The immigration debate in the Canadian Parliament ended today with Immigration Minister J. A. Glen declaring: “I will not inquire into the religion of any immigrant who wants to come to Canada.”
Asserting that the government is “fully alive to the seriousness and the magnitude of the immigration policy, “Glen stated that its immigration policy would be formulated in the near future. He revealed that a sub-committee of the Cabinet and an inter-departmental committee of ranking government officials have been studying the question for the past two months.
David Croll, Jewish Member of Parliament, charged that the government was merely “nibbling” at the problem of immigration. Stating that Canada was “now ready for another wave of immigrants, “he added that “immigrants are needed for intensive development of our resources.”
H. W. Herridge, Independent, urged the government to admit Jewish refugees because “they are 100 percent anti-Nazi.”
The Canadian Jewish Congress recently presented a memorandum to the government asking for the liberalization of the immigration law to permit the entry of a number of displaced European Jews. The memorandum pointed to the statement of George S. Mooney, former head of UNRRA activities in Europe, who declared that the displaced Jews would make excellent immigrants for Canada.
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