| FROM PAGE ONE | “MEET ED BROADBENT” _ His tireless work for the people of his riding en- sured his re-election in 1972, and by 1974 his plurality had increased to 10,000 votes. He was elected chair- man of the NDP policy review committee at the 1969 federal convention, and his research and studies in this capacity led him to write “The Liberal Rip-Off’ (New Press, 1970), a critique of - the government of Pierre Elliot Trudeau. He first distinguished himself in the House as the party’s spokesman on regional economic devel- opment and on _ the Canada-U.S. Automotive Agreement. Concerning the auto pact, Lis work in auto communities and in the Commons was a ma- jor factor in the govern- ment’s decision not to abandon the job-protect- ing safeguards of the pact, despite U.S. pres- sure. Mr. Broadbent was one of several contenders for the NDP leadership in 1971, a campaign that resulted in the election of _David Lewis as leader. Following the 1972 election, and during the minority government period, Mr. Broadbent served as chairman of the federal Caucus, as wellas chairman of the Caucus committee on housing policy. The federal Caucus unanimously elected him Parliamentary Leader after the defeat of David Lewis in the 1974 general election, a position he held until he was elected leader by the party in 1974 general election, a -position he held until he was elected leader by the party in 1975. At the 1977 convention, he was ac- claimed leader for a second term. ; Mr. Broadbent was elected a Vice-President of the Socialist Interna- tional in 1976, and re- - elected at the SI’s Con- gress in Vancouver. John Edward Broad- bent was bornin Oshawa, Ontario on March 21, 1936. He is the son of Mary (née Welsh) and the late Percy Broadbent, a former clerk with Gen- eral Motors, Canada. He is the second of three children of whom, Velma is the eldest and David the youngest. He attended elemen- tary school in Oshawa and was an exceptional student in high school, where he was selected as one of the recipients of the ‘“‘outstanding stu- dent” award in four of the five years. He began his university studies at the University of Toronto in 1955 in Honours Philosophy and graduated first in his class. His post-graduate work, all on _ scholar- ships, includes M.A. in the Philosophy of Law and a Doctorate degreein Political Science, com- pleted at the University of Toronto and at the ‘London School of Econo- mics. He was active during his student years in the University of Toronto student housing co-oper- ative movement, serving on the board of directors for a number of years and as president during his graduate year. From 1965 to 1968, he was a professor of poli- tical science at York University in Toronto. Edward Broadbent and his wife, the former Lucille Munroe, have two children, Paul 19, and Christine 6. - A study done by Health PAC showed that of .33 studies eg by the asbestos in- that they examined, they all minimized or denied the danger, whereas all the non-industry studies em- phasized how dangerous a sub- stance it really is. _ The economic stakes for the asbestos i industry are high. stien of the University of Il- linois has collected several examples. In 1976, twenty-four common pesticides, which had been considered relatively safe as residues in human food on the basis of extensive tests sub- mitted by the manufacturers to the U.S. government, were re- evaluated. The new report found that with the possible ex- ception of one pesticide all the data was so inadequate it was impossible to tell whether or not the pesticides were safe. Similarly, a review of 17 in- dustry studies on the cancer- causing potential of DDT found that 14 were so defective that no conclusions should’ have *3 .or standardization — THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER FIRST METRIC HOME manufactured by Nelson Homes is shown ready for shipment on company truck. Group in picture are left, Lorne Roley, truck driver; Glen Worman, yard superintendent; Bruce Copeland, truck driver. NELSON HOMES GO METRIC Nelson Manufactured Homes have delivered its first metric houseto the Doug Bell family in Saskatoon. This follows final conversion to the metric sys- tem of Nelson’s production line in their Lloydminster plant. The company is certified to Local 1-207 IWA, Edmonton. The Bell’s Oakridge model home has a floor space of 111.6 m which is equivalent to 1201 square feet under the Imperial system. Preparation for the change- over at the Lloydminster plant began May 1, 1978. It was decided to hard convert wherever possible and take advantage of the redesign to metric. This involved the re- drawing of floor plans for more than sixty 1979 home designs and making the necessary plant adjustments for manu- facturing all components. A major advantage has been the reduction of the number of different sizes for a single component. The last home to be sold under the Imperial system was delivered to the Robert Beringer family in Alberta on March 10th. Nelson Homes, a division of Nelson Lumber, has been manufacturing homes since 1959 and is the leading manu- facturer of package homes in Western Canada. Numerous companies in Canada are turning down millions of dollars of new business because there are not enough skilled tradesmen to do ‘the work, charged Mike Rygus, Canadian vice-president of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers. Rygus, speaking at a one day forum on skill training at the. University of Guelph said that the problem of dwindling skilled manpower in Canada has been developing for some years andis likely to get worse. “Many companies will not expand or build new facilities in this country because they won’t be able to get the trades- men and technicians to operate them,” he said. . In economic terms, he noted that this could produce a crisis. It is estimated that as many as 10 ‘spin-off’ jobs are created for every skilled tradesman put to work. Rygus said there are five main reasons why Canada is in this situation. First, we have always sought the quick, easy and cheap road to solution. That doesn’t exist. “Secondly, our society is compartmentalized into the world of learning, the world of work and the world of govern- ment. Each one has too little understanding of the other. As well while our education sytem is too elitist, we have too many government jurisdictions which means no co-ordination even within a single province on training. \ BECAUSE OF ELECTION LABOR COLLEGE DELAYED OTTAWA — The 1979 session of the Labour College of Canada has been delayed by four weeks to allow the trade unionists involved to concen- trate all their efforts on labour’s massive campaign in support of the New Democratic Party during the current general election campaign. Dennis McDermott, president of the Canadian Labour Congress’ which sponsors the College, said the eight-week session which was to start May 5 has been re- scheduled torun from June 2 to July 28, on the campus of the University of Ottawa. The Labour College is an institution of higher learning, founded in 1963 to better equip union members by improving their academic background for their role in the labour move- ment, in their communities, and in the political arena. “Most of the 60 trade union- ists who will attend the College this year had already commit- ted themselves to an active role in the labour movement’s campaign to elect New Demo- “trats to the next Parliament and, like all of us, consider this a top priority,’ McDermott explained. “The CLC and its affiliated unions, representing more than two million members, have pledged an all-out effort in support of the NDP during the current campaign. We believe that the Liberals and their bankrupt policies must go, that the Conservatives are no alternative and that there really is only one choice for working Canadians — the NDP.” McDermott said the decision to postpone this year’s session was not taken lightly. “The logistics of making such a drastic change in the carefully planned schedule are enormous,”’ he said. ‘‘It means requesting the University of Ottawa fo re-assign the residences and classrooms, requesting the teaching staff to change their plans, forcing the students to apply to their employers for new leaves of absence, and the thousand- and-one administrative detail the decision entailed. “But the importance of our movement’s full involvement in the campaign tops all other considerdtions and there simply was no other way,” he said. ae Employees in the German chemical industry will get six weeks paid annual leave from 1984 under a new collective agreement just concluded. At present, annual leave ranges from 22 days for those under 25 to 27 days for those over 40. The agreement also provides for a reduction in weekly working hours for people on continental shifts from 42 to 40. Shift workers will retain their right to three additional paid holidays a year, so that they will get 33 working days leave from 1984.