The Canadian Jewish Congress ended its five-day national assembly here with the election of Monroe Abbey, a 63-year-old Montreal lawyer, as its president and endorsement of the group libel bill now before the Canadian Parliament. The election, hotly contested by Lavy Becker, of Montreal, was the closest in the C J Congress 50 year history. Endorsement of the anti-hate bill also involved a close vote and came about through a compromise with delegates who feared that the legislation contains too many loopholes as it now stands.
There was a new element of Canadian Jewry present – French-speaking Jews from North Africa and the Middle East who, for the first time, participated as a body in the deliberations. A resolution called for the establishment of human rights commissions in the Canadian provinces. Rabbi Gunther Plaut. of Toronto, urged Canadian Zionists to take a more aggressive stand and demand that candidates for public office declare their position on Israel.
A protracted debate developed over the group libel bill which many delegates wished to see endorsed by the C J Congress’ assembly. Other delegates, among them representatives of the Montreal based Association of Survivors of Nazism, objected to the clauses in the bill citing “truth” and “public interest” as possible defenses in any actions filed under the law. A compromise resolution was adopted urging the C J Congress to promote the legislation with the proviso that it could ask for deletion of the defense clauses if they should render the law ineffective.
Judge Harold Lande defeated Albert Eaton, In a close vote, for the post of national treasurer. Other officers elected were Sol Kanee, chairman of the national executive committee; Harry Steiner. national secretary; Moe Cohen, David Levin, Meyer Gasner and Leon Kronitz as national vice presidents; Dr. Roy Waldman, Abe Steinberg, Sydney M. Harris and Nathan Gaisin as chairman respectively of the Pacific,Western, Central and Eastern regions.
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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.
