Thursday, April 20, 1967

In August, 1966, the CNR strike caused a disruption of our ferry services at Borden. The Government was successful in getting the co-operation of the Unions to return voluntarily to the operation of the carferry. (Applause) It may be said at this time that we are holding continuous talks with the Unions, both local and national, to arrive at a satisfactory answer to all parties for the continuous opera- tion of the carferries. The negotiations are very, very delicate and require mutual patience. trust and confidence, and I wish to assure the House, Mr. Speaker, that every effort will be made to solve this difficult problem to the satisfaction of all parties.

During the year, Mr. Speaker, personnel of the Department of Labour have attended various Conventions and Conferences which had to do with labour and management. There was the National Convention of the Workmen's Compensation Board in Charlottetown; The Canadian Association of the Administrators of Labour legislation, Fredericton, New Brunswick; The Labour Management Conference of the Dalhousie University of Public Affairs in Halifax, Nova Scotia; The Economic Coun- cil in Ottawa; and the Fifth and Sixth Annual Industrial Safety Conferences staged by the Workmen’s Compensation Board, in Charlottetown. There have been many Conferences here and elsewhere in connection with Manpower Training, and the North- umberland Strait Crossing. In addition, representatives of the Department also at- tended the annual meeting of the P.E.I. Federation of Labour, meetings of the Board of Trade, Rotary, and many other smaller, but vitally important, meetings. In this way we are able to take the pulse on many matters which concern our Department.

I would like to point out also, Mr. Speaker, that the government has granted a scholarship of $1,000 to the Labour College which has been established at the University of Montreal. The condition attached to the scholarship is that it is open only to a person from Prince Edward Island. This College is only a few years old but has, in a short time, attracted students from the whole of North America. The scholarship is open to anyone and applicants need not be from the ranks of labour only. The professions, business, labour, education are all represented in the student body and the curriculum is very broad in its scope. I have just received a release from the Labour Cnllege that Mr. Everett Baker of Charlottetown. the Secretary- Treasurer of the P.E.I. Federation of Labour has been awarded the first scholarship commencing in June, 1967.

There are several other matters, Mr. Speaker. which I would like to discuss at this particular time such as, wages, productivity, statistics, automation, employ- ment and other related matters. However, I plan to speak on the Budget Address and it is my intention to speak on these subjects at that time, while at the same time I will forecast the program to be developed by the Labour Department in the days that lie ahead.

I would like to emphasize that the Department will continue to serve not only the labour section of our economy, but the management side as well. One cannot exist without the other and that when they are both working together to build our economy will depend the future success of our industrial commercial development.

In closing, Mr. Speaker, I do not pretend in the least that the Government or the Department of Labour have all the solutions to the matters effecting labour management problems and conditions in this province. However, we are coming to grips with many knotty problems and getting to their basic roots. We are giving a lot of concentrated attention to possible solutions. And, Mr. Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition says that I am always sitting in my office doing nothing, but smiling all the time.

Walter R. Shaw: That’s a very worthy thing.

Honourable J. Elmer Blanchard: Well, I can assure him that if I am smiling, and that I don’t deny, that the smile I wear is a smile of satisfaction that in the

last eight and one-half months there has been such great progress and achievement in the Department of Labour.

( Applause.) —228——