The annual:1962 congress of the Crediters of the Union of Electors was held at St-Hyacinthe and Rougemont, Quebec, over the Labour Day weekend. During the course of the congress a most interesting and illuminating report on the movement's year was delivered by Gérard Mercier. We herewith present some of the more salient excerpts from this review.
The Union of Electors, through its publications: Vers Demain and The Union of Electors, works:
1. To make true Social Credit a reality;
2. To fight Communism;
3. To promote decency in the world;
4. To realize a better world for all men.
The Social Crediters of the Union of Electors are zealous and courageous. They have learned that a continuous process of education is a force which grows continually and cannot be halted or resisted. Thus the political strength of our Crediters grows from day to day.
Our movement stresses the developing in our members of a sense of personal responsibility. We have had evidence, during the past year, of tremendous growth of this spirit among our people especially at the time of the federal elections. The active members of our ranks, on this occasion, bore themselves magnificently in the face of all the various attempts made to try and wheedle them into participating actively in the electoral campaign. It was with satisfaction also that we saw our policy of rejecting political parties vindicated by the manner in which the people treated the orthodox parties which are nothing more than associations dedicated to furthering the interests of a corrupt capitalism. We have also been vindicated in our belief that our work will end the old and obsolete system of party politics - a system vitiated by selfishness and subservience to those interests opposed to the welfare of the people - replaced by the system of the individual citizen exercising his political rights and interests the year round to the promotion of his interests and the interests of his fellow men and the community.
Our work in striving to form men who are responsible citizens has led to the amelioration of the lots of many poor and wretched people, people without any benefactors, without any voice in the community. In many places the laws of social security have been amended to give greater benefits to those in need. On many occasions, under pressure from local Crediters, those authorities charged with the welfare of the unfortunate, have become more humane in their treatment of the poor who are, in a sense, at their mercy.
From the point of view of subscriptions taken, the past year has been a record-breaking one. (Please note that by far the greater percentage of all subscriptions taken are to Vers Demain, our French-language paper - Ed.). In the preceding year a goodly 50,000 subscriptions were taken. But in the year just finished a record figure of 78,000 was reached — the highest number ever taken in the history of the movement.
The year 1961-62 has likewise been a record year from the point of view of personal effort on the part of individual members. In 1960-61, the number-one subscription taker, Miss Lauréanne Genest, finished her 12 months with 1,000 subscriptions. This year, Mr. and Mrs. Julien Clément reached a figure that no Crediter ever before achieved, during this 12-month period – 1,792 subscriptions. This is an average of 35 a week; and the total is 80 per cent higher than the individual record achieved the previous year. In second place were Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Brisson with 1,539. The previous year's second place showed the figure of 835. Thus second place figure was almost doubled this year.
Last year, only one of our people took 1,000 subscriptions. This year there were seven, and all seven took more than a thousand, ranging from 1,041 and 1,792.
While numbers are impressive, a great deal more is implied in this increase of readers. - Increasing subscription numbers generates a force which cannot help but produce the results desired. Many public men, even amongst those in the government, admit that today deep and fundamental changes must be made and new decisions must be arrived at. The federal government is looking into the financial system and has appointed a commission of enquiry whose findings will have an important effect upon the next revision of the laws governing banks. Even though such a commission is likely to remain impervious to any proposals of Social Credit regarding the financial system, nevertheless the very existence of such a commission is an implicit admission that there is something wrong with the existing system.
In Montreal, Mayor Jean Drapeau, has named a committee to study possible modifications in the manner in which property is taxed, with a view to lightening the burden on those who own property which is not revenue-bearing, such a family homes.
Mr. Pearson, chief of the Liberal party, acknowledges and declares that the orthodox parties are going to have to make place in their programs for new ideas.
This has also been a record year for the sale of pamphlets and other publications, besides or two papers. These pamphlets and booklets are published by our Institute of Political Action The total sale of these was some $15,000.
One of our people made the following remark: "Last year I used to sell about $1.00 worth of literature a month. Now I sell that amount for almost every house I visit."
