MACKENZIE KING

Mackenzie King, prime minister, set out Canada’s then approach to immigration in a speech to the Canadian parliament in May 1947:

‘The policy of the government is to foster growth of the population of Canada by the encouragement of immigration. The government will seek by legislation, regulation and vigorous administration, to ensure the careful selection and permanent settlement of such numbers of immigrants as can advantageously be absorbed in our national economy … With regard to the selection of immigrants, much has been said about discrimination. I wish to make quite clear that Canada is perfectly within her rights in selecting the persons whom we regard as desirable future citizens. It is not a “fundamental human right” of any alien to enter Canada. It is a privilege. It is a matter of domestic policy … There will, I am sure, be general agreement with the view that the people of Canada do not wish, as a result of mass immigration, to make a fundamental alteration in the character of our population. Large-scale immigration from the Orient would change the fundamental composition of the Canadian population. Any considerable Oriental immigration would, moreover, be certain to give rise to social and economic problems of a character that might lead to serious difficulties in the field of international relations.’

The UK does not need ‘to foster growth of the population’ as it is a mature economy, and a densely populated country. What the UK needs is control of immigration so that mass immigration can be halted.

The term ‘Third World’ is more accurate today than the term ‘Orient’ in Mackenzie King’s speech (it was Oriental immigration that applied to Canada at that time).

In other respects, the speech is a good expression of what is both correct and sensible.