The True North, Strong and Free

MR. STARK: My first words today must be to express the grateful thanks of the members of The Empire Club and its Executive to our distinguished guest, The Honourable Walter G. Dinsdale, D.F.C., M.P., M.A., Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources in the Federal Cabinet, who very kindly and with very little notice agreed to speak to us today in the unavoidable absence of the Minister of Justice, The Honourable Davie Fulton. Mr. Fulton had fully expected to be with us, had indeed prepared his speech for that purpose, but in a last-minute decision it was determined that his presence was needed with that of the Prime Minister in attendance at the very important Commonwealth Conference which is now proceeding. We are hopeful that Mr. Fulton may be with us on a later occasion.

To you, Mr. Dinsdale, on, I believe, your first visit to The Empire Club, we extend a very warm welcome indeed. Since 1951 Mr. Dinsdale has been a member of the House of Commons, representing the Brandon-Souris Riding and having been successively and sucessfully re-elected in 1953, in 1957, and in 1958. For two years, he held the important post of Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Veterans' Affairs; and on October 11, 1960, he was sworn in as Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources, the post which he presently occupies.

Mr. Dinsdale is a graduate of Brandon College and McMaster University, from which latter University he obtained his Bachelor of Arts Degree in 1937. In 1951 he obtained his Master of Arts Degree from the University of Toronto. Shortly after his graduation from McMaster, Mr. Dinsdale became a social worker with the Salvation Army, operating both in Toronto and Montreal for a period of three years. Much of this time was spent in prison work; in Toronto, at the Don Jail and in Montreal, at the Bordeaux Jail and St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary. Following this valuable background experience, he was appointed Director of Adult Education and Assistant Professor of Social Services at Brandon College, University of Manitoba, which post he occupied from 1946 until 1951.

For five years, he rendered invaluable war services to his country as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Force. His hobbies are photography, flying, and music. Mr. Dinsdale is married and has three sons and one daughter.

In the important post which he now occupies, he is most enthusiastic about Canada's northern development, and it is with great pleasure that I ask him now to address you on a subject of his own choosing, "The True North, Strong and Free".

MR. DINSDALE: Mr. Chairman, distinguished-or should I say fellow politicians-distinguished head table guests, and gentlemen of the Empire Club. When I received the invitation to substitute for my friend and colleague, The Honourable Davie Fulton, the other day, the horrible thought struck me that it might be anticipated this afternoon that I would continue along the same topic that he had selected, namely, The Columbia River. That is a subject that will eventually come under the purview of the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources.

At this stage I did not demonstrate any enthusiasm to fill the shoes of my distinguished colleague who has been carrying on this important subject. That happened for several reasons: first of all, I am from Manitoba and not from the Province of British Columbia. I must say that we Manitobans, who move along the even tenor of our ways politically as contrasted with the Province of British Columbia, would feel very much out of place if we attempted to adapt ourselves to the rarified atmosphere of that mountainous region, particularly in political matters. So that when I, gentlemen, suggested that I must be allowed to select a topic of my own choosing, well, I was very delighted I must confess when that suggestion was accepted.

I know that there are many of you here this afternoon who are disappointed. I have been introduced to several of the gentlemen here, and one of them thought he was meeting Mr. Fulton. I know he is going to be awfully disappointed when he wakes up to the grim reality of the situation. I think I can only use a little parable that was prevalent on the prairies during the days of the depression -the "dirty thirties", as they are often referred to-when one of the annual social events (which every rural community indulges in out on the prairies) felt the full impact of this unfortunate economic situation-the annual spring-summer strawberry social. Almost invariably during those years of depression we would see this sign announcing the annual strawberry festival: "Owing to the depression it is announced that prunes will be served." You come anticipating strawberries, and what are you going to get? Well, we will not put a designation on it.

I think it is most appropriate, Mr. Chairman, that you have asked The Minister of Northern Affairs and National Resources to speak to you today, to an Empire Club "do", because actually the Department of Northern Affairs is the last "great outpost of empire", in the old sense of the word. My territory constitutes 40 percent of Canada's total land area, and it is the only territory in Canada where the old form of colonial government still persists. Therefore, I am an "empire builder" in the literal as well as the theoretical sense of the word. Today I am going to just very briefly discuss some of the things that are taking place in this very important part of Canada north of the sixtieth parallel of latitude.