The formula of "pèlerinages" (pilgrimages) was conceived and proposed at the annual congress held at Levis last year. Groups of our people who can manage the time (and it is surprising how much time people can find when they have the motive — as our people have shown) travel from place to place, some of the groups numbering as many as 30. These "Pèlerins d'un Monde Meilleur" (Pilgrims of a Better World) take subscriptions and do whatever work is necessary in going from door to door spreading the message of true Social Credit. This formula has not only had the effect of increasing the number of subscriptions as we have shown above, but it has drawn the attention of the people to the selflessness, the charity, the love of neighbour which is the trade mark of the Pilgrims. No better method could possibly have been found to draw people towards our work, and to render them sympathetic to the authentic message of Social Credit.
All told, during the past year, our Pilgrims knocked on some 541,500 doors. Three provinces were covered from boundary to boundary: Quebec, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. Considerable sections of Nova Scotia, Ontario and the Western provinces were also visited. While most of the people visited were of the French language, the English were not neglected by our people who speak English.
The most essential part of this work and that upon which depends the efficacy of the Pilgrimages, is the door to door visiting, the speaking with people, the introducing of selves as members of the authentic Social Credit movement. The more experienced a Pilgrim becomes in this work, the less time and the fewer words he must expend in order to make his point. Furthermore, this work develops the personality of the individual pilgrim, teaching him how to meet people, how to approach different types, how to recognize different types. It teaches the pilgrim, above all, the tremendous satisfaction, the great fruit to be plucked by those who have learned to shoulder their responsibilities as builders of a Better World.
Lastly, one quality, without which the Pilgrim is little better than a door-to-door canvasser, is that of spirituality. The Pilgrim must be a spiritual individual, one who strives to develop and perfect the quality of spirituality, so that it overflows and communicates itself to the one with whom the Pilgrim is working. This is true in any walk of life where true spirituality is flowering. Working in groups on Pilgrimages, the individuals strengthen one another. These "Pèlerinages" of our "Pèlerins d'un Monde Meilleur" have proven to be one of the most important steps in the growth of our movement?
With such intense door-to-door work being carried on, putting all the "white-berets" on the road, it is not surprising that on some occasions we have had to put up with the interference of the police. Such intervention by the law, unwarranted as it was, generally was the result of the work of our adversaries.
This interference by the police took place in Montreal, Ottawa, Drummondville, Iberville, Chateauguay. And we have evidence to show that this persecution caused no little joy to our adversaries, the Socialist-Communists and the sham Crediters who make up the so-called "Social Credit" party.
In Montreal, we refused to admit any culpability with regard to the charges brought against us, and for the first time such a case against us was brought into court. The judge presiding over the case, made no endeavour to conceal his dislike of us, yet he was obliged to render the verdict in our favor. The judgement he handed down constitutes a valuable defense for our people. The arguments brought forward by our advocate are valid everywhere. Even the chief of the Montreal police, Robert, in the case of a group of newspaper men which came up after our case, "condemned arrests of such a nature by police agents"
We believe that the matter of such intervention by the police has been definitely settled once and for all. Police of certain municipalities, ignorant of this decision would do well, to familiarize themselves with it and keep it in mind.
(During the course of the 12 months which have passed, we have given more than 364 talks over television, covering three provinces. These conferences consisted of weekly quarter-hour periods. But in certain localities, we have arranged for more frequent times on the occasion of large pilgrimages being carried on in these districts. In Rimouski, for example, 12 telecasts. were given in two weeks. At Matane, 15 in three weeks. At New Carlisle (studios at Carleton) 14 talks were delivered in three weeks.
Starting last November 15, conferences were given out of 11 television stations during the entire winter. This signifies an outlay of some $70,000. All of this money was collected in small amounts. The Social Credit people of Quebec asked for these conferences. The principal speakers were our founder-directors, Mr. Louis Even and Mrs. Gilberte Côté-Mercier. Their talks were very deeply appreciated.
