Our country is faced today with the worst unemployment rate in the industrial world. Canadians have reached the point where many have lost their confidence, their hope and their trust in government. Unemployment is the severe symptom of an economic illness. It first affects more than the 1.6 million Canadians who are unemployed. But it affects all of us. x Those “who have jobs are worried about lay-offs. They are worried because their children face a future without hope. It is costing all of us billions of dollars to keep the unemployed from the soup kitchens of the thirties, | want Canadians paid to work instead of paying them not to work. I believe Canada has the capacity and the strength to end this waste of people and money. I am confident that Canadians are ready to support a government with the courage and honesty to begin the rebuilding of our economy so that people have good jobs, good homes and good health. This is what economics really means. In the following article, 1 have tried to be specific about why we are in such a mess and how we can get out of it. There are no easy solutions but there are solutions. Governments cannot create all the jobs we need. But good government can create the circumstances in which jobs will be developed. We do not need more government, we need better government. The Canadian Labour Congress has conducted an outstanding campaign on unemployment and the need for jobs. In what follows, I have tried to briefly outline some of the steps the federal government could take to help provide those jobs. With honest government and MPs who will fight for full employment, I believe we can lead Canadians to economic strength, restore our trust and confidence and provide each of us a future with security and hope. THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER Why is there so much unemployment in Canada? 1. Part of the reason is found in the fact that all. industrial countries are going through difficult economic times. But Canada’s unemployment problem is made worse because our governments have made mistakes over the years which now make it very difficult for Canada to recover. 2. Some areas of the country like Newfoundland, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have not had enough jobs for their people for years. This has happened because governments and big corpora- tions have mismanaged natural industries like coal mining, fishing and forestry. These indus- tries have been neglected and run into the ground, so that today we have few coal mines, a weak fishing industry and an old-fashioned pulp and paper industry in Atlantic Canada. Where there should be many jobs, there are only a few. 3. Big corporations .always cut labour costs to maintain profits whenever they face temporary difficulties. The result is lay-offs and shutdowns. 4. Federal provincial and municipal govern- ments have also laid-off many people and refuse to hire people because some taxpayers have blamed inflation on high labour costs. Some politicians think that by cutting government services and reducing the number of public employees we will pay less in taxes and therefore have more money to spend on consumer goods. Just like the ars failed to work, this approach is also failing. Your wages have been held down, prices and taxes have gone up, and now you are having to pay. for higher unemployment and higher welfare costs to look after those who have lost their jobs. ; 5. Canadian governments have allowed big corporations to export our natural resources in raw form. We export oil, gas, forest products, nickel, zinc, copper and iron ores to other countries where they are manufactured’ into finished goods which we have to buy back at high cost. All we get from these raw resources are a few mining jobs. We lose the high number of jobs involved in. making the finished product. JUNE, 1978 In other words, when we export raw resources, we export jobs. 6. Not only. have Canadian governments allowed big corporations to export raw material and jobs but also they have encouraged this practice by giving these corporations special tax concessions and lower tax rates. Federal and provincial governments run by Liberals and Conservatives have helped export jobs by spending our tax dollars to assist big corpora- tions make high profits by selling our raw products to other countries: 7. Canada has too many branch plant factories owned by corporations from other countries. When the home country factory has a few problems they lay-off or shutdown Canadian branch plants first. This also means that Canada fails to develop the ability to research, to expand, to originate and develop our own products. We are just copy-cats with no control over the important business decisions. In this way Canada loses thousands upon. thousands of jobs. 8. Liberal and Conservative governments refuse to plan our economy; they have no game-plan for industry; they have no strategy to ensure that our sons and, daughters can get jobs today or in the future. Canada competes in a tough international league where countries like Japan, France, Germany and Sweden have govern- ments which years ago realized that they must plan their- economies. These ‘governments, whether like the Liberals and Conservatives or like our NDP, have planned and prepared their economies just like a good football coach prepares his team for the season, the play-offs and next season. Countries just like the team that plays one game ata time end up at the bottom of the league.