I have succeeded another westerner in this position, The Honourable Alvin Hamilton who, during the three years that he occupied the position, captured the imagination of Canadians everywhere as he unfolded his vision of Canada's "True North, Strong and Free". It seems entirely logical that a Manitoban should succeed someone from Saskatchewan in this important portfolio. As a Member of Parliament for a Manitoba constituency, I have long had a northern orientation. My own province was carved out of the Northwest Territories as far back as 1860, when it was the first province actually to be formed out of the track-less prairie. It was in Manitoba that the "Granary of the World" dream first began to become a reality, and my own home-city of Brandon still carries the designation, "Wheat City of the West", even though today the centre of gravity for the wheat economy has moved much farther westward than Brandon. Indeed, all of Manitoba and all of the prairie provinces which originally made up a large segment of the Northwest Territories are striving mightily toward a diversified and balanced economy.

Manitoba has long been a pioneer in northwest development. We see the wisdom of John A. Macdonald's national policy when he described the emphasis as jumping from wigwam to wigwam. Settlers were always pouring into the Manitoba farmland. My own father came west in the early nineteen hundreds under the influence of Sir Clifford Sifton's slogan, "Go west, young man". It is an interesting coincidence to note, that at the time Mr. Sifton was the Minister responsible for the Department of the Interior, he was also the Member for Brandon, Manitoba.

Under the influence of this slogan, my father homesteaded in Saskatchewan, at Elbo, Saskatchewan, and went broke the first year. They talk about rural-urban migration today; well, he became a part of that pattern way back in 1906, because he settled in a sub-marginal water area in the district that is now seeing that great project, the South Saskatchewan Dam. If he had only waited long enough; if his faith and vision had only been strong enough, he would have had lots of water in due course. But he left the farm and moved into the City of Brandon.

Manitoba, too, was one of the first provinces to penetrate into the Pre-Cambrian Shield, and stations such as Flin Flon, Lynn Lake, Lake Thompson, Moch Lake, are well-known names. We have Port Churchill, which is still the only seaport on the Arctic seas. I understand, Mr. Chairman, that Ontario has some ambitions in that regard, but I think we can still say that Port Churchill is the only seaport on the Arctic seas, and we have pointed the way to the development which is now underway right across Canada north of the sixtieth parallel. The amazing thing to me is that this development has come about so slowly.

Back at the turn of the century, there was a surge of settlements as thousands rode the Klondike Trail into the Yukon Territory. There have been cities spring up like Dawson, which reached a population of 28,000 within a few years. Then the gold bubble burst and for fifty years the territory of Canada's North lay dormant, forgotten, and neglected.

The picture has changed dramatically, so today at long last Canada's northland is coming into its own. And well it might, because it contains resources, minerals, gas, and oil in fantastic quantities, so the geologists tell us. It is made up of large segments of the Pre-Cambrian Shield, larger than the Pre-Cambrian Shield area in Ontario. Ontario has many wonderful mining developments. It has sedimentary areas which are even more promising in terms of oil production than those found in the Province of Alberta, and these extend right up into the Arctic islands. Then on the west coast we have the Rocky Mountain region which is already under very active exploration and development in the Yukon Territory.

In many respects I submit to you, gentlemen, that Canada's new drive towards industrial development is dependent upon how we develop all these national resources.

Governor-General Vanier put his finger on the pulse of the matter recently when he described the challenge in the following terms: "Canada's vast unoccupied continent to the north constitutes the fiercest challenge and the brightest promise that has ever fallen to one nation's lot in recorded history". That is a strong statement and the question arises: What are we doing about it? My quick answer is that we are doing a great deal about it. We believe it is the duty of government to assist private enterprise in the development of this area. We recognize that these resources belong to all the people of Canada, who must share in their benefits. We recognize, too, that the role of government must be active rather than passive as it has been during the past fifty years.

