[Ontario_Born]

Before, and during the war, Canada accepted the lowest amount of Jewish refugees from Europe. Most historians agree, that this was a result of the blatant anti-Semitism of Fredrick Blair (immigration Minister) and the prime minister Mackenzie King. It is thoroughly researched and documented that our top bureaucrat in the Immigration Department, Fred Blair, a professing Christian, wanted no Jews in Canada and did everything he could in the way of roadblocks to prevent it. King was aware of this and did nothing. He was also quoted as saying that “Hitler might come to be thought of as one of the saviors of the world". Why then is this man honored on our Fifty-dollar bill? Below are the immigration stats from that time. They are both shocking, and shameful.

Country Number of Jewish refugees brought in:
United States 200,000
Palestine 125,000
Britain 70,000
Argentina 50,000
Brazil 27,000
China 25,000
Bolivia and Chile 14,000
CANADA 5,000

[Canadaka]

i dont know much about this, and that number does seem a bit low.

but when you look at the relative populations of those counties per amount of refugees, its not that bad...

[spikecomix]

that is indeed shameful, but what can be done about it?

[SprCForr]

Nothing, we already recognize the mistakes that were made. Our policies and outlook are different now. That was what our society was like back then. In 50 years what will Canadians say about our current policies? Why worry about it? Hindsight is always 20/20. Learn and move on, there is better shit to worry about.

[Rev_Blair]

I don't think we should worry about it. I think we should acknowledge it, learn from it, and keep it in mind when dealing with immigration issues today.

It isn't the only shameful episode in our past. We locked up Japanese, used Chinese as slave labour and then put a head tax on them, put Ukrainians in internment camps and then used them for slave labour, abused the crap out of the Dukabors and even took away their kids. Our policies towards natives have been improving, but we have a long way to go before we can classify them as being in our past.

There is a tendency to kind of gloss over the brutal parts of our past and our present. To do so is a huge mistake because it allows to make the same stupid mistakes again.

A couple of years ago we decided to treat the Roma (gypsies) in a very similar way to the way we treated the Jews in WWII. How many here were aware of that? I'm guessing it was abut the same number who knew how we treated the Jews in WWII. Funny how that works.

[Ontario_Born]

SprCForr wrote:

Nothing, we already recognize the mistakes that were made. Our policies and outlook are different now. That was what our society was like back then. In 50 years what will Canadians say about our current policies? Why worry about it? Hindsight is always 20/20. Learn and move on, there is better shit to worry about.

I agree, but i still don't think we should honor King.

[Mustang1]

Ontario_Born wrote:

I agree, but i still don't think we should honor King.

Why not suggest whom we should honour then? Surely, you are not implying that history contains absolute perfect moral (which, by the way, is largely determined by culture/temporal milieu) individuals? You may want to look at some more history before intimating such amateurish declarations, as you will likely discover you may have committed one of the cardinal errors of historical inquiry.

[Ontario_Born]

Mustang1 wrote:

Ontario_Born wrote:

I agree, but i still don't think we should honor King.

Why not suggest whom we should honour then? Surely, you are not implying that history contains absolute perfect moral (which, by the way, is largely determined by culture/temporal milieu) individuals? You may want to look at some more history before intimating such amateurish declarations, as you will likely discover you may have committed one of the cardinal errors of historical inquiry.

Trust me, I am not foolish enough to think that there is such a thing as “morally perfect” individuals in history. As for my suggestion, I have never been a big fan of using money to honor people. I would rather that our monies reflect Canada itself. For instance, why not use landscapes on bills instead? The beauty of our nation can’t be called into question like an individual can.

[RoyalHighlander]

Quote:

The beauty of our nation can’t be called into question like an individual can.

LMAO remember the older 10 dollar bills with the tank farm in Sarnia on the back??? was that a beautiful canadian landscape???

[Ontario_Born]

No, that was a bad choice. Ironically, I’m from Sarnia.

[EyeBrock]

How about a nice piccy of us kicking ass at the Battle of Stoney Creek?

[canadian1971]

How about a pic of the memorial on Vimy Ridge? Can't get much more Canadian than that....even though it is not in Canada!


IMHO...the Jewish people should have been given Germany after the war. But then again, I'm sure not many would have wanted to live there.

[Canadaka]

actually, it is in Canada isnt it?

didn't france give that that land around the monument to Canada?

[EyeBrock]

Or Beaument Hamel?

I take Oscar Wildes point about the mistreatment of minorities in our past, but to apply today's values in a past era is faulty logic. Its also a pointless excercise. King was a admirable leader for his time, with a great pedigree.

[BartSimpson]

Canada was also the least populated of the countries listed who took in refugees.

On a per capita basis Canada's refugee acceptance was on par with everyone else,