The fair employment practices bill sponsored by the Provincial Government, has been referred to committee following its second reading in the Legislature.
The measure passed its second reading after a rough debate in which several government supporters opposed the measure. Two government members spoke in opposition to the bill. M. A. Gray, Winnipeg CCF leader, who has campaigned for FEP legislation here for the past 13 years, praised the government for introducing the measure but expressed reservations on some provisions.
A violent attack on the measure, anti-Semitic in nature, was sent to some members of the Legislature in the form of a 10-page brief signed by the “Canadian Free Enterprise Committee.” It quoted ex-Congressman John Rankin and other anti-Semites to support its claim that the FEP measure represents “an attack on Christian civilization.” The Israelite Press reported that some of the arguments in this “brief” appeared in speeches heard on the floor of the Legislature during the debate.
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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.