At the same time in a free society it is private enterprise which has the vital role to play in the actual development of these resources. In any resource development programme in Canada, it is axiomatic that transportation has the highest priority. Unless we can get to the resources, it is obviously impossible to go into production or even to assess adequately what we have. Already we are building access roads to the resources both in the Northwest Territories and in the Yukon Territory, and these are being built through the most promising areas of high mineral potential. Slowly but steadily, a road grid is taking shape in the Yukon as well as in the Northwest Territories. The highway reached Yellowknife last fall, and a programme is underway to extend it north-eastwards to reach the mineral deposits in the Canadian Shield. This road programme is planned flexibly so that we can take advantage of new discoveries as they occur.

There was quite a significant occasion last summer when the first road reached Yellowknife. It was made the occasion for a gala celebration, because actually it was a significant event. This was the first time that the Territories as we know them today had been linked by road to the southern parts of Canada. We are hoping--and hope and vision are the very life-blood in everything we are doing in Northern Affairs today--we are hoping that the first link by rail will be established with the Territories with the construction of the Pine Point Railway into the Great Slave Lake region with its high mineral potential.

That is just a very brief reference to our roads-to-resources programme for the next twenty years in the construction of twenty-five hundred miles of roads. We are currently in negotiation with some private enterprise groups to build a road that we hope will bring into production the first space-age metal development. This is a new move on the northern development front, and we believe it is just the beginning of similar developments of this kind. Also one of the essentials for satisfactory northern development is a sound framework of policies by regulating and encouraging investment and also ensuring that the pattern of development is in the best interests of the country as a whole. Until very recently, the regulations in force reflected the thinking of thirty years ago. The rules were obviously in need of updating and revisions made to meet current needs. During the past two years, the Department and the government have been busily engaged in a major revision of both the regulations applying to oil and gas development as well as of regulations applying to mining development.

Yesterday I spoke to the Prospectors and Developers Association, and that was actually the first official statement outside the House of Commons with respect to our new mining regulations. This introduces a Canadian participation feature for the first time in this kind of development, a participation feature which is designed to protect this resource development for the general good of the Canadian population in the future, to encourage investment by Canadians in these resources and, as I emphasized to these men and women who are active in the field, it is in no way designed to discourage what we sometimes refer to as foreign investment. The emphasis is on the encouragement of Canadian investment and not on the discouragement of foreign investment. To avoid any implications of that kind, the Canadian participation in both oil, gas, and mineral regulations only becomes effective at the production stage, not at the exploration stage. We want exploration to proceed as rapidly as possible, and there are no restrictions in so far as exploration activities are concerned.

We believe that, in general, these regulations should encourage development without waste of resources or of capital. They protect the rise of Canadians to participation in the ownership of producing companies and in profits which may be made. And finally, the oil and gas regulations provide a share in any discoveries for the nation as a whole through a Crown reserve system.

I presume, Mr. Chairman, that most of the members of this Club are businessmen, and I hardly need remind you then that industry does not play for marbles or peanuts as we sometimes say, nor does it commit its funds for long-term operations to development areas as costly and as difficult as the North without due calculation and without very careful thought.

The most practical recognition of the North as a potential source of oil and gas lies in the fact that since exploration began in 1957, the oil industry has invested some $30,000,000 in northern exploration. Over the next ten years, indications are that more than $300,000,000 may be spent-a figure that could go much higher. The areas of greatest drilling activity lie within the Laird and Fort Good Hope plains. Some thirty to forty oil companies are taking part in the exploratory programme. About twenty wells have been started and about $6,000,000 will be spent for direct drilling expenses this year and $1,000,000 more for roads, transportation, and supplies.

Wells drilled in 1961 are already in areas where seismic work has been done. This cuts down random drilling. Seismic operations have been increased considerably over the last year, an increase that should be reflected in a larger drilling programme for 1962. About ten seismic crews have been working up in the Arctic lands during the past winter. Today we accept all this in the matter-of-fact way that we accept news about development in any other part of Canada. The measure of our lack of credulity at the idea of oil camps in the Arctic islands is a fair indication of, I believe, one of the most extraordinary changes that has come over Canadian thinking in many days. That is a willingness to accept the North as a vital and integral part of our whole Canadian nation.

