The first case under the Insurance Anti-Discrimination Law has been opened here by the State. The case, which is being tried by Magistrate Jones in the Police Court, is against the Canadian General Insurance Company, which is charged with cancelling 140 Jewish fire insurance policies, on no other ground than that the policy holders are Jews.
The Crown, in opening the case, claims that the policies were cancelled solely because the policy holders are Jews.
The insurance company pleaded not guilty. The first witness for the Crown, A. D. Ireland, manager of the Union Insurance Company, stated that the accused company had cancelled all Jewish fire policies because one insured case, Doris Levine, had had a fire.
The trial is proceeding.
The bill under which the above case is being tried was introduced last year by the Jewish representative, E. F. Singer. It is in the form of an amendment to the Ontario Insurance Act and makes it a punishable offence for insurance companies to discriminate against Jews, or against any other race or group. The Bill also provides that in the event of a charge being levelled against a company, it shall devolve upon the company to prove that it had not indulged in discrimination.
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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.
