline, that is with the same number of workers.

This raises a number of questions which the Department of Labour, in co-operation with other departments, has been looking into in the field of productivity. We do know that changes in produc-

tivity are due to the influence of many factors and we are attempting to develop more accurate measurements of these changes and the reasons for them in Canadian industries.

I am sure you will appreciate the fact that the benefits of increased productivity can be shared with labour in a number of different ways; reduced hours of work is only one of these ways. In any event, at this time when increased production is highly important, both from the standpoint of implementing the preparedness program and from the standpoint of helping to remove inflationary pressures, I am not sure that too much emphasis should be placed on reduced hours of work.

There is also the fact that while there is no overall shortage of labour in Canada at the moment, the labour market nevertheless has tightened considerably in recent months, especially in industries where defence production is getting into full swing. With the possibility that manpower may become tighter during the coming year, it would not appear too appropriate to suggest reductions in hours of work today when they might have to be increased tomorrow.

In dealing with any national objective, such as you suggest, it is rather important, too, to keep in mind those industries where a 40-hour week would not be realistic. In many seasonal industries, for example, it is difficult under our Canadian conditions to operate on the basis of a restricted work week.

Apart from the above, the authority of parliament to enact legislation of a general nature in respect of hours of work in industry is very limited since this subject matter falls under the head of civil rights and thus primarily the subject matter is one within provincial legislative competence.

I am very much obliged for your observations in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

(Sgd.) Milton F. Gregg

Mr. George Burt,

Director, Region 7, UAW-CIO.,

1568 Ouellette Avenue,

Windsor, Ontario.

Mr. Laing:

Is the government giving any consideration to ensuring compensation for voluntary civil defence workers injured in the pursuit of their duties?