Canada Willing to Admit More Refugees, Prime Minister Announces in Parliament

Prime Minister Mackenzie King announced in the House of Commons that the Canadian Government “would be glad to play its full part” in caring for refugees, and is willing to admit some for the duration of the war.

“I cannot state how many additional refugees Canada will be prepared to receive,” he said. “This depends on many factors not within the Canadian Government.” He emphasized that there was an outstanding offer of the Canadian Government, made last autumn, to receive for the duration 1,000 Jewish children in unoccupied France and that this offer is still valid.

“If arrangements can be made through neutral countries or the inter-governmental committee for the departure of these children, we shall gladly accord them admission to Canada,” he said, “Already there is a considerable refugee population in Canada and many have been admitted for permanent residence,” he added.

The Prime Minister said Canada was not invited to the recent Bermuda conference on war refugees and had not been asked to accept decisions adopted there, but “would be glad to play its full part when the decisions were submitted to the United nations.” The Bermuda conference was between the United Kingdom and the United States. Canada had no prior information other than that the conference was being arranged, he explained.

Since April 1, 1933, some 39,000 immigrants entered Canada to become permanent citizens, the Prime Minister stated. The great bulk of them were refugees. “We have not, of course, done all that we could have done and perhaps we have not done all that we should have done,” he said. “Our record, however, is better than it is frequently made out to be and I think that it will stand comparison with the records of other parts of the British Commonwealth and of the United States.”