“Race,” Rights and the Law in the Supreme Court of Canada: Historical Case Studies

Chapter 5 Narine-Singh v. Attorney General of Canada

5 Narine-Singh v. Attorney General of Canada 1. ‘‘RACE’’ AND IMMIGRATION For a country such as Canada, immigration is undoubtedly the most fundamental policy a government can set. Immigrants provide the raw material for the national identity. The nature of the country itself, and what it is to be in the future, is determined by the kind of people who are allowed to enter. An immigration policy is a conscious screening mechanism enabling the current occupants of the territory to select their partners in the building of the nation. As one-time immigration minister Frank Oliver reminded the House of Commons in 1914: We are in occupation of the country; we are in control of its affairs, and there is nothing that is of such intimate, immediate and ultimate future concern as the character of the population that goes to make up the country. The country is the people; the people are the country, and it is the first duty of the country, as it is the first duty of the Government, to take such measures as may be right and expedient to prevent, if prevention is necessary, the occupation of this country by population that shall hamper and deter in any material degree the development of those ideals of civilization which we believe ourselves to be here for the purpose of working out to their highest degree.1 The notes to this chapter are on pages 411-25. To this declaration Oliver’s leader, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, added: ‘‘The people of Canada want to have a white country.’’2 Since immigration policy did in fact reflect the core attitudes of the Canadian people, the doctrine articulated by Oliver and Laurier consistently produced restrictions upon the entry of persons who were not white. On 17 September 1953 a 26-year-old Trinidadian, Harry Singh, entered Canada to visit his uncle Clive Ablack, a Canadian citizen. Under Section 7(c) of the Immigration Act,3 Mr. Singh was granted visitor status until April 1954, but after several months in Toronto and many conversations with his uncle, who had served as a wireless operator in the RCAF during World War II, he decided to enlist in the Canadian forces himself. He sent for his wife Mearl, who arrived from Trinidad on 1 March 1954, and shortly thereafter Harry Singh applied to the army’s Toronto recruiting office. As a qualified draftsman he proved attractive to the recruiting officer but, it was explained, he would need the approval of the Immigration Branch. Lieutenant McPherson called the local immigration office to make an appointment for Mr. and Mrs. Singh.4 Harry and Mearl presented themselves at the immigration offices on Church Street in Toronto on 5 April 1954. Immigration Officer T. Delaney perceived that this was not to be a routine authorization, for the Singhs appeared to belong to a category whose admission to Canada was restricted . Delaney therefore passed the applicants to Special Inquiry Officer C. Schreiber, who announced that the Singhs must submit to an immediate Board of Inquiry to determine their suitability as immigrants. Harry asked for a postponement and for the right to have a lawyer present , but Mr. Schreiber explained that a postponement would cost him $100 and that although he could have a lawyer present if he wished, it really was not necessary as all he had to do was answer a few questions. Harry and Mearl consulted together for a few minutes, and then decided to proceed with the hearing. Once they were sworn, Mr. Schreiber proceeded to ask a series of questions. He determined both Harry and Mearl’s family backgrounds, including the names, maiden names and addresses of their parents in Trinidad, names, ages and marital status of their brothers and sisters, the war record of uncle Clive Ablack, Harry’s occupation as a draftsman and Mearl’s as a housewife, the routes they followed in travelling to Canada, the state of their health. The core of the Inquiry, however, was more succinct. Harry was asked: Q. What is the place and date of your birth? A. April 19, 1928, Trinidad, British West Indies. Narine-Singh v. Attorney General of Canada 247 Q. Of what country are you a citizen? A. I am a British subject. Q. Of what race are you? A. East Indian. . . . Q. Of what race is your wife? A. East...