The Canadian Senate has approved a policy of “selective” immigration into the Dominion recommended by its Immigration and Labor Committee, which has been holding hearings here for the past few months. Such a policy, in opposition to “open door” immigration, will bar large numbers of European refugees and others unless they possess specific trades and skills required by Canada.
Opposition to the “selective” policy was voiced by Senators Arthur W. Roebuck and Byron Horner. Horner stated that “Canada has no right to consider herself a Christian country if she does not open her doors to newcomers. What we lack today are hundreds of thousands of persons who would develop our farms and our resources,” he added. Roebuck pointed out that more than 100 new industries have been established in the country by refugees since the outbreak of the war, and urged that a “steady and continuous stream of newcomers” should be admitted in keeping with Canada’s absorptive capacity.
The Montreal Gazette, in an editorial, urged immediate action to admit large numbers of immigrants who “can contribute much to the development of Canada” or the “great opportunity will pass, to be seized by others.”
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.
