a delight. "Sunny Alberta" is a household 

 phrase. 



On last New Year's day farmers of the Spirit 

 river and McLennan districts of the Peace 

 river region, 400 miles north of Edmonton, in 

 what Americans are accustomed to consider 

 the Far North, were still busy at their plow- 

 ing. Golf and tennis have been played in Cal- 

 gary almost without interruption all winter. 



In conclusion the statement is made that if 

 all this sounds merely boastful, the statistics 

 of the weather bureau should prove conclu- 

 sive. For the greater part of December over- 

 coats were unnecessary in Edmonton. The 

 lowest temperature was 10 and the highest 50 

 degrees. At Winnipeg the lowest was 10 and 

 the highest 23. In the first 15 days of January 

 the maximum at Calgary was 44, minimum, 10 ; 

 at Winnipeg, 19 and 10; Regina, 23 and 8; 

 Lethbridge, 35 and 9; Saskatoon, 31 and 19; 

 Battleford, 29 and 14. 



These are declared to be fair samples of win- 

 ter temperature in Western Canada. They 

 will compare favorably with winter records in 

 Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and 

 Colorado. 



Labor Situation 



A review of the labor situation covering the 

 month of June shows a slight improvement in 

 the industrial situation, but with very little 

 change on the whole. There is also a slight 

 amelioration of the unemployment, though a 

 practically stationery status was maintained 

 during the month. Somewhat less time was 

 lost during the period consequent upon strikes 

 and industrial disputes than in the previous 

 month, and that corresponding in the previous 

 year, whilst a further gratifying decline in the 

 cost of living was recorded. 



A few industries such as building construc- 

 tion, lumbering and railway construction and 

 maintenance exhibited fairly regular upward 

 tendencies. Declines in fish canning and pack- 

 ing and increased activity in dairying and hotel 

 service were seasonal reactions. Logging var- 

 ied with the demand for pulpwood cutters, but 

 exhibited on the whole a downward movement. 

 Lumber and lumber products tended to con- 

 tinue the minor gains of the previous month. 

 The manufacturing industries as a group fluc- 

 tuated greatly, due to shut-downs in railway 

 shops, with consequent reopenlngs affecting 

 the iron and steel groups, especially in Quebec 

 and Ontario. 



Usual Seasonal Variations. 



Textile firms tended to decrease the num- 

 ber of employees, whilst in leather products 

 conditions were somewhat more favorable 



than previously. Water transportation fluctu- 

 ated, there being on the whole a certain in- 

 crease. The coal situation, especially in Nova 

 Scotia, is eased, though no large gains are re- 

 corded. Compared with the situation in the 

 ame month last year conditions were more 

 favorable in all lines of industry. 



The cost of the weekly family budget of 

 staple goods continued to decline, averaging 

 $11.16 at the beginning- of Tune, as corr-pared 

 with $12.25 in May, $16.92 "in June, 1920, and 

 $7.35 for June, 1914. 



The time loss due to industrial disputes was 

 less during June than during either May, 1921 

 or June, 1920. There were in existence in June 

 44 strikes, involving 8,083 workpeople, and re- 

 sulting in an estimated time loss of 161,910 

 working days. 



A Growing Mineral Production 



Canada is one of the richest countries in the 

 world in her latent mineral wealth, nature hav- 

 ing with bountiful hand made these gifts of a 

 wide diversity, comprising almost all known 

 minerals and most of the more valuable. Es- 

 timates of her mineral wealth must all be nec- 

 essarily rough for some of the least explored 

 regions of Canada are known to be the most 

 potentially prolific in mineral products, whilst 

 in those regions where minerals have been 

 known for years and exploration widely con- 

 ducted surveys are by no means thorough or 

 accurate. From what, however, amounts to a 

 virtual monopoly in certain highly prized min- 

 erals, Canada produces 90 per cent of the 

 world's cobalt, 88 per cent of its asbestos, and 

 85 percent of its nickel. Inaccessability of 

 location, lack of the necessary capital for ex- 

 ploitation, and the greater availability of the 

 deposits of other countries have hampered the 

 greater development of Canada's other min- 

 erals, though a review of production records 

 will show that Canada is maintaining a sub- 

 stantial output with usually proportionate an- 

 nual increases. The time will assuredly come 

 when all of Canada's deposits will be sorely 

 needed exemplified to-day in the extensive oil 

 drilling in the Canadian Arctic and then they 

 will be adequately appreciated and developed 

 accordingly. 



Ontario, First Mineral Province. 



The value of Canada's mineral production 

 in 1920 was $217,775,080, as against $176,686,- 

 390 in the previous year, or an increase of 23.3 

 per cent. All minerals, with the exception of 

 lead and quartz showed an increase in the 

 value of production over 1919, though in the 

 actual amount produced there were decreases 

 also in pyrites, petroleum, and natural gas. 



156 