Where radio is concerned, we are using some 23 radio stations covering the entire country. A total of 1,248 talks were given during the past year. This meant an expenditure of some $30,000, money which was collected in the same manner as that spent on television. We are at the moment using 27 stations and will continue to do so throughout the entire year. These broadcasts can certainly not have the same deep and lasting effects as do our publications, Vers Demain and The Union of Electors. They cannot give the same formation or develop Crediters as do these papers, but they do have a strong propaganda value. People who cannot be convinced to read will at least get some notion of authentic Social Credit from these talks. Also, such broadcasts overleap boundaries and by-pass those local barriers which are thrown up against the movement, and circumvent those influences which close the door on our publications.
1962 was truly a record year for activities. In addition to all the other work carried on, we began the construction of a large house, 100 feet by 36 and four stories high. This is: St. Michael's House at Rougemont, the future headquarters and home of the movement:
For more than 2 years, Mrs. Gilberte Côté Mercier had sought everywhere in the Montreal area for the property which would be suitable to our needs. It was only at the end of this two years period that she found exactly what was needed at Rougemont. At the same time we discovered, to our great pleasure, that the parish at Rougemont was dedicated to St. Michael who has been, for some years now, one of the great Patrons of our movement. We are sure that it was he who guided us towards this ideal locale for the construction of our house.
We have launched a campaign to collect the necessary money to pay for building the house. Never have we received such large and generous donations. On the eve of the congress we had collected some $22,000. We are building this large house and, at the same time, spending more than $100,000 on television and radio: This is something truly to be marvelled at. Our Crediters are to be congratulated and thanked for their support and generosity.
Social Crediters are realising more and more that Social Credit will never be realised through sitting back and doing nothing. They understand that it is not by paying a little $2.00 a year subscription to our paper, then waiting for others to give them Social Credit (M.P.'s, for example, with their $10,000 a year salaries) that they will realize those ideals represented by Social Credit. They know that they must do and give if something is to be accomplished. We get nothing if we give nothing or do nothing. More and more people are realising that.
So we have men and women becoming true patriots, men and women of action, zealous and devoted apostles.
The building of St. Michael's House gave our people the opportunity to show how firm were their convictions, how zealous their support. And their response has been wonderful beyond words. They have given without complaint without stint, given not only their money but their time, days of time, sometimes, weeks, in working on the house.
The Social Crediters of the Union of Electors, insist, whitout cease, upon the guaranteed economic security of each and every individual. And as long as the universal, periodic dividend has not become a reality, they apply pressure upon the different forms of government to look into at least the cases of the needy who are without employment and no longer have any revenue.
We have, for a long time now, demanded old-age pensions of $60 at sixty years of age. However, it is a well-known fact that the cost of living has continued to rise. Consequently, our older people should get, not $60, but $75 a month. This is the minimum they can get along with. It is something that the rate has risen from a tiny $40 a month at the beginning, to the $65 it now is. This has been the result of the continued application of pressure upon the proper authorities. It remains now to have the age limit lowered; industry has very little employment for men of 60 years of age.
The province of Quebec gives, today, $10 more to the blind; $15. more to needy mothers; $10 more to the old people in want (this in collaboration with Ottawa). Widows and spinsters who are in need can obtain the pension for needy old people at the age of 60.
The Crediters of the Union of Electors regret very deeply that family allowance rates have been forgotten in these adjustments. They will continue to apply firm pressure upon the government to do something about this. Justice must be accorded to families which are bringing up children. (The monthly allocation of $10 to children who continue their studies between the ages of 16 and 18 does not help the younger children).
There are, of course, those who will object that all these allowances will have to be financed through taxation. Social Crediters have always gone to great lengths to criticize this method of financing; but for the subject who receives the aid, it is a very necessary and welcome relief. It is for him a sort of social dividend. It is the acknowledgement by society that he has a right to the means to live. It is for him a sort of revenue not linked with employment (which he has not) but linked with his right to live by reason of his being a human being. The acknowledgement and the granting of such allowances certainly constitute a progress made in ideas, and such progress is due, in large measure, to the pressure and insistence applied by Crediters over the past 25 years.
