1938: Quebec

Elections.

Premier Maurice Duplessis maintained his hold over Quebec politics during 1938 in spite of violent criticism of his policies from other parts of Canada. Four by-elections have been held since the first Duplessis victory on Aug. 17, 1936, and all have been won by his newly formed Union Nationale party. The last two, held on November 2, resulted in Duplessis triumphs despite the fact that they were held in constituencies where opposition to his Padlock Law was the greatest. The only exception to this string of Duplessis victories was the triumph of Cammillien Houde, a bitter foe of Duplessis, in the December elections for mayor of Montreal. Houde won in a bitterly fought contest by a plurality of 20,612 over Charles A. Gascon.

Legislation.

Throughout the year the Premier sought to make the utmost political capital out of an anti-Communist campaign in a province where genuine Communism has been almost non-existent. The Padlock Law has been enforced with unexpected severity, not only against Communists but against Liberal opposition groups. In the first nine months in which the law was in effect, November 1937 through July 1938, more than 300 raids were made under the law. These continued throughout the year. Among the organizations threatened was the Montreal Youth Council, which includes among its 16,000 members such diverse organizations as the Y.W.C.A. and the Young Communists League. Efforts on the part of the Montreal Civil Liberties Union and other Liberal groups to have the Padlock Law declared unconstitutional proved of no avail. In July, the Dominion Cabinet refused to act on the principle of the law, but held out hope of redress where specific injustice could be proved.

Meanwhile, the Premier has pushed ahead with his program for the gradual establishment of a Catholic corporate state similar to that envisaged in the Papal encyclical, Quadragesimo Anno. The Fair Wages Board, established under the Fair Wages Act of 1937, issued ordinances during the year specifying minimum wages in the textile industry, in small towns and rural sections, and other industries not covered by the general minimum wage and hour rules issued Dec. 28, 1937, which affected some 670,000 workers. Application of the Workmen's Wage Act of 1937 to the disadvantage of the workers led to increased cooperation between the Catholic syndicates and the international unions against the Government's policies.

Political Conflict.

Conflict between Duplessis and the Liberal Government of the Dominion was almost continuous throughout the year. Duplessis flatly refused to recognize the authority of the Rowell Commission which was established for the specific purpose of settling jurisdictional disputes between the federal and provincial governments. On Dec. 11, two members of the Dominion Cabinet — Norman Rogers, Minister of Labor, and C. D. Howe, Minister of Transport — charged that the 'unnatural political alliance' between Premiers Duplessis and Hepburn of Ontario had as its purpose the ousting of Prime Minister Mackenzie King and the establishment of a government at Ottawa 'which would be largely controlled by the provincial governments at Toronto and Quebec.' The Duplessis government, in harmony with the Quebec tradition, has consistently resisted all efforts of the Mackenzie King Cabinet to extend the British North America Act to permit greater Dominion authority, such as that to enact a Federal scheme of unemployment insurance.

Finances.

A report by Martin Fisher, Provincial Treasurer, showed ordinary revenues of $53,344,034 for the year ending June 30, 1938. This was more than $1,000,000 more than in the previous year and highest in the province's history. Ordinary expenditures totaled $50,335,747, leaving a surplus on the ordinary budget of $3,008,287. In addition, however, the province spent $16,156,096 in unemployment relief which was not included in the budget. Taking this into account, there was a deficit of $13,147,809 for the year.