A movement is under way to revise Ontario’s anti-discrimination legislation as a result of a judgment in the case of two Dresden, Ontario, restaurateurs who were alleged to have discriminated against Negroes. The judge ruled that there had been no proof of actual "denial" of service; he also held that "it must be shown that the food requested was available." He did not rule on the legality of the act itself or of the right of the province to legislate in this area.
Fred Catzman, Q.C. on behalf of the Canadian Jewish Congress and the B’nai B’rith, said that "it would appear to be necessary to review the legislation to put teeth into the statute and at the same time to consider the establishment of more effective machinery to enforce the act." Prime Minister Frost of Ontario said he would study the decision of Judge Henry Grosch before making up his mind.
Another issue in the case was raised by the Toronto Lakeshore Labor Council which pointed out in a public report that the judge "was himself involved privately in a legal fight to uphold discrimination against Jews and Negroes." He was one of the property owners who opposed in the courts the voiding of a restrictive clause in the property deed of a neighbor at Beach o’Pines, Ontario, who wished to sell it to Jew. They were defeated in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1948. In view of this circumstance the labor council questioned the propriety of Judge Grosch to sit on the Dresden case.
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