There is no question but that the idea of a revenue (at least partial) attached to the person and not to employment, is making considerable headway. And many public men are beginning to admit that we shall eventually arrive at the dividend in some form, due to the progress of techniques and automation in industry.
Social Crediters have also exerted pressure, signed petitions, etc., upon the government for the abolition of tolls on the bridges leading to the south shore of Montreal. This has been done, in the cases of Jacques Cartier Bridge and Victoria Bridge..
We have also fought vigorously, everywhere it was necessary, to prevent the fluoridation of the public's drinking water. Thousands of circulars have been distributed to this effect.
Great pressure was also exerted upon the Lesage government to prevent the imposition of government hospital-insurance premiums. This same type of pressure was applied in New Brunswick (successfully) to have abolished premiums of $52 a family and $26 for employed unmarried people.
Our French-language paper, Vers Demain, has worked actively to help individuals and families who are suffering the persecution of poverty — for poverty in this country is certainly an injustice. By citing cases which have been satisfactorily settled, it shows our people how to help those poor in their locality who cannot get the help, by normal means, to which they have a right. It publishes those laws which govern help to the poor and instructs the poor in their rights and the obligations of the community towards them. It publishes addresses and names in various localities where the poor can go for help.
The result has been much good work by our Crediters. Maurice Brisson, for example, of Spanish, Ontario, has brought aid to hundreds of families, not only in his province, but in the provinces of Quebec and New Brunswick as well. He went with a delegation to Fredericton, N.B., to visit the Premier, laying before him the tragic and disgraceful conditions existing in the counties of Gloucester and Kent where the people were living in the most abominable poverty. There have been very considerable improvements and ameliorations since then in these districts. In Bathurst, where the poor could get no relief and were treated in a shameful fashion, the welfare authorities are beginning to treat the poor a little more humanly.
Jos. Dumont, in Sault Ste-Marie, has been able to obtain improvements in the treatment of the poor from the bureaucrats who previously had shown little heart for the needy.
Julien Clément of Hull has become, as it were, the advocate of the poor there, and with no little success.
And many other members of our movement are performing sterling work for their needy fellow-citizens.
A general assembly was held April 28-29 to mark the first anniversary of the foundation of "Les Pèlerins d'un Monde Meilleur". This was held at St. Césaire and Rougemont. It was on this occasion that the terrain at Rougemont, upon which St. Michael's House was to be built was blessed by the parish priest of St. Michael's parish in Rougemont.
While the house was yet in construction we had visitors from afar — Mr. Eric Butler from Australia, editor and publisher of The New Times; Mr. Ron Gostick of Ontario, editor and publisher of the Canadian Intelligence Service; Dr. and Mrs Geoffrey Dobbs from Wales. Dr. Dobbs is microbiologist at the University College of North Wales at Bangor; Mrs. Dobbs had been for some time prior to her marriage, secretary of the Social Credit Secretariat in England during the life of Major Douglas. Both good Crediters. Also Mr. Alex Kearney from Ontario, originally from Ireland and an authentic Crediter for more than a quarter of a century.
Dr. and Mrs. Dobbs, who knew Douglas well, told us that Major Douglas would have approved the manner in which St. Michael's House was being built - through the benevolent labour of the Crediters together. His own house in the mountains of Scotland was built in this fashion.
GÉRARD MERCIER
N. B. Gerard Mercier also made mention of our fight against all forms of taxation. He emphasized the fight we are carrying on against Communism and all forms of socialism; our attitude against the secularization of schools and the gradual takeover by the government of our institutions of learning. His report also took into account our orientation away from electoralism. He underlined the fact that the people, more and more, and more effectively, were beginning to make the distinction between the authentic Social Credit which our movement has taught for more than twenty three years, and the very ordinary, orthodox politics which have been clothed in the name of Social Credit by Messrs. Thompson and Caouette.