There was a time when we used to beat our manly chests and talk about Canada as a nation of the North, and most of us got as close to the American boundary as American immigration laws would permit. It was still very much at the talking stage-no action at all was occurring.

So much for the national resources of the North. That is a subject we could go on discussing for a long, long time, but let us just refer for a moment to the human resources of the North.

In this tremendous land area, some 400,000,000 square miles (I think it is 40 percent of Canada's land area), only 35,000 people live, and 12,000 of these Canadian citizens are the Eskimo population. There are large numbers of Indians, Scandinavians, French, Irish, Scottish, just as there is a great variety of groups in any other part of Canada.

This penetration of the North with a determined policy of northern development has created huge social problems that are quite formidable, as you might well know, and consequently it means that once you embark on northern development, you have to think immediately in terms of education, health, welfare, and general community services.

This is Education Week in Canada, and I think one of the most interesting educational programmes taking place anywhere in this nation at the moment is among the population of the Northwest Territories. Up until just a few years ago, the only educational activity was carried on by the churches. We had both the Anglican and the Roman Catholic Churches, which had done some marvellous, inspiring work in the North.

Since the government has moved into this area, splendid schools with all the facilities of our best schools here in the South have developed, and one at Yellowknife was opened recently which has words inscribed on the front which I think express the spirit of the early pioneers of the North and also express the spirit of what we are striving to do today. These words are as follows: "This school was founded upon the vision of those who first came north, the prospectors, the miners, the bush pilots, the missionaries, the practitioners and administrators, and upon their faith in the future of the North"; and then it quotes that scripture, "Your old men shall dream dreams and your young men shall see visions".

Faith and vision have always been very vital ingredients in northern development. As a tribute to the missionary pioneers in the North and also to the explorers, we have recently decided to name various schools and hostels after these men and women. That will perpetuate the pioneering work that they undertook at such tremendous sacrifice and personal cost.

But what is taking place today in terms of education? In 1957 about 21 percent of the population of the children in the North were in schools. Today 60 percent are in schools. In that same year, there were seventy-two classrooms. Today there are 188 classrooms. The programme has moved forward very quickly as you can see, and I think it is one of the most unique school systems to be found anywhere.

In the schools you will find most people in the first three grades. We have over 50 percent of our Eskimo population at least in the first three grades, and they are making a very rapid adjustment, so I am informed, to the demands of this complex twentieth century. I am very encouraged by their response, and it is to be anticipated, because the Eskimo is moving directly from a culture which gives all the self-confidence in the world. The Eskimo has no feeling of inferiority and has not been subject to paternalism in any shape or form. He has had to wrestle with the Arctic wilderness, and he is proud of the fact that he has been able to survive where the white man cannot survive. So that anything the white man can thrust at the Eskimo in the educational process, it seems that the Eskimo is able to take it in his stride.

Along with the educational programme, there is also a health programme. One out of every sixty-seven Eskimos suffers from tuberculosis, and a programme is underway now to deal with this health problem as quickly as possible. It is interesting to note that under the Department of Northern Affairs, welfare and industry are combined under the same branch. The situation, of course, is that we do not want the Eskimo to be subjected to the same paternalistic problems that our native Indian population was by segregating them on reservations. We want the Eskimo to become a vital and integrated part of our total Canadian culture, so that if he does become a welfare case, in the ordinary sense of the word, immediately the processes of our industrial division are set into action to try to make it possible to fit him into a useful economic role in the North.

A typical example of what is occurring is the development of Eskimo art, both graphic and the soapstone art. One of the interesting developments in the world of art in the past two years has been the excited response not only in Canada but also in the United States and now in Europe, to the advent of a genuine Canadian folk art-the Eskimo graphic prints.

It was my privilege just last week to open the current exhibit on behalf of the Cape Dorset Eskimo Co-operative. They extended the invitation--I didn't ask to be given the job-they contacted me. They have hired their own business manager who is well-known in artistic circles in Canada. They wrote to me and asked if I would preside at the opening, and the prints are going to be distributed through various galleries across Canada, in New York, and in Europe. The number that were available in Ottawa were snapped up during the evening of the first exhibition. I say it is one of the most exciting developments in art circles on an international basis at the present time. This is the sort of thing that is taking place.

