1937 - Convention Report

              TWENTIETH PROVINCIAL CONVENTION 59
A report like this is the kind that brings joy to the heart of a Convener, and
I am sure, to those who hear them, " Mrs. Anclrian, of the Bingham W. I., fully
covered the Committee of Agriculture and Canadian Industries with a very good
paper, including grain and grass growing, ranching, mining, dairy farming,
gardens, fruit raising, fur farming, natural gas and oil wells, lumbering, pulp and
paper mills, also the sugar industry." One feels there must have been some­thing
of interest there for everyone who heard it. What a contrast to another
report, such as, " Convener gave statistics to show that business is going ahead."
As our Convener of Canadian Industries in the Federated Women's Institutes
of Canada has pointed out, we have endeavored to study with a view to developing
and stimulating interest in our industries, first at home in Alberta, then as con­nected
with the whole Dominion. Things that can be made in the home, by
" cottage industry," was a suggestion for study by our Convener. We know that
our women are doing work of this kind anyway, but there are always new ideas
to be gleaned from the experiences of others. Among those listed are carding
wool, weaving, spinning, quilting, making wool comforters, knitting, dressmaking,
needle work,, rug- making in various ways, and making of wool blankets out of
old woollens. One woman keeps Angora rabbits, cards and spins her own wool,
and knits the yarn into suits, making a good living for herself.
Canning foods, crystallizing fruits, meats, and so on, is also mentioned, but
I feel that this is encroaching on our Home Economics territory, so I shall not
go into it in detail. One way of helping Canadian Industries is in the matter of
window displays. Ask your local merchants to put on displays of Canadian-made
goods or home products.
I think I can truthfully say keen interest has been taken in the study of
Canadian Industries. I have received some very good papers that have been given,
some reports, and have noticed a number of meetings on the subject mentioned
in the papers, about which I received no report. Nevertheless, I am glad to
know that the work is being carried on.
Some papers given were Alberta Industries, which mentioned about thirty
industries— one on real silk, rayon and cellophane, a contest with members
dressed to represent Canadian products, and one dealing with agriculture,
mining, fish, manufacturing, lumbering, fur farming, and trading. Under
agriculture it dealt with grain and grasses, fruit trees and shrubs, sugar beets,,
market gardening, poultry and live stock. In mining it covered coal, iron,
copper, salt, oil and gas, asbestos, lead, platinum. In fishing, deep water and
inland fishing and salmon canning. In manufacturing, the art of turning raw
materials into finished products, chemical industries and fertilizers, pottery,
hydro- electric power.
Other papers dealt with Turner Valley, the sugar beet and woollen industries,
textiles, fishing and the use of airplanes in this, a bendable glass which is being
developed by a Canadian firm, Moss- tex, paper from straw, and one on mining,
which stated:
" Over seventy different minerals of economic importance are produced in
Canada—- ten of which account for over 90 per cent of the value of the total
production. In order of value they are, gold, coal, copper, nickel, natural gas,
zinc, lead, silver, petroleum, and platinum. Ontario maintained her lead as
Canada's richest mineral province, followed by British Columbia, Quebec,
Alberta, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Yukon, N. W. Territories, and
New Brunswick. Today Canada takes first place among the world's nickel and
asbestos producers; second in- gold, platinum, cobalt and radium production;
third in copper production, and fourth in lead and silver production.