General Secretary of the Labour Party. Len Williams, who has spent most - of his life working as a Labour party official or organizer, was promoted by the National Executive Committee from his previous post as National Agent. _ Mr. Williams’ appointment represents a shift in party policy from the tradition of appointing an outstanding political personality to the key position. * * * A bill seeking to reduce the statutory work week in Ontario from 48 hours to 40 hours has been introduced in the legislature by Norm Davison (New Democrat—Hamilton East). * * * Britain’s largest union has taken its case to the courts. The Transport and General Workers’ Union is suing the Ministry of Works in the High Court in an attempt to get $600,000 for 120,000 government employees. The money was withheld because of the pay pause, the union says. A writ, issued in the name of a Works Ministry elevator operator, seeks retroactive payment of a 50-cent-a-week wage boost which the workers would have received last October but for the introduction of the government’s pay pause policy. * * A decade of Canada’s second-speediest growth rate since Confederation pushed the population to 18,238,247 by last June 1, census figures show. There were 4,228,818 new residents since 1951 or an increase of more than 30 per cent. The increase pace of 34.2 per cent in the decade 1901-11— sparked by immigration into western Canada—stands as the record. Quebec and Ontario collared two-thirds of the increase in the last 10 years but Alberta and British Columbia were the fastest-growing provinces. * a * Average hourly earnings in Canadian manufacturing increased by four cents to $1.88 in December from the previous month. Average weekly wages decreased to $72.89, however, from $75.64 and the work week to 38.8 from 41.1. The big slump reflected the impact of seasonal unemployment as the economy entered its usual winter recession. bd Eg * There were 2,600 business failures in Canada last year, a decrease of 8.1 per cent from 1960. Defaulted liabilities of $103,613,000 mark a cut of 40 per cent from the preceding year. The improvement—if it can be called such—is interpreted as a decline in the cleaning-out of small business to yenture capital under present conditions in new enterprises. In other words, there are fewer shakier businesses left to fail. z ae cs Cheques cashed in Canada’s 51 cheque-clearing centers rose sharply by value last year—totalling $302,741,442 or higher by nine per cent than in 1960. * cd bd Total wages paid by eight provinces and the Yukon government to em- ployees in 1961 were seven per cent higher than a year earlier. The 1961 total was $650,140,000—with Quebec and British Columbia data Jacking. ak oe * Canadian consumption of cigarettes and cigars reached record levels in 1961. Cigarettes totalled 36,699,203,000—or 2,012 for every man, woman One of the more curious anom- alies of government practice was brought to the attention of the House when New Democratic House Leader Bert Herridge asked Postmaster General Bill Hamilton about the “O.H.M.S.” mail franking privilege. Mail marked “On Her Majesty’s Service” can be sent free of post- age to the Headquarters of a govern- ment department, but not to a branch or regional office. That means that you can’t send in your Income Tax for free if you use the envelope provided by the Rev- enue Department—the one in which the T-1 Short forms are distributed. Why not try ignoring the govern- ment’s envelope, and address your return directly to the Department of National Revenue, Headquarters, Ottawa, Ontario? You won't need a stamp then, and thus could “beat” the government out of a nickel. Trouble is, if you’re claiming a re- fund, it might well take a few weeks longer than usual to get it... . Clearwater Sub-Local Elections New officers elected for the Clear- water IWA Sub-Local of Local 1-417, IWA, at the meeting held March 18, are as follows: President, Leo Letendre; Ist Vice-President, Julian Isvick; 2nd Vice-President, George Phillips; Secretary, Howard Bucknell, Local Business Agent, Cliff Mich- ael addressed the meeting and. re- ported that the Local Union was in- volved in several legal cases con- cerning unfair labour practices, He said that the Union would continue the struggle to blot out the sub- standard wage areas and establish proper wages and working condi- tions. From The Legislature ATLIN MEMBER PRAISED By TONY GARGRAVE, M.L.A. I think it is fair to say that Frank Calder (NDP-Atlin) is an ornament to the legislature. Frank, a native Indian, was born at Nass Harbour on the Nass River in the northwest corner of the province. He represents his big Atlin riding well, and speaks for his native and white voters with equal skill. During the budget debate last , could be persuaded to take an In- week, he discussed some of the dian school, and practically no In- and child—for an increase of seven per cent. Cigar usage increased 1.3 per cent to 336,693,000. Canada Lags Far Behind In Welfare Payments Canada lags behind in welfare payments in comparison with a number of other developed econo- mies, Walter Pitman (New Demo- cratic—Peterborough) pointed out in the House during the debate on the Blind Persons Act. “Even West Germany, this so- called paragon of capitalism, spent some 20 per cent of its national in- come on social security, whereas Canada spent some 8.5 per cent”, he noted. ILO Figures The figures were taken from sur- vey published by the International Labour Office of the United Nations entitled ‘The cost of social security from 1949 to 1957”, Mr. Pitman said. Canada is tied with Chile for 17th place. Britain, France, and the Scandinavian countries are far ahead. Mr. Pitman also noted that Swe- den, which has a socialist govern- ment, has