Another interesting economic development is tourism. The North is aware of its potential as a tourist development area. Communities like Yellowknife, Hay River, and Inuvik in the Mackenzie River Delta-modern communities in all respects-have responded magnificently, and the Department's appointment of a development officer in connection with fish and wildlife in the Northwest Territories took on significance in January of last year.

I do not have to go into detail on the tourist potential of the North because it is one great, vast tourist paradise--just two examples, however.

Last year there was a buffalo hunt organized in Wood Buffalo National Park which drew many American sportsmen. A considerable expansion of tourist facilities took place when several new fishing camps were established in the Mackenzie River district. There is a new hotel going up at Inuvik and also at Hay River, and then there is an Eskimo-run fishing camp at Cape Dorset. This Cape Dorset community is a very lively and active community on South Baffin Island, and some of the tallest fish stories of last year came out of experiences in that particular camp. Visitors who come up to Cape Dorset are permitted to bag a seal on licence, provided the Eskimo community receives the seal meat. They were too busy enjoying themselves to envy the buffalo hunters in the Wood Buffalo National Park.

There is another interesting tourism development taking place under the tutelage of Tom Patterson of the Stratford Festival. He has been hired by the Dawson City community to revive a Klondike Festival which it is hoped--and I use that word, "hope", again--will take place in the old Auditorium Theatre in Dawson City and will try to recapture the pioneering spirit which drove our forefathers in such great numbers north of the sixtieth parallel in pursuit of hidden wealth back in 1898.

The wealth is still there, but not in the form dreamed of by those who hit the "Trail of Ninety-Eight". It is there in rich scenic beauty of breath-taking grandeur. It is there in mineral deposits and oil, and it might well exist in quantities far beyond the known resources of Alberta. As I have indicated, the search for oil extends to even the remote Arctic islands. When one considers it is only half the distance to the Middle East oil supplies; when one considers the political instabilities in the world at the present time, the potential for future development becomes obvious.

This then, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, is just a glimpse into the consideration being paid to national development by the Department of Northern Affairs and National Resources. I believe it is something to catch the imagination and inspire the efforts of Canadians everywhere. As I have indicated already, it is doing this.

I have dwelt almost entirely on the northern affairs aspect of the portfolio this afternoon. I could have gone into national resources, because under national resources we get down into the development policies in the provinces, our national parks, our historic sites, our camp grounds and picnic site programmes, water resources, and power development. I could have talked at length on the Resources for Tomorrow Conference which is being planned to take place in Montreal next October. It will be the first time in Canadian history that the provinces will come together with the Federal Government to discuss and consider policies relating to the development and exploitation of our renewable resources, soil, water, fish, wildlife, recreation, and other resources. It is going to mark, I believe, a new era in Canadian resource development.

In 1867, Canada was an imposing ideal, but a very unimpressive reality. The ideal was dazzling, a great and united nation stretching away from Atlantic to Pacific. Yet the part of the country where we sit today discussing the visions of tomorrow, was little more than squatter communities along the St. Lawrence waterway. The pessimists said Canada could never become an independent nation united from sea to sea. Notwithstanding the pessimists, we see all around us in less than one hundred years, ample evidence of a prospering metropolitan community of some 2,000,000 souls. It took faith, vision and hard work to make the dream come true. Now we contemplate not only a Canada from east to west, from sea to sea, from Atlantic to Pacific, but also northward to the Arctic Ocean.

This three-dimensional dream can become a reality sooner than we think if we have the eyes to see and the courage to carry out the vision. Canada is a northern nation. We sing about it in our songs, about the "True North, Strong and Free". We will not occupy our national heritage until we answer the challenge laid down in the statement of our Governor-General that I quoted at the outset of these remarks, "Our history has been a history of men challenging and overcoming great obstacles".

The challenge was never greater, and the Opportunities were never greater than those we face in the second half of the twentieth century.

THANKS OF THE MEETING were expressed by Mr. Donald H. Jupp.