E cg
_ OCTOBER, 1971

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORK.EF

In the House of Commons we
get mail four times daily and
also some over the week-end
“and I can tell you that the

people of the Lower Mainland
* are good correspondents.

Many write me about their
. problems and others pose
questions as to Federal mat-
ters and also as to their M.P.’s
activity on many issues.

I thought in this report that it
might be useful to quote some
questions and my replies.

' For instance, one man
writes: “You took an active
, Stand in opposing the U.S.
Amchitka nuclear un-
derground blast. But what did
you do about the Russian one
that went off last week. Did you
¢ protest that one too?”’
The answer is yes. I wired
« the Soviet Embassy to the
effect that I regretted the
action of the Soviet Union in
touching off a massive un-
derground nuclear blast and
that I believed it was wrong,
from both an ecological and
‘world peace point of view. It is
| the nuclear explosions which
, are the dangerously important
and it does not matter who sets
them off. The action is wrong!
“Will there be a federal
election this year is another
question in the mail.’’ Well of
| course there’s no way I can say
+ yes or no to that one. The
political situation has some of
_; the earmarks of a snap fall or
winter election. Unem-
ployment, bad now, is likely
: to get worse rather than better
this winter.
7 ”. . , inflation shows no
Sign of easing. The discontent

‘ that is evident now with the

government may well grow

' rather than decrease by next
| spring or summer. Those are
‘, some of the elements which
just might cause Mr. Trudeau
to follow the mandate of an
earlier slogan ‘“‘Why wait for
Spring, do it now.’’ However,
‘there is this to be considered
___ also — the Liberals have been
_* nine years in power. They have
' a good majority in the Com-
-« mons. They still have at least a
| year to rule. They have a
\, program of legislation and
there is no likelihood of their
being returned with as strong a
__ number as now. However, my
| own guess is that there will be
_’ an election in the next 6 to 8
months.

. “What happened to your
. Opportunities for Age
« program”’ is also a question I

receive. Some weeks ago I put
_, @ resolution on the Order
_ Paper of the Commons calling,

A report prepared for the
aera government says
absentee ownership is a major
reason why the Seaway city of
Cornwall has the highest un-
employment rate in Ontario —
20 cent of its work force.
18 companies studied 13

_, Were owned by people living
outside the city. And big
of land suitable for
me: trial. development were
being held by people who lived
Montreal, Ottawa,
ilton, New York and Los

BARRY MATHER'S REPORT
_ ON HIS CORRESPONDENCE

in effect, for an Opportunities
for Age program similar in
principle to the recently
concluded Opportunities for
Youth plan.

There is a great pool of ex-
perienced, talented and in-
terested senior citizens whose
abilities could be put to use ina
way of benefit to themselves
and to others, if the federal
government will take the lead
in co-ordination with the
provinces and the senior
citizens themselves. Well, as to
the question of what has
happened . . . the only thing
has been a great wave of let-
ters from Atlantic to Pacific
from individuals and
organizations, and every one of
them saying that they favor
this project. :

In many cases, hoping to
encourage the Government to
call a national conference on it,
Ihave been sending the letters
on to the Prime Minister and to
Health Minister Munro. I
continue to do this and I hope
that if they receive enough
expressions of approval they
will take the initiative toward
an Opportunities for Age

program.
Another question I am
asked . . . ‘‘during the debate

on the M.P. pay increase, you
voted against it and stated that
you would not accept the net
salary increase if it was ap-
proved until at least after the
next federal election. What are
you doing with the extra
money?”’

The answer to that is that I
try to send out contributions
either to individuals in dire
need or to organizations who
are doing good work for good
causes in the Lower Mainland.
Approximately $3,000 in back
pay increase went to the
Cerebral Palsy Association.
The Salvation Army in Surrey
has received a cheque this last
week or two to aid it’s useful
work. I am paying for an add-
and-phone service for White
Rock and Surrey people who
want to talk to me so that I may
try to assist them directly in
their problems. This runs me
about $100 a month.

I am sending a cheque this
week for $100 to the Surrey Co-
ordinating Bureau. So — it
goes.

In brief, I try giving out this
extra money at a rate which
will just maintain my M.P.
salary at its old pre-pay boost
figure, having in mind the
increased tax I must shoulder
in the meantime and at the end
of the fiscal year.

RA TRS Ed

- ABSENTEE OWNERS BLAMED

Price Waterhouse Associates,
a firm of Canadian business
consultants, said it appears
this land is being held for
purely speculative purposes.
The report also says these
absentee owners have little
interest in Cornwall’s urban
and industrial development
in terms of the good of the com-
munity. ;
Cornwall, with a population
of 47,000, had a city welfare bill
of $1,200,000 last year. , Other
towns and cities in Eastern
Ontario also have heavy
jobless rolls and relief costs.

Ya know .
vacation!

. . after them three weeks vacation I’m rarin’ to go...

WITHIN LABOUR UNIONS

CUPE BOOKLET ON STATUS OF WOMEN

By THELMA CARTWRIGHT

We all know about the status
of women in Canada. Late last
year the Royal Commission on
the Status of Women issued its
long awaited Report which
presents a pretty bleak picture
of the position of women within
Canadian society. Since then
the government has made no
major policy statements on the
Report and public reaction,
which was apathetic to say the
least, appears to have withered
away and died altogether.

Now the Canadian Union of
Public Employees has decided
to examine its own position in
regard to its women union
members. In a concise booklet
prepared for its convention in
Edmonton last week and
handed out there to members
CUPE admits its own
backyard needs tidying up
where women are concerned.

CUPE President Stanley
Little and Secretary-Treasurer
Grace Hartman point out in the
foreword that not all the moves
for women’s rights can be left

to government. Labor,
business and society at large
must all play their part. CUPE
has prepared.its own case for
more consideration and con-
cern for women members
within its ranks.

In effect what the booklet
does is to highlight those
recommendations of the Royal
Commission Report that
directly relate to women within
unions.

It points out that there are
many CUPE locals with a
majority of women members
whose bargaining units are
made up entirely of men and
that only one of CUPE’s staff of
89 field and educational
representatives is a woman.

Wage discrimination exists
in CUPE largely because of the
designation of jobs by sex. The
booklet urges that all CUPE
collective agreements that do
this should be eliminated.

Pension plans for public
employees, too, often show a
sex bias, and provide for
earlier retirement for women
than for men. Since women

have a longer life expectancy
than men in Canada there
seems little logic in an
arrangement that will see
them retired earlier to live for
longer on a reduced income.
This kind of discrimination
often works against men, too,
as sometimes smaller benefits
are provided for the survivors
of women workers than for
those of men.

Group life insurance plans
negotiated by CUPE also
reveal certain forms of
discrimination, a state of af-
fairs this booklet deplores and
hopes to see changed.

Maternity leave and
provisions for the care of the
children of working mothers is
also covered in the CUPE
booklet. These are areas that
men tend to see as only con-
cerning women. Yet the care of
children, including the unborn,
is surely the responsibility of
both family and society and if a
woman works she should ex-
pect her union to negotiate
suitable conditions for her as a
union member.

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