Canada Overcomes Dissension

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31118, 22 July 1966, Page 12

Canada Overcomes Dissension

Over the last 10 years there had been a quiet revolution in Canada, said the Secretary of State for ’ Canada (Miss J. LaMarsh), in Christchurch last ; evening.

She said that in this time many people had realised that too much attention could be paid to separatist movements in Canada.

Too much attention was also paid to the thought that Canada would dissolve or break up.

The quiet revolution had brought to the fore intellectual forces of the French Canadian which had required the rest of the nation to reconsider the matter to see that the pact made 100 years ago had not been lived up to. Miss LaMarsh was addressing members of the Canter bury Chamber of Commerce and the Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association, who gave her a reception at Shirley Lodge. In the last eight years or so, after many years of dissension, young people in Canada had demanded, in a sense, aelf-mle.

The Canadians had come to realise that what they had been seeking, a feeling of being Canadian, was right there—the fact they had two languages within the same nation. Miss LaMarsh said that when people said, “you are American” it made Canadians bristle. “We are Canadians and we know we are different,” she said. “We realise now that one of the most important things that has kept us from sliding into the United States is that we have two languages and two cultural groups.”

In the North American continent all natural pulls were north and south, she said. “We have had to wrench reason apart to create our nation east and west.” In order to hold together the nation, the Canadians had

had to build railways and set up services of incomparable size, as well as means of communication such as broadcasting systems, said Miss LaMarsh.

“Perhaps, broadcasting is one of the things that can continue to unify the nation,” she said. “Magazines, newspapers and periodicals from the United States permeate our very air. “It is a costly matter. It costs the Canadian a great deal to be a separate nation,” she said. Canada had had a sustained burst of growth. The gross national product last year passed 52 billion dollars. Canada was trimming its military force, to about 100,000. It was trying to produce a unified force of all three services.

“We have space to fill and tremendous untapped resources,” she said. “We have the second highest standard of living in the world. “It has all been done notwithstanding the dissension between the people.” Miss LaMarsh invited New Zealanders to visit Canada next year when it celebrates the centenary of its federation.

Miss LaMarsh was introduced by the president of the chamber (Mr B. J. Drake) and the president of the association (Mr C. W. Mace) replied.

First-aid In Factories

For the first time a first-aid instructor from the Christchurch sub-centre of the St. John Ambulance Association had completed a first-aid training class at a Christchurch factory, said the secretary of the sub-centre, (Mr G. A. Brown) yesterday. Under the First-aid Regulations, 1966, factories must provide and maintain first-aid facilities to ensure that workers were given adequate first-aid treatment without delay, said Mr Brown. In accordance with the regulations the sub-centre’s committee had appointed Mr K. N. Larkin as a full-time instructor.

Next Tuesday Mr Brown will present the factory manager of A. C. Nottingham, Ltd. (Mr A. B. Kennedy) with three certificates gained by employees of the firm.