Canadian Government circles are considering the introduction of an immigration quota system similar to that in effect in the United States, authoritative quarters reveal. However, this action may be delayed for as long as a year or more.
Several reasons are advanced for the delay. Although a number of Cabinet ministers favor the action, an inter-departmental committee charged with making a report on the immigration situation and the quota plan is not expected to complete its task before adjournment of the present session of Parliament. Secondly, with the opening of new immigration offices in Paris, Brussels and the Hague and the expected expension of facilities in England, a flood of applications for entry visas will assure a heavy flow of immigrants even without further lowering of legal barriers.
Agriculture Minister James G. Gardiner in a recent speech in Vancouver declared that Canada needed an additional 12,000,000 persons to settle and develop the area west of the Great Lakes. He urged the admission of immigrants from Europe, in order that the Western areas might be developed without stripping the East of its skilled manpower. Gardiner declared that the absorption of millions of Europeans who cannot find gainful employment in their native countries will achieve the “closest and most cordial” relations between European countries and Canada.
However, there are powerful forces in Canada which oppose mass immigration regardless of its purpose. In Quebec the Council of Catholic Unions has adopted a resolution opposing “any move towards permitting mass immigration into Canada.”
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.
