2

Trades and Labor Congress that "in justice to the other provinces of the Dominion it should be publicly known that in the province of Quebec there is neither factory inspection nor enforced regulations concerning these establishments."1 This was followed by other resolutions expressing dissatisfaction with the work of the inspectors and the uncertainty as to their powers, but in 1896 the executive committee reported that two women inspectors had been appointed,' and the president of the Congress acknowledged indebtedness to Her Excellency Lady Aberdeen, "to whose energetic efforts we owe that reform so long sought for by this bodythe appointment of female factory inspectors in the interests of women workers in the Province of Quebec." This gain prompted the Congress to urge upon the government the appointment of more inspectors," and in 1913 the staff consisted of eleven inspectors-eight men and three women. The trade unionists were displeased with the rate of progress, and they charged that factory inspection in the province was completely disorganized, and asked for an investigation by a commission. Two inspectors were added in 1914, and then the Congress began an agitation for the examination of candidates for the position of factory inspector, better salaries for inspectors, and the appointment of a deputy minister of Labor to control the department under the Minister's direction. The appointment of additional inspectors was

8

1 Trades and Labor Congress, 1894, p. 8.

2 Ibid., 1894, p. 22; 1895, p. 25; 1896, p. 24.

3 Ibid., 1896, p. 7.

4 Ibid., 1896, p. 5.

5 Ibid., 1897, p. 18; 1909, p. 23; 1911, p. 65; 1912, pp. 36, 79; 1913,

pp. 41, 143.

6 Ibid., 1913, p. 143.

7 Ibid., 1914, p. 25.

8 Ibid., 1916, p. 134; 1917, p. 121; 1918, pp. 47, 146.

recorded in 1918 and 19191 and in the latter year (c. 14) the office of deputy minister of Labor was established and the chief factory inspector appointed to the position.

2

About 1909 the trade unions in Quebec began to urge the full application of the factory laws to foundries and, under Article 3852 of the Revised Statutes of Quebec 1909, a number of regulations were established for the protection of workers employed in foundries. The enforcement of the regulations was not such as to please the trade unions,3 and they pressed for the appointment of special foundry inspectors.*

The inspectors of industrial establishments were authorized by the legislation of 1918 (c. 53), which established one day of rest in seven for employees in hotels, restaurants and clubs, to make inspections of such places. Prosecutions were to be taken by inspectors.

In the Quebec Public Health Act of the first session of 1922 (c. 29), which established the provincial Bureau of Health, special sections were included as to health in industrial establishments, empowering the Lieutenant-Governor in Council to make regulations for securing health in industrial establishments and charging the sanitary physicians and municipal sanitary authorities with the duty of carrying them out.

Manitoba

The Manitoba Factories Act of 1900 (c. 13) authorized the appointment of male and female factory inspectors and assigned to them precisely the same duties as the Ontario. act of 1884. The act applied only to factories where more than four persons were employed.

1 Ibid., 1918, p. 47; 1919, p. 78.

2 Ibid., 1909, p. 71.

3 Ibid., 1910, p. 25.

4 Ibid., 1912, pp. 36, 79; 1913, pp. 41, 141.

Factory inspection in Manitoba seems to have been no more satisfactory to the trade unions than in the older provinces. In 1903, the Manitoba executive committee of the Trades and Labor Congress directed the attention of the government to the non-enforcement of the Factories Act and again in 1907 the committee reported that the government had appointed only one factory inspector, that his salary was inadequate and that the law was not enforced. In 1909 and 1911 the committee complained that the inspector did not give his full time to factory inspection and in the latter year responsible ministers promised a better enforcement of the act. But in 1913 the committee reported that there had been no improvement * and this, as was stated in 1914, "in spite of repeated demands, backed by the verdicts of coroners' juries that death had occurred as a consequence of the non-enforcement of the act." 5 In June, 1914, one month before the provincial election, two inspectors—a man and a woman-were appointed.

In 1915 (c. 24) an amendment to the act required that in case of death within 30 days caused by an injury received in a factory, the proprietor should send a written notice of the death to the factory inspector within 24 hours. The same amending act made factory inspectors and their office staffs incompetent to give testimony in any civil case with regard to information obtained in the exercise of their duties. An amendment of 1916 (c. 41) extended the application of the act to factories employing three or more persons, instead of five or more as before, and also to laundries

1 Trades and Labor Congress, 1903, p. 27.

Ibid., 1909, p. 19; 1911, p. 73.

2 Ibid., 1911, p. 27.

4 Ibid., 1913, p. 34.

Ibid., 1914, p. 34.

owned or operated by Chinese, as had been requested by the unions.1 An amendment as to injuries by fire or accident was made in 1918 (c. 27) whereby notice was to be sent to the Bureau of Labor within 24 hours. In case of accident likely to prove fatal, immediate notice was required.

Nova Scotia

The Nova Scotia Factories Act, which was urged upon the government by the Trades and Labor Council of Halifax,2 was passed in 1901 (c. 1) but Nova Scotia was the last of the provinces to provide for the enforcement of its factories legislation, the law being left in abeyance while the provincial executive committee of the Trades and Labor Congress reported year after year that no action had been taken, despite occasional government promises. It was not until February, 1908, that an inspector of factories was appointed. The act provided for the appointment of men and women factory inspectors and assigned to them the same duties as those of the 1884 Ontario law, given above. Nova Scotia also followed Ontario in empowering inspectors to take physicians, health officers or other local sanitary authorities into a factory when dealing with questions of sanitation and restrictions imposed upon the inspectors in the exercise of their powers were the same as in the Ontario act. Any building or part of a building could be exempted by proclamation of the Governor in Council from application of the act for a limited or indefinite period.

In 1915 (c. 27) an amendment to the Factories Act made provision for sanitary and safety regulations for moulding shops. Enforcement of the act, when it did come, was not such as to elicit union approbation, and in 1919 the Nova

1 Ibid., 1912, p. 33.

2 Ibid., 1901, p. 49.

3 Ibid., 1902, p. 42; 1903, p. 21; 1904, p. 25; 1907, p. 19.

1

Scotia Federation of Labor was asking for "more and better inspection of factories." " As yet the province has not appointed a woman inspector.

New Brunswick

The trade unions of New Brunswick made their first effort to secure the enactment of labor legislation in that province in 1903, when they asked for a factory law and the appointment of a factory inspector. They succeeded in having a bill introduced in the legislature in 1904 but because of "great differences of opinion" the legislature decided to refer the matter to a commission (1904, c. 14). The Factories Act, which was passed in 1905 (c. 7), followed the legislation in other provinces with regard to the appointment of factory inspectors and their duties and powers. The application of the act was limited to factories employing ten or more, bakehouses and laundries being included, but not any lobster, fish or fruit canning establishments outside of cities and towns.

It was enacted in 1909 (c. 42) that no person should be continued in the position of factory inspector after he had reached the age of 70 years. The inspectors were also required to submit semi-annual reports, indicating the factories in which conditions were not according to law or in which accidents had occurred during the previous six months, together with some account of such accidents and illegal conditions and any other matters that might seem worthy of mention. The law provided that these reports should be brought before the legislative assembly as soon as possible after the opening of the session.

1 Trades and Labor Congress, 1919, pp. 82-83.

2 Ibid., 1903, p. 22.

3 Ibid., 1904, p. 24.