GENERAL SUMMARY This volume is the fifth annual supplement to "Labour Legislation in Canada as existing on December 31, 1920," published by the Department of Labour, and contains a cumulative index covering the contents of the basic volume and supplements. During the year 1925 the Dominion Parliament, the legislatures of all the provinces and the Council of the Yukon met in regular sessions. Among the matters included in this report which deserve special mention is the formal acceptance by Canada of four Draft Conventions of the International Labour Conference. These are the first Conventions to which the Dominion has adhered, most of the subjects considered by the conferences being within the legislative jurisdiction of the provinces. The judgment of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council delivered on January 20, 1925, which found the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act, 1907, to be ultra vires of the Dominion Parliament, made necessary some readjustment if the machinery of the Federal law was to be available in provincial disputes. The Dominion Parliament therefore amended the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act, limiting its application to disputes not within the control of any province and adding a paragraph which enables any province to pass legislation taking advantage of the Dominion Act should it so desire. The province of British Columbia has already passed such legislation. * An Act providing for the establishment of a minimum wage for male employees was passed by the Legislature of British Columbia and applies to nearly all classes of industries. Hitherto minimum wage laws in the Dominion of Canada have, with two exceptions, applied to women. A section added to the Coal Mines Regulation Act of British Columbia in 1919 provided for the establishment of a minimum wage for coal miners. This section, which was to remain in force for three years only from January 1, 1920, was allowed to lapse and was omitted from the Revised Statutes of 1924. A clause in the Alberta Factories Act, 1917, fixes a minimum wage of $1.50 per shift for all persons" employed in factories with the exception of apprentices, who must be paid $1 per shift. In Manitoba and Quebec commissions appointed to study the subject of workmen's compensation made their reports to their respective legislatures. In Manitoba the Workmen's Compensation Act was amended along the lines recommended by the commission.† Draft Conventions of International Labour Conference A proclamation was issued by the Governor in Council on the 10th of October, 1925, bringing into force from the 1st of January, 1926, those amendments to the Canada Shipping Act which were passed by the Dominion Parliament at the session of 1924, in order to give effect to four Draft Conventions of the International Labour Conference, viz: (1) Unemployment Indemnity in Case of Loss or Foundering of the Ship; (2) Minimum Age for the Admission of Children to Employment at Sea; (3) Minimum Age for the Admission of Young Persons to Employment as Trimmers or Stokers; and (4) Compulscry Medical Examination of Children and Young Persons Employed at Sea. The Order in Council which recommended the issuance of the proclamation also granted authority for the adherence of Canada to the four Draft Conventions ramed therein and recommended that the necessary steps be taken for their ratification. * See footnote p. 7. + See footnote p. 9. In order that the general principle embodied in the Draft Convention and Recommendation of the International Labour Conference, 1921, concerning the weekly rest in industrial and commercial establishments, be applied and observed as far as possible in the administration of the public service of Canada, an Order in Council (P.C. 1537) was adopted on the 7th of September, 1925, recommending that the policy of the Government be declared as follows: (1) That no employee of the Dominion Government should be required to (3) That no exceptions to the foregoing principle shall be allowed except by departmental authority, and then only in cases where there may be no substitute help available to perform the duties which are involved: On June 11, 1925, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered a unanimous judgment on certain questions which had been referred to it as to the obligations of Canada arising out of her membership in the International Labour Organization and also as to the legislative competence as between the Dominion Parliament and the legislatures of the several provinces to deal with the Draft Convention limiting the hours of work in industrial undertakings to eight in the day and forty-eight in the week. It will be remembered that on May 23, 1924, a resolution was adopted by the House of Commons declaring it to be expedient to refer the Eight-Hour Day Convention to the Select Standing Committee on Industrial and International Relations for examination and report. This committee recommended that, on account of the doubt which existed in certain quarters as to the jurisdiction of the Dominion and Provincial Governments, notwithstanding the report of the Minister of Justice in 1920, the Draft Convention should be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada, and this was accordingly done. The judgment of the court confirmed the view expressed