Robert Thompson, national leader of the Social Credit Party, last night publicly disavowed any anti-Semitism as a policy of his party. At an election rally at Pembroke, Ontario, he declared his party “firmly opposes racial discrimination and religious prejudice.”
At the same time, he announced he had written to the Canadian Jewish Congress, affirming that principle of non-bias and asserting “I am aware of the great contributions to the Canadian way of life and to progress in the entire world made by the Jewish people of this country.”
Mr. Thompson took his stand as part of his party’s campaign in the general national elections, scheduled for April 8. The Social Credit Party is Canada’s third largest political grouping, ranking next to the Conservative Party, led by the outgoing Prime Minister, John G. Diefenbaker, and the Liberal Party, led by the principal opposition candidate, Lester B. Pearson. In the last Parliament, the Social Credit members held the balance of power in Canada’s House of Commons.
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