Friday, March 1, 1968 formed that there would only be emergency services over the weekend and this was rather a difficult, sticky-wicket for people that would be wanting- to call relatives, etc. So he had a very bright idea. He deserves a lot of credit for having- this idea. He decided that this wasn't in the true spirit of Christmas and that it should be possible to do better and it suddenly occurred to him, I believe it must have been Saturday morning, that, not only the Christmas spirit had arrived but, I understand, even the Christmas spirits had arrived and he decided that everything- should be used to solve this very difficult situation. J. Elmer Blanchard : My Christmas spirits ? L. George Dewar : Well now, it could possibly be. I'm not designating where they come from, and so Saturday morning he was in a very good mood and he called up his wife and he called up the newspapers and he called up the labor people and he called up the management people and he said. "Come on out to my place at eleven o'clock. We're going- to have a news conference and we'll settle this matter right quickly." Well, some of the newspapers were quite co-operative but the other newspaper wasn't quite so co-operative. They didn't send anybody along to enter into these pre-Christmas union-management festivities. Anyway, I don't know exactly why he didn't have the meeting in his office, which I understand is quite adequate and quite well furnished in every respect. Anyway, he decided to have it in the atmosphere of his .... J. Elmer Blanchard : Would you like me to answer that right now: L. George Dewar : What? J. Elmer Blanchard : Would you like me to answer that right now. L. George Dewar : Oh, no, not right now. (Laughter) J. Elmer Blanchard : To tell you the truth, I was sick. L. George Dewar : Oh, well, I'm glad that we're getting some explanations. That's a justifiable reason. Well, anyway, everybody arrived and, I understand that a great deal of the friendly atmosphere prevailed. Everybody was in very g-ood trim and then the Minister says, "There's nobody here from one of these newspapers but we have a very able," and I'm quite sincere about this, "a very able mediator from the other newspaper publishing company in the Province." He said, "It is only fitting that we should recognize him and give him an important position this morning." (Applause) And I would also like to commend this gentleman also at the present time for the fact that he has been recognized this week by one of the largest publications in Canada . It's not very often that a newspaper reporter from Prince Edward Island gets his articles and headline on the editorial pag-e of the Financial Post and I think he deserves congratulations for that. (Applause) And anyway, the Minister thrust the burden and the problem upon this gentleman and we were all very pleased to learn that in spite of all the negotiations that had gone on before, the commissions that had been appointed, the Public Utilities Com ¬ missions efforts, I believe there was a one-man arbitration board appointed and nothing could be done but this gentleman was named as the chief and sole arbitrator and within a matter of a few hours a solution was found and the strike was settled and everybody satisfied. (Applause) J. Elmer Blanchard : I believe you aren't in full possession of the facts, Sir. In fact, this particular Industrial Inquiry Commission, if you'll go back into the debates of last year was what the Opposition opposed but it really pulled this one out of the fire. (Applause) J. David Stewart : Now, what's the moral of the story? L. George Dewar : Christmas spirits, the value of Christmas spirits. Any¬ way, the matter was settled much to the relief of all Prince Edward Islanders and you don't wonder why I associate these two gentlemen's names with the great figure of Cyrus Ching in the United States. Probably we'll have some amendment to the Industrial Relations which will incorporate this new approach to the problems of labor and management. —101—