displaced Canada as the country with the second highest standard of living in the world. Sweden has a cost-of-blindness subsidy, given without a means test, which “simply recognizes the real cost of blindness”, Mr. Pitman emphasized. Only Way To Survive Defence minister Harkness ad- mitted in the House of Commons that a number of “graduates” of the Army’s Survival Course are re- peating the whole procedure. He said it was because they “en- joyed” the course so much that they enrolled again, some of them “under ‘Doc Keeps Prices Down Dr. R. Llewellyn Douglas has been fighting over the years to bring dentistry to the public at prices they can afford to pay. He could not agree with regimenta- tion by the Den- tal Association in regard to prices. His licence was can- celled in De- cember, 1958, when he refus- ed to appear before _ their Dental Court. “Old Doc” kept y , on fighting and received a special licence to make dental plates in January 1961. He will continue to fight for reasonable prices. for the public, especially for senior citi- zens. “Qld Doc,” whose offices are at 712 Robson Street, extends to his friends the famous greeting coined by Mae West that he has carried on his calendars over the years: “Come up and see me some time,” apna? a different name or in a different locality”. But Harold Winch (New Demo- cratic—Vancouver East) didn’t think it was because they “enjoyed” it so much, but because “there is no other place they can go to obtain employment or security.” problems that our native Indians face in British Columbia. He told us that his native friends were in a stage of transition. The Indians themselves realize the situation and are entering into general discus- sions with interested groups and governments in order to arrive at solutions to the social and econo- mic adjustment that the Indian has to make to the big city. 200 Communities Of the some two hundred settled Indian communities in this Pro- vince, Frank Calder told us that about three-quarters of the Reserve Indians have to leave the confines of the Reservation in order to find employment or to settle in urban areas in order to place their child- ren in public schools and thus re- ceive a proper and undisturbed education. Mr. Calder reminded us_ that native Indians follow occupations such as fishing and agricultural labour requiring trips away from home, and special provision had to be made for the children in the face of these migratory problems. Education The Atlin member told us that it is in education that most progress has been made for Indians. A gener- ‘ation ago’ few competent teachers dian children attended white schools. Today there are nearly ten thousand of them doing so, with about forty students in University, and these numbers are growing steadily. The integration of Indian children with white children in our schools is undoubtedly the greatest single factor in the rapid advance of our Native citizens; it was a vital step forward and, much as the Indians have benefited from this new pro- gramme, Frank Calder reminded us that it has also done the white pupils a lot of good. Integration When Frank told the members that the integration of our Indians with their white neighbours had contributed to the white pupils’ growth and character, there was a round of applause from his fellow legislative members. Mr. Calder reminded us that many of the Indians that go to the city are not able to meet the com- petition in the city. They find it difficult to make adjustments to this new life and the native runs into many technical changes to which he is unfamiliar. An Indian All this perhaps is due to lack of education and vocational training, Calder said, but sometimes he is “Until world disarmament — is achieved, Canada must maintain, consistent with her resources, an effective military establishment which can be useful to herself, her allies and the United Nations.” The government was urged to continue to work for universal dis- armament, including nuclear, chemi- cal, bacteriological and conventional weapons, subject to international control and inspection, Strong sup- port was sought for the United Nations, and the CLC said that in spite of some of its past failures the Organization of American States was still a symbol of unity to na- tions of the Americas, and Canada should join. Renewing a proposal that at least one per cent of the national income should be devoted to economic aid for other countries, the labour group suggested that assistance be largely in a form which would improve living standards. The government was asked to launch a training pro- gram for personnel which should be of service to economically under- developed countries. just not accepted because he is an Indian. Though many Indians are suc- cessful in their venture to the big city, mainly through personal ini- tiative and know how, Calder said, a great many more become the lost tribe in the city jungles. Joint Committees Calder proposed that considera- tion be given to the establishment of joint federal-provincial-municipal planning committees Which could assist toward the adjustment of In-. dians in urban areas, and assist the Indian toward his general integra- tion into the social and economic life of our province. Calder told us that British Columbia was behind the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and the State of Washington in this sort of work. The work of such a committee would be, through the use of social welfare services and social work skills, to get the Indian on his feet in urban areas so that he could compete in the city with his fellow citizens. it’s LUCKY WHEN YOU DO WHAT YOU LIKE This advertisement is not published or displayed by the Liquor Control Board or by the Government of British Columbia.