The Fifth Session of the General Conference of UNESCO will be held in Florence, Italy, from May 22 to June 16, 1950. As the question of Canadian participation in UNESCO work is now under consideration by the Massey Commission, it is proposed generally to continue our representation along the lines that have been established in the past.

2. UNESCO is now in its fourth year of operation and its recent activities indicate that constructive developments have taken place in the General Conference and the Secretariat of the organization. The programme of UNESCO, which in the earlier years included many vague projects, now contains a number of well defined priority tasks in the fields of education, science and culture. This new programme, incorporating many of the improvements that have long been felt necessary, will be discussed at Florence. It is, therefore, important that the Canadian Delegation to the Conference should be representative and sufficiently strong to suggest improvements in the organization which are judged desirable.

3. The Canadian Delegations to the last three UNESCO Conferences did not include representatives of non governmental organizations and a good deal of criticism emanated, in each case, from the interested organizations in Canada. It has, therefore, been thought advisable to include persons drawn from Canadian educational, scientific and cultural organizations on the delegation to the forthcoming Conference. These organizations have been consulted and three names representing respectively educational, scientific and cultural groups are suggested on the basis of the recommendations made to the Government by these various organizations.

4. The Secretary of State for External Affairs, therefore, recommends that the Canadian Delegation to the Fifth Session of the General Conference of UNESCO should be headed by Mr. Jean Désy and should include the following:

Delegates

Senator Rupert Davies

Dr. M.E. Lazerte, or Dr. C.E. Phillips, Canadian Education Association (Education)

Mr. Garnet T. Page, Chemical institute of Canada (Science)

Mr. Jacques de Tonnancourt, Canadian Arts Council (Culture)

Alternate Delegates

Dr. John E. Robbins, Dominion Bureau of Statistics

Mr. Sydney Pollock, Department of Finance

Mr. Paul Tremblay, Department of External Affairs

Adviser

An officer from a Canadian mission in Europe (Secretary).

LB. PEARSON⁷

⁷Approuvé par le Cabinet, le 16 mars 1950./Approved by Cabinet, March 16, 1950.