WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER YMENT: structural, and technological. The forest products industry, he said, has shown the highest seasonal variations. k. President Morris summarized the conclusions of the Com- | mittee as follows: lL 4g “(1) There isa decided upward drift in nmeciployment which “tate of increase is of major concern, the Committee states, from [ the standpoint of lost human opportunities and lost production. a (2) The high level of unemployment during the past year is |, the result of a combination of factors. The recession of the business ¢ cycle has coincided with structural maladjustments in the SPORE) i _ and has compounded the degree of unemployment. ( y ae (3) Canada has experienced a profound change in the rate of '+ growth. Periods of economic expansion have been followed by | relative stagnation. The real output per capita has declined and the f ° eee. 5 number of job opportunities has fallen far short of the growth in the labour force. '. port markets for raw materials and fuels provided a dynamic stimu- lus for expansion. The prospects for export markets for many in- _dustries is now uncertain. Secondary manufacturing industries have not proven able to meet the intensified competition in the domestic market from the fully restored economies of Japan and Western Europe. Canada has fallen behind in the development of secondary industries. (5) We are now in an era of accelerating technological > change, of rapid innovation, of revolutionary improvements in ™ labour-saving devices and of pronounced shifts in the growth of consumer demand. The lagging rate of adjustment and the lagging ' rate of growth aggravate each cther and to this degree create a |. vicious circle. a This all adds up to just what organized labour has been de- claring — we are faced with chronic mass unemployment of men- ' acing proportions. Little has been done to correct the situation.” “Indeed the Committee States That There Has Been No Effective Use of Integrated Monetary and Fiscal Policies”. EO br , y ? ne i The IWA President summarized the recommendations of the ’ Senate Committee as follows: (1) The initiation of a comprehensive study and re-examina- '+ tion of our national machinery for monetary control and of its 3 is proposed. Indeed the Committee states that there has been no ef- fective use of integrated monetary and fiscal policies. There have ' been needless divergencies and uncertainties. The Committee * recommends that the Federal authority should adopt more up-to- date and adequate measures in this field to maintain high levels of employment in the circumstances of today. has become more pronounced in the last five years. The present | ‘' (4) Im the nineteen-fifties an optimistic outlook regarding ex- place in the formulation and the carrying-out of economic policies _ ay, ee UNEMPLOYED ' As a Percentage of Labour Force 97—- Annual Averages 1947-60 +9 Per Cent SOURCE—SENATE REPORT ON MANPOWER & EMPLOYMENT. (iia eet een ee eek ee 0 194748 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 1960 (2) More effective measures by governments to counter seasonal and cyclical unemployment are urged. The need for further public investment in social capital (highways, bridges, hospitals, schools, universities, access roads, drainage and dyking, etc.) is stressed. What has been done is not enough. More can be done by suitable planning and timing of public investment. The Committee states that the additional effort and cost would be small as compared with the repeated annual wastage resulting from high levels of seasonal unemployment. (3) A clear-cut price and wage policy is recommended. If prices and costs get out of line with the general pattern around us, unemployment and retarded growth will follow. In.the present circumstances attempts to remedy unemployment by boot-strap methods may result in lower real wages and a lower standard of living. Pee , “The Committee on This Point Recommends That Wages, ON THE AVERAGE, Should Not ; Get Out of Line With Increases in Productivity”. , fa eR RR RR RR RRR eRe eee ee Re Re Re Re ee, bt ee The Committee on this point recommends that wages, ON THE AVERAGE, should not get out of line with increases in productivity. Representatives of labour and management are urged to meet in periodic assessments of the condition of the economy for the purpose of laying out guide lines for price and wage policies. The Committee states we need a suitable body or a suitable forum for making these assessments. j Here may I interject, that no reference was made to profits. I should also mention that the Canadian Labour Congress has for many years advocated a public enquiry to secure a proper balance between wages, prices and profits. (4) The Committee proposes better opportunities for people in depressed areas, without consideration of mass migration. The Federal and Provincial Governments are urged to develop more effective co-ordination in meeting long-standing regional prob- lems of unemployment. (5) Re-consideration of the whole question of education and re-training is advocated. The situation is viewed with a sense of urgency. A larger proportion of our resources must be devoted to education and training of all kinds — academic, professional, vocational, and technical. Our national investment must include investment in people and we must begin now. ... We must prepare people for a world of work that is continually in evolution. (6) A thorough study of the unemployment insurance system is urged. This system was established two decades ago when con- ditions were vastly different from what they: are today, states the Committee. RR eR RRR RRR RN NNR NN Ry “Nevertheless if the Proposed Steps Are Taken, And Taken Now, Marked improvements Will Result”. 2h Fe ee Oe Or Or Or Or re rt Or Or Or rr Or re Or Ore Or re SO Oe ee Oe OO ee Oe a] ee to te Ot OL I do not claim that these recommendations will prove entirely satisfactory to organized labour. Nevertheless if the proposed steps are taken, and taken now, marked improvements will result. The evidence disclosed by this report and in the proceedings of theyCommittee provides invaluable material for an intensive campaign by labour to arouse public opinion on this vital topic.”