1939 - Convention Report

              T W E N T Y - F I R S T PROVINCIAL CONVENTION 53
REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF LEGISLATION
AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Mrs. Char> es Lynch- Staunton, Lundbreck, Convener.
In reporting on the Standing Committee of Legislation, I am very glad to
say that interest in this subject has increased immeasurably in the last few-years.
No longer is it looked upon as a dull subject, for in fact, it can with but
a little endeavour be made exceedingly interesting and even exciting.
Most intez* esting reports on the work of the Committee of Legislation have
come from many Alberta Branches. Several report having addresses on the
subject of Laws given at their meetings by lawyers. Members of the Legislature,
and travellers in far lands, and some had Mock Trials of fictitious and amusing
cases. Many have entertaining and instructive Roll Calls.
The immediate aim of the Alberta Standing Committee of Legislation has
been the study of Laws Relating to Minors, their Property Rights, Protection
Against Desertion and Cruelty, Adoption and Guardianship, Juvenile
Delinquency, etc., as well as the study of the Laws of Marriage and Divorce,
and Property Rights of Women.
Mrs. Montgomery reports to me that twenty- five papers dealing with
Legislation have been sent out from her Bureau. Thirty- two on Peace and
International Relations.
I may remind you that papers on any subject and material for preparing
papers may always be obtained from Mrs. Montgomery's files. Also that you
will find a list of material available contained in the Report of the Convention.
Perhaps from the standpoint of the Women's Institutes, the most
important measure of the Alberta Legislature during the past session, was the
Poliomyelitis Sufferers Act which was passed in March of this year.
Under this Act sufferers of Infantile Paralysis may be given training and
instruction in vocational work, and at the end of their training period will be
given financial assistance to proceed in their chosen careers.
A clause of the Act states that free hospitalization will be provided to any
sufferers from Poliomyelitis, so that every victim of this dread disease may
have the best medical and hospital care available. In many cases the victims
of the disease are young people of great ability, who through the disabilities
they have suffered are not even able to proceed with their regular education,
and this plan now opens for them a hopeful future and enables them to become
useful citizens.
A very interesting feature of the study of this Committee has been a
Scrap- book prepared by Mrs. Guy Humphrey of Hampton, N. B., and sent to the
Conveners of Legislation of the different provinces. Mrs. Humphrey is the
Federal Convener of Legislation. From this book which reported the Legislation
work of all the Provinces, I gleaned many useful ideas. For instance, subjects
of Study for Legislation may be: Traffic Laws, to ensure greater safety on our
highways; Postal Regulations; Banking Laws in all their Branches of General
Accounts, Sowings, Interest, etc.; School Legislation; the Laws of Inheritance;
Property Rights; Custody of Children; Care of the Unfortunate; Pensions;
Debt Adjustment and Rehabilitation of the Drought Areas; Penal Reforms and
Health Laws; State Medicine; the Wheat Board and the Fixed Price of Wheat;
Mock Trials; study of Current Legislative Events and preparing a Legislative
Scrap- book for cuttings from newspapers; the Youth Movement of the present
day; and the study of Parliamentary Procedure, which means to us good form
in conducting our meetings, with common sense and courtesy, in maintaining
order and dignity, in serving the will of the majority and also to preserve the
rights of the minority.