Resolved, that in the judgment of this House, as a general principle and subject to reasonable exceptions, including farm labour, the working hours of persons employed in public and private industrial undertakings ought not to exceed eight hours in the day and forty-eight in the week, but we recognize that until such eight-hour day becomes of general application its adoption in Ontario would make this province the victim of unfair competition from such countries as have not an eighthour law in force.

Mines acts in Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and the Yukon have provided for an eight-hour day in mines, and the Yukon has enacted legislation for an eighthour day on public works. British Columbia has a law applying the eight-hour day to workers about smelters and coke-ovens. The Alberta Factories Act limits the hours of workers on night shift to eight.

The second convention concerned the employment of women before and after childbirth. British Columbia has given effect to this by the Maternity Protection Act, passed at the first session of the British Columbia legislature in 1921 (c. 37), which forbade the employment of any woman in any industrial or commercial undertaking during the six weeks following her confinement. It permitted her, on presentation of a medical certificate, to leave work six weeks prior to the probable date of confinement and prohibited the employer from dismissing her during the absence. As originally passed this measure was to come into effect concurrently with similar legislation in the other provinces, but an amending act was passed at the second session of 1921 (c. 31) which brought the measure into force January 1, 1922. The act made no provision for benefits as required by the convention. No other province has legislation on this subject.

Manitoba passed a resolution during the session of 1923,

intended to prepare the way for giving effect to the draft convention on maternity. During the session of 1924 the provincial government announced that "an investigation had been made as required by the resolution and that the Bureau of Labour had reported that cases of mothers being employed in industry shortly before or after childbirth were so rare in Manitoba that no action at the present time was deemed necessary."

The convention concerning the employment of women during the night has received attention in three provinces. In 1921 (c. 46) British Columbia passed the Night Employment of Women Act, which prohibited the employment of women in any industrial undertaking (agriculture, horticulture and dairying excepted) between 8 p. m. and 7 a. m. This act will come into force when similar legislation has been passed by the other provinces. The legislatures of Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia in 1924 endorsed the convention in resolutions passed March 19 and April 30 respectively. While no action has been taken in the remaining provinces all the mines acts except that of Nova Scotia prohibit all employment of female workers; Alberta, Ontario and Saskatchewan prohibit night work for women in factories, shops and office buildings; Quebec in factories and British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia during the periods of exemption (except for twenty days during the canning season in Nova Scotia).

Among the measures passed by British Columbia in 1921, to come into force concurrently with similar acts in other provinces, was an Employment of Children Act (c. 19), designed to give effect to the convention fixing at fourteen the minimum age for admission of children to industrial employment. This act fixed the minimum age for employment of children in industrial undertakings (agriculture, horticulture and dairying excepted) at fourteen for boys and fifteen

for girls. This convention was endorsed by the Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia legislatures at their 1924 sessions. The factory, shops and mining laws of several of the provinces meet the age requirements of the convention and the majority of the school attendance laws require attendance to the age of fourteen.1

The convention concerning night work of young persons in industry was the basis for the Night Employment of Young Persons Act, passed by British Columbia in 1921 (c. 47). This act also contained the provision that it was to come into effect concurrently with like legislation in other provinces. It prohibited the employment of young persons under eighteen years of age in any industrial undertaking (except the agricultural, horticultural and dairying industries) between 8 p. m. and 7 a. m. Manitoba gave effect to the convention in 1924 (c. 7) by amending its Child Welfare Act. The provision which made unlawful the habitual employment of children under fourteen between 9 p. m. and 6 a. m. was extended to apply to children under eighteen years. Here again the majority of the provinces have enacted laws which establish the standards required by the convention.2

The principal object of the convention concerning unemployment was the establishment of a national system of free public employment agencies under the control of a central authority. While Canada has not ratified this convention, the Employment Service of Canada was established under the Employment Offices Coordination Act of 1918 (c. 21). This meets the requirement of free public employment agencies and provides a vehicle for the carrying out of another, the exchange of information on unemployment between the members of the International Labor Organization.

1 Cf. infra, p. 356 et seq.

2 Cf. infra, p. 384.

Canada has no legislation on unemployment insurance and no action has been taken on this section of the convention. With reference to the recommendation on unemployment, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia have taken action, the 1924 sessions of the legislatures of these provinces having endorsed two of the four clauses of this recommendation-the prohibition of fee-charging employment agencies or their operation only under government license with abolition to be achieved as soon as possible, and the reserving of public work for periods of unemployment. These two provinces have forbidden the operation of private employment agencies as have Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba, and in Ontario and Quebec they may be operated only under license. Quebec has a provision that the Lieutenant-Governor may order the closing of private agencies but such order has not been made. The regulation of employment by a well-planned distribution of government orders has been endorsed by the Employment Service Council of Canada and an order-incouncil of October 4, 1921, provides for cooperation between the Department of Labor and the Department of Railways and Canals in the placing of orders for equipment for the Canadian National Railways.

In conformity with the recommendation that arrangements for the disinfection of wool infected with anthrax spores should be made either in the country exporting such wool or at the port of entry, an order-in-council was passed by the Dominion Government on August 12, 1920, approving regulations under the Animal Contagious Diseases Act, requiring foreign exporters to furnish certificates as to the cleanliness and freedom from infection of wool and hair destined for Canada. The forms of these certificates were further amended by an order-in-council of February 21, 1921, in order to render them more explicit.

Concerning the application of the Berne Convention of

1906 on the prohibition of the use of white phosphorus in the manufacture of matches, the Parliament of Canada, before the war, passed legislation upon the subject-matter of this recommendation. An act of 1914 (c. 12) prohibited the manufacture, importation and sale of matches made with white phosphorus, and Canada has adhered to the Berne Convention since the provisions of the law came into effect.

No formal action has been taken by the Dominion or provincial governments on the other three recommendations of the Washington Conference-the protection of women and children against lead-poisoning, reciprocity of treatment for foreign workers and the establishment of government health services. As to the first, the factory legislation of seven of the provinces establishes safeguards for the protection of women and children in occupations deemed dangerous or unwholesome, and Quebec includes white lead in its list of dangerous establishments.1 The Department of Justice considered that the recommendation concerning reciprocity of treatment of foreign workers required agreements with other members of the International Labor Organization, but none have as yet been made. In Canada legislation on health services is confined to the Dominion Public Health Act and the health acts of the various provinces, which have in view the general public health rather than any special provision for workpeople. However, the provincial public health acts do make provision for the inspection of manufacturing plants, stores and construction and logging camps with a view to their proper ventilation, cleaning and sanitation and the prevention and control of communicable diseases. The Dominion Government also has legislation for the safeguarding of the health of employees on public works in remote regions. The opinion of the Department of Justice referred to stated

1 Cf. infra, p. 325.