The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1943. STRONG LINKS WITH CANADA

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 61, 7 December 1943, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1943. STRONG LINKS WITH CANADA

It has been remarked by a member of the Canadian Press delegation, at present visiting this country, that inter-Allied arrangements for the sharing of materials and facilities required in the common war effort were referred to in Canada as “mutual aid.” This term is happily chosen, for it expresses the strong and generous feeling with which the Canadian people, officially and privately, have approached their self-imposed war tasks. More than 700,000 Canadians jare in the armed forces, and in addition the great Dominion of the north has become an important arsenal for the Allies. Tier production of munitions is approaching £1,000,000,000 in value; she has launched more than 500 ships, built more than 8000 aircraft and placed more than 24,000 armoured fighting vehicles and 500,000 motor vehicles in service against the Axis. On top of that Canada has made herself a huge supplier of foodstuffs' and other essential goods. Under her United Nations’ Mutual Aid Bill, passed' in May of this year, provision is made for the distribution of Canadian war equipment, raw materials and foodstuffs to the value of 1,000,000,000 dollars on a basis of “strategic need.” This provision is not to be confused with a similar sum provided for last year by way of financial assistance to the United Kingdom, partly by the repatriation of securities and partly by the consolidation of sterling balances in Britain into an interest-free loan for the duration of the war. Of this remarkable measure the Canadian Minister of Finance (Mr. Ilsley) said: “It will put our financial arrangements on a clear and sensible basis, fully in accord with the realities of the war situation. It will prevent the accumulation of a huge, unmanageable war debt with all the dangers that would involve of past-war misunderstanding and difficulties. . . . And it will reflect the determination of this nation to contribute everything possible to the general cause.” These are simplv the principal items of the Canadian programme, full justice to which could be done only by including a special catalogue of production and mutual-aid benefits. Moreover, no mere catalogue could do justice to the part Canada has played—and continues to play—in building up British air power under the Empire Air-training Scheme; for in this mammoth co-operative enterprise the human element, which is all-important, cannot be measured in statistical terms. The training scheme is a wartime expedient from which, both directly and indirectly, should come great and permanent results. It is probably the most powerful single factor operating today for the promotion of intra-Empire goodwill and brotherhood. So far as New Zealand concerned, strong and warm personal relations have been cieated by the steady flow qf young trainees to Canada. For the most part this movement has been in one direction only, but the effect of it is being felt in both Dominions, and there is a growing consciousness of the strong possibility that before the war in the Pacific is victoriously ended—as well as in the aftermath—Canada and New Zealand will require to be even closer knit in co-operative effort, physical as well as economic. , War conditions dictate the terms on which relationships between countries and peoples may be strengthened, and thus far Canadians have played host to thousands’of New Zealanders, in a manner very deeply appreciated in this country. But conditions may alter, and, as suggested by the leader'of the Canadian Press delegation, the time may come when Canadian forces, grouping for a final concentration of power in the Pacific, will be welcomed to the South Pacific atea. In the meantime the visit of the Press trio, representing as it does the development of both British and French-Canadian interest in the activities and aspirations of this Dominion, will be looked upon as a complimentary and significant event.