in the report of the then Minister of Justice, the Hon. C. J. Doherty, in 1920. It was to the effect that the obligation of the Dominion as a member of the International Labour Organization was simply to bring the recommendation or Draft Convention before the competent authorities. With regard to the particular Draft Convention having for its object the limitation of hours of work in industrial undertakings, the court found that the provincial legislatures possess authority to give effect to provisions such as those contained in the Draft Convention, subject to the qualification that as a rule the province has no authority to regulate the hours of employment of the servants of the Dominion Government. The court was of the opinion that the Parliament of Canada has exclusive legislative authority in those parts of Canada not within the boundary of any province and also in relation to the servants of the Dominion Government. Industrial Disputes In order to meet the situation which arose from the judgment of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in the case of the Toronto Electric Commissioners vs. Snider et al, which declared the Industrial Disputes Investigation Act to be ultra vires of the Dominion Parliament, the Dominion Government and the Legislature of British Columbia passed laws to make the machinery of the Dominion Act available in disputes which are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the province. A section was added (chapter 14) to the Federal Act providing that it shall apply only to certain specified classes of disputes which are within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government and to any disputes within the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of any province which, by legislation of that province, are made subject to the provisions of the Federal Act. Another amendment imposes a fine on any employer declaring a lockout or making a change in wages or hours. Formerly this penalty was only imposed in case of a lockout. The British Columbia Legislature passed a law (chapter 19) making the provisions of the Dominion Industrial Investigation Act apply to every industrial dispute of a nature defined in that Act which is within the exclusive legislative jurisdiction of the province of British Columbia.* The Nova Scotia Legislature enacted a new law, the Industrial Peace Act (chapter 1)† which repealed the two former laws on this subject, the Conciliation Act of 1903 and the Miners' Arbitration Act of 1890. The Industrial Peace Act is divided into two parts, the first providing for the arbitration of disputes in much the same manner as the Dominion Industrial Disputes Investigation Act, 1907. The second part, which comes into force only on proclamation of the Lieutenant-Governor in Council, provides for the establishment of a permanent Arbitration Commission of three members, including the chairman, who must be a barrister of the Supreme Court of Nov Scotia of at least ten years' standing. If within one month after the filing of the recommendation of a board of conciliation the parties to the dispute do not agree in writing to be bound by the recommendation of the board, any of the parties or the Lieutenant-Governor in Council may apply to have the dispute referred to the commission for settlement. A strike or lockout during the hearing of the dispute is declared illegal under penalty and the award of the commission is binding upon both parties and enforceable as an order of the Supreme Court. Employment Offices A section added (chapter 19) to the Manitoba Employment Bureau Act provides that the council of a city, town, village or rural municipality where there is no employment office may pass by-laws to establish and maintain such an office and may pay the cost out of municipal funds. Where it is deemed desirable, several municipalities may join, each bearing its proportion of the expense. An amendment (chapter 46) to the Saskatchewan Employment Agencies Act permits any town, village or rural municipality where there is no government employment office to establish an office and to charge to employers such fees as may be fixed by by-law. Unemployment Relief The Ontario Legislature passed a law (chapter 44) authorizing the council of any local municipality to levy during the year 1925 a special rate not exceeding one mill on the dollar of all rateable property to meet the cost of work undertaken for the purpose of providing work for those out of employment. Workmen's Compensation The Act to provide compensation where employees of His Majesty are killed or suffer injuries while performing their duties, which was passed by the Dominion Parliament in 1918 and amended in 1919, was again amended (chapter 37) by the repeal of that section which required an employee of the Canadian Government Railways who was a contributor to the Intercolonial and Prince Edward * Saskatchewan, Manitoba, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia have now passed laws similar to that of British Columbia. These will be included in the Report on Labour Legislation in Canada, 1926. + The Industrial Peace Act was repealed by the law of 1926 which makes the provisions of the Dominion Industrial Disputes Investigation Act applicable to provincial disputes. This law will be published in Labour Legislation in Canada, 1926. |