CANADA’S STRENGTH

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 December 1940, Page 9

CANADA’S STRENGTH

POSITION WHEN VICTORY COMES POST-WAR DEPRESSION NOT EXPECTED. SURVEY BY MINISTER. QUEBEC. When victory comes, Canada will be “an immensely stronger nation than when we entered the war, stronger industrially and stronger in man-power," the Hon. C. D. Howe, Minister of Munitions and Supply said in an address here. Mr Howe was not of the opinion that a post-war depression would occur. “We can reasonably expect a large increase in our population through immigration,” he said. “The. rebuilding of a war-torn Europe will continue to demand ohr food, raw materials and the product of our factories..”

Mr Howe stated that Canadians were becoming ever increasingly air-minded as indicated by the strides made in the development of civil aviation despite the fact that it is being retarded somewhat as a result of the war. “When we consider the many thousands of young men that are being, and will be, trained as aviators and as air mechanics, it must be apparent that we will continue to be an air-minded country,” he said.

In speaking of the construction of airports under the British Commonwealth air training plan, Mr Howe said that in the past year “we have built 170 miles of hard surfaced runways which, if so converted into a roadway 20 feet wide, would represent 850 miles of paved highway.” “To date, this year, we have completed fifty-five of these airports, with hard surfaced runways, airport lighting and all the trimmings, each airport have at least three hard surfaced runways from 3,000 to 4,000 feet in length, and from 100 to 200 feet in width; and. in addition, have built 26 secondary airports or all way flying fields, with grass or sod surfaces. We have also extended runways on existing airports and built additional runways. The whole programme has involved the moving of over 20,000,000 yards of earth, and has given a good season’s work to every unit of grading equipment, and every bituminous plant in Canada. The expenditure on aerodrome development has been about 18,000.000 dollars, and the expenditure for han-* gars, housing and buildings required for the Air Training Scheme an even larger amount.”