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IMMIGRATION POLICY; ISRAEL

29. The Minister of Citizenship and Immigration reported that there had been increasing pressure from the Jewish population in Canada for immigration from Israel, and 2,000 applications were now pending, involving over 6,000 persons alleged to be close relatives of the applicants, mainly from citizens of Montreal and Toronto. Up to the present time, the Department of Citizenship and Immigration had been processing only those cases where security clearance was normally waived. Investigation had revealed that security arrangements in Israel were extremely bad and that proper security clearances could not be obtained. The problem had been considered by an interdepartmental committee which recommended:

(a) that provision be made for dealing with applications submitted by permanent residents of Canada for admission from Israel of parents, whether corning within the categories normally eligible for waiver of security clearance or not;

(b) that, subject to the establishment of a Canadian mission in Israel, an officer from the Department of External Affairs or the Department of Citizenship and Immigration be appointed to a consular position to deal with immigration matters;

(c) that applications for the admission of residents of Israel which may be dealt with, be processed on the following basis:

(i) the application be referred to the Canadian post in Israel only after security clearance of the sponsor in Canada had been obtained;

(ii) upon receipt of an approved application from Canada, the Canadian official in Israel interview the prospective immigrant with a view to establishing definite identity and relationship to the sponsor and to developing any derogatory information;

(iii) all existing facilities for checking a prospective immigrant's background be thoroughly utilized;

(iv) where derogatory information of material significance was discovered, a visa to be refused and the interested parties advised only that the prospective immigrant was unable to meet immigration requirements;

and,

(d) consideration be given to the posting of an RCM Police officer to the Canadian post in Israel at least for an initial period. Such officer not to be known as a security officer but to fill a consular or other position and to secure all possible information about prospective immigrants.

An explanatory note was circulated.

(Minister's Memorandum, Sept. 24, 1953 -- Cab. Doc. 221-53)?

30. The Cabinet noted the report of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration on proposals for handling immigration from Israel and deferred decision pending further discussion at a later meeting.

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