Subsequent to Mr. Axworthy's refusal of this request on the grounds that there was a surplus of welders on the labour market, we re-submitted the request through the Commission de formation professionnelle de la main d'oeuvre du Montreal Metropolitan at the suggestion of an employee of the Quebec Ministry of Labour. This person's responsibility is to organize courses in response to requests from employers, unions and non-profit community organizations. Once the need for a course has been verified and has 15 interested individuals, the request is submitted to Canada Employment and Immigration with the approval of the Quebec Labour Department

According to this person, no course which he has ever approved has been refused and he was surprised when Canada Employment and Immigration again refused this request. When we called the Regional Office for clarification, we were again told that there was a surplus of welders on the Montreal market. Since the original request was refused, Employment and Immigration has given 5 full-time - 5 month welding courses in the Montreal area. None of these courses has had more than one woman student. The last of these courses started on May 9 at Centre Parathenais during the day!!! Obviously this course could have been offered to ACTION TRAVAIL DES FEMMES clientele since it was exactly the course we have been trying to obtain for one year. However we were not notified that such a course was to be given, nor were any of the women involved in the original group called although several of them have been offered night courses which they were unable to accept.

The original reason given for refusing this course does not stand up under analysis. As A.T.F. pointed out in its July 1982 complaint, Employment and Immigration's economists have provided figures which show that while there were 625 unemployed welders in Montreal in May 1982, there were in excess of 4,000 unemployed secretaries. This fact has not deterred C.E.I.C. from funding 17 secretarial courses in the Montreal area, over the last year. The Ministry also continues to make welding courses available to male candidates. In fact we have been unable to find a single course funded by Employment and Immigration in which there does not already exist a surplus of qualified labour.

Our conclusion is that this so-called policy is nothing more than a thinly disguised justification for refusing women access to trades training.