Motion agreed to. (The Clerk Assistant read the petition as follows): Petition to members of the House of Commons of Canada in parliament assembled, at Ottawa Ontario. Ladies and Gentlemen of the House of Commons: We the undersigned Canadians in exercising the immemorial privilege of British subjects to petition the House of Commons in parliament assembled are confident that you will honour this ancient right and practice by hearing sympathetically our representations upon a matter affecting the welfare and safety of our nation, and the liberties of its citizens. WTe humbly beg to draw to your attention the following facts and considerations: 1. That the undersigned Canadian antifascists have been arbitrarily confined, many for as long as twenty months, first in internment camps, together with fascist prisoners of war and, since August 20, 1941, in a concentration camp in Hull jail, at Hull, Quebec, though we have been opposing fascism ever since its evil birth. 2. That we have repeatedly sought to impress persons in authority with our loyalty to Canada and its democratic institutions, our unreserved support of Canada's war effort against the common enemy of our country, and of all free people, Hitlerite Germany and her allies; our abhorrence of and opposition to any and all subversive activities within our country, and our desire for release from detention in order that we may contribute our time and energies to the advancement of these purposes. To this end we have individually sworn affidavits and have dispatched petitions to the late Right Hon. Ernest Lapointe on June 27, July 1, July 14, July 31, August 7, August 9, August 15, August 22, September 3, and September 4, 1941; and to the Hon. Louis St. Laurent on December 18, 1941; and to the Prime Minister the Right Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King on September 10, October 1, and November 28, 1941. 3. That on November 28, 1941, we dispatched a letter to the Right Hon. W. L. Mackenzie King offering our services in the armed forces, industry or other war work, wherever we may be deemed most useful, followed by individual letters to members of the government stating each person's qualifications and making suggestions regarding his future services. 4. That at this hour of greatest strain and peril to our country it is absolutely imperative that all the Canadian people, irrespective of class, party, religion or race be banded together in unity for the supreme effort and sacrifice in the just war waged by Canada, Britain, the U.S.S.R., the United States of America and their allies for victory over fascist enemies; that in this struggle for victory lies the security of Canada, and the identity of interests of the whole nation; that united effort for maximum military operation and war production stands above all other considerations.' 5. That the continued arrest, persecution and detention of anti-fascist Canadians in concentration camps is justified neither on the grounds of national security, nor of safety of the state, but appears to be a form of persecution based on class and political prejudice, and moreover tends to create doubt, controversy and disunity to the detriment of our country's war effort. 6. That our release from detention and the restoration of our civil rights as Canadians to Wheat

participate in the armed forces and other war services will serve to strengthen public confidence that undemocratic practices are not being allowed to gain ground in our land, and that our government's war effort is truly directed toward the realization and implementation of the eight-point programme enunciated jointly by Prime Minister Churchill and President Roosevelt, and which has become the foundation of the twenty-six united nations