Attorney General Roy McMurtry of Ontario has called on public figures to speak out against the use of telephone facilities to propagate anti-Semitism and other bigotry. Speaking before the lawyers division of the Israel Bond drive, McMurtry noted that Toronto residents can dial taped messages that attack Jews and Blacks.
“To me it is intolerable that the facilities of a public monopoly such as the Bell System should be available to hate-mongers and bigots for the propagation of their slander,” he said. “But the Bell Telephone Co. says there is nothing we can do under existing law.” The Attorney General said he had proposed legislation to alter this situation. But, he stressed, “laws alone cannot do it” and public figures must speak out. “Minding your own business is no virtue at all when liars and bigots are poisoning the air. To keep quiet is to hand them a victory,” he said. McMurtry’s campaign posters were defaced with Swastikas when he ran for office eight months ago.
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