CHAPTER XIII

CONCLUSION

"There can be no equality of opportunity, the first essential in the body of politics, if men and women and children be not shielded in their lives, their very vitality, from the consequences of great industrial and social processes which they cannot alter, control or singly cope with." (From inaugural address of Woodrow Wilson, Washington, March 4, 1913.)

We may now review Canada's position on the nine methods and principles of the Labor Section. The first, that labor should not be regarded merely as a commodity, has received important recognition in the exclusion of trade unions from the operation of the combination laws. On the second, freedom of association for employers and employed, employers' associations have been little used for purposes of industrial relations in Canada. There has been no interpretation of the principle by convention or recommendation but as compared with British standards Canadian workers have a very restricted right of association. Trade unions are open to charges of criminal and civil conspiracy and their funds are liable to seizure to satisfy damage actions. While the law grants the right to strike for certain stated objects, sympathetic strikes have been held illegal. Canadian unions do not enjoy the protection with regard to picketing and injunctions granted under the law of Great Britain but are more nearly in the precarious position of the unions of the United States.

The Canadian legislation bearing on the third point, the payment of a wage adequate to maintain a reasonable stand

ard of life, is found in the provincial minimum-wage laws and the provisions for the payment of fair wages on contracts of the Dominion Government and of several of the provinces. Excellent progress has been made in minimumwage legislation for women and children and British Columbia has recently passed the first minimum-wage law for male workers.

Canada has enacted but little legislation on the eight-hourday principle. The more important mining provinces have granted the legal eight-hour day to mine workers and British Columbia has enacted a general eight-hour-day law which permits exemptions. There has been some limitation of the hours of adult male workers in factories and shops in Alberta; of employees in bakeshops in British Columbia, Manitoba and Ontario; of street-railway employees in Nova Scotia and Ontario; and of hotel employees, firemen and chauffeurs in some provinces, but apart from the fixing of an eight-hour work-period on night shift in Alberta factories, these laws do not reduce the work-day to eight hours. All the provinces but Prince Edward Island permit municipalities on petition of the shopkeepers affected to pass bylaws providing for the early closing of shops. A considerable proportion of the industrial workers have the eight-hour day by agreement with employers and the ground to be gained on this principle is not so great as appears at first.

As to the weekly-rest principle, the Dominion Lord's Day Act of 1906 guarantees 24 consecutive hours' rest in each. week but the exceptions permitted as "works of necessity and mercy" are numerous. Prosecutions under this law may be undertaken only with the consent of the attorneygeneral of the province concerned and several provinces have laws on Sunday observance which were not superseded by the Dominion act. Ontario has limited the weekly workperiod of street-railway employees to six days of ten hours

each and other provinces have restrictions on the weekly hours of these workers. A weekly rest of 24 hours has been granted by law to employees of fire departments in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario; to hotel and restaurant employees in Ontario and Quebec; to workers in bakeshops in British Columbia and Ontario; and to barber-shop employees in Ontario. A British Columbia law of 1916 compelled municipalities to establish a weekly half-holiday for employees in shops and permissive legislation on this subject has been passed by several of the provinces.

There has been much legislation on the child-labor principle. All the mining laws except that of New Brunswick conform to the convention fixing fourteen years as the minimum age of admission to employment, but British Columbia and Nova Scotia permit children over twelve years to work in metal mines. Certain provinces-Ontario, Quebec (underground), Nova Scotia (coal mines), British Columbia (underground in coal mines) and Alberta (underground) — have fixed a minimum age higher than the convention requirement. Every province except Prince Edward Island has legislation regulating child labor in factories, amusement places and street trades and Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Alberta have regulated employment of children in retail establishments. As required by the convention all the provinces except New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island prohibit employment of children under fourteen years in factories. In Alberta and British Columbia the minimum age is fifteen. In pursuance of the conventions on the subject the Dominion Parliament in 1924 forbade employment of children under fourteen years on board vessels and employment of young persons between fourteen and eighteen as trimmers and stokers. Compulsory school attendance is not yet general. Quebec has no compulsory attendance law but forbids employment of illiterate children

under sixteen years in any industrial or commercial undertaking. The school attendance laws of Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick fall short of those of the other provinces. In some provincial laws the school-leaving age is higher than the international standard.

The seventh principle, the payment of equal wages to men and women for work of equal value, has received no legal recognition.

On the subject of equitable economic treatment for the alien worker in labor legislation, British Columbia has sought by various measures, many of which have been disallowed or declared ultra vires, to exclude Oriental workers from employment on public works and public utilities and in mines. Every provincial workmen's compensation law but that of Saskatchewan grants less benefit to non-resident dependents of injured workmen than to resident dependents. Some of the provinces have attempted to prohibit employment of white women by Orientals, especially in laundries and restaurants, but this legislation has either been held in abeyance or given way to discriminatory treatment in the granting of licenses.

As to the establishment of a system of inspection in which women should take part, all the provinces but Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island have mines inspectors, and factory inspectors have been appointed in every province except Prince Edward Island. Each of the provinces with factory inspection, except New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, has at least one woman inspector. Inspection of workshops is now provided for under the factory acts. Several of the provinces have regulated employment conditions in retail stores but they have been tardy in enforcement. Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Ontario have inspection of bakeshops and Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan have legal

provision for the enforcement of laws to protect workers in building construction. Inspection in the interests of workers employed on board vessels has been established by the Dominion Government under the Canada Shipping Act. The Dominion and several of the provinces have inspection of construction works and lumber and mining camps in their jurisdictions, and Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Saskatchewan have legal provision for the enforcement of regulations to protect electrical workers.

With regard to legislation on the conventions and recommendations of the International Labor Conferences, of the 20 conventions adopted to the end of 1925, eight have been held to be within the federal sphere and in the Dominion Government's view legislation already in force has largely provided the necessary authority for meeting the requirements of four-the section on employment offices of the convention on unemployment, right of association for agricultural workers, a weekly rest-day in industrial establishments and facilities for finding employment for seamen. The Dominion has recently passed legislation which meets the proposals of the four remaining conventions within its jurisdiction-fixing the minimum age for employment at sea, providing unemployment indemnity in case of loss or foundering of a ship, establishing the minimum age for trimmers and stokers and medical examination for young persons employed on ships.

As to provincial action, Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan have passed resolutions endorsing the principles of four conventions concerning employment of women during the night, minimum age of admission of children to industrial employment, right of association of agricultural workers and minimum age for admission of children to agricultural employment. British Columbia has enacted laws meeting in large measure the requirements of the conventions on the