The 150th anniversary of the landmark legislation which gave Jews equal political and civil rights in lower Canada, will be officially observed in Quebec city on June 1, A plaque will be unveiled at the National Assembly by its Speaker, Claude Vaillancourt.
A series of ceremonies, exhibits and academic discussions are scheduled to draw attention to the historic significance of the Lower Canada Act of 1832 and the long struggle for Jewish civil rights that preceded its adoption. The Act was a model for legislation adopted the following year in upper Canada, removing mandatory Christian oaths for office holders.
According to David Rome, on historian of the Canadian Jewish Congress, the “various human rights laws, fair employment and housing regulations which we are today enjoying are direct descendants of the Lower Canada Act of 1832.”
The events leading up to the Act can be traced to 1808 when Ezekiel Hart, a Jew was elected to represent the Trois Rivieres Riding, or district, of Quebec province, in the legislature of lower Canada. His opponents argued that a Jew could not legitimately take the oath of office which concluded with the words, “On the true faith of a Christian.” Hart was ejected from the legislature and his seat was declared vacant.
New elections were held. Hart won again and was ejected for a second time. But his challenge to the status quo stimulated a quarter century of intellectual and legal dissent which culminated in the 1832 act.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
