Canadian Jews Ask Senate for Admission of Jewish DP’s, Easing of Immigration Laws

A plea for the admission of a number of displaced European Jews to Canada and the liberalization of the Dominion’s immigration laws to admit a wider category of relatives of residents was made here yesterday before the Senate Committee on Immigration by a delegation of leaders of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the Jewish Immigrant Aid Society.

The delegation, which included Saul Hayes, executive director of the Congress, Michael Carber, a leader of the Congress, and Jerry L. Segal, president of the HIAS, submitted a brief specifically asking the Senate to recommend:

1. Appointment of a commission consisting of members of Parliament to study and report on DP’s in camps in Germany, Austria and Italy; 2. Amendment of the immigration law to permit the entrance of all immediate relatives of residents up to and including first cousins and their children; 3. Admission of skilled workers in the building trades and clothing industry and household workers; 4. Arrangements be made for responsible organizations to bring DP’s into the country under corporate affidavits; 5. Regulation of the admission of immigrants "to favor those of various racial and religious backgrounds with no special preference for any one group and with no special disabilities for any other group."

The brief pointed out that very few Jews have entered Canada since the end of the war. Citing specific examples of recent positive modifications of immigration policy which have not aided displaced Jews, the memorandum revealed that in the first 2,900 former Polish soldiers of Gen. Wladislaw Anders’ army to enter Canada, only three were Jews despite the fact that many Jews had fought in the corps. It also said that where the law has been liberalized recently to admit workers in specific occupations, the occupations chosen have been those in which the percentage of Jews is relatively small.

The Jewish delegation’s testimony also made the point that Canadian public opinion, newspapers and officials, have almost unanimously been in favor of the admission of displaced persons. "Indeed," the brief stated, "the most consistent criticism of the government has taken the form of charges that the government has not promulgated or acted upon a sufficiently vigorous immigration policy."