Editing Frederick Blair
Appearance
Content that violates any copyrights will be deleted. Encyclopedic content must be verifiable through citations to reliable sources.
Latest revision | Your text | ||
Line 4: | Line 4: | ||
== Biography == |
== Biography == |
||
Frederick Blair was born 1874 in [[Carlisle, Ontario|Carlisle]], [[Ontario]], the son of Scottish parents. In 1903 he joined the Department of Agriculture and in 1905 he became an immigration officer. In 1924 he became assistant deputy minister of immigration and in 1936 became the director of the Immigration Branch. He was a church elder and a dedicated civil servant who oversaw every aspect of Canadian immigration. He ruled the Immigration Branch with an iron fist. "He was the single most difficult individual I have had to deal with |
Frederick Blair was born 1874 in [[Carlisle, Ontario|Carlisle]], [[Ontario]], the son of Scottish parents. In 1903 he joined the Department of Agriculture and in 1905 he became an immigration officer. In 1924 he became assistant deputy minister of immigration and in 1936 became the director of the Immigration Branch. He was a church elder and a dedicated civil servant who oversaw every aspect of Canadian immigration. He ruled the Immigration Branch with an iron fist. "He was the single most difficult individual I have had to deal with... He was a holy terror", James Gibson, an official in the [[Department of Global Affairs|Department of External Affairs]] told Abella and Troper. Blair was [[anti-Semitic]], as were many among the Canadian elite of the time. Though he couched his public statements and policies in generalized, protectionist language, Blair's letters and private conversations, quoted extensively in ''None Is Too Many'', reveal his distaste for Jews. |
||
Blair was the policy's architect and staunch champion for Canada's closed-door policy with the full support of the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] government of Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]].<ref>{{Cite news|title = How Canada's mighty have fallen|url = http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/how-canadas-mighty-have-fallen-101283259.html|newspaper = Winnipeg Free Press|date = 23 August 2010|accessdate = 2015-10-20|last1 = Butler|first1 = Don}}</ref> In September 1938, in a letter to the prime minister, Blair wrote, "Pressure by Jewish people to get into Canada has never been greater than it is now, and I am glad to be able to add that, after 35 years of experience here, that it has never been so carefully controlled".<ref name=line/> |
Blair was the policy's architect and staunch champion for Canada's closed-door policy with the full support of the [[Liberal Party of Canada]] government of Prime Minister [[William Lyon Mackenzie King]].<ref>{{Cite news|title = How Canada's mighty have fallen|url = http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/how-canadas-mighty-have-fallen-101283259.html|newspaper = Winnipeg Free Press|date = 23 August 2010|accessdate = 2015-10-20|last1 = Butler|first1 = Don}}</ref> In September 1938, in a letter to the prime minister, Blair wrote, "Pressure by Jewish people to get into Canada has never been greater than it is now, and I am glad to be able to add that, after 35 years of experience here, that it has never been so carefully controlled".<ref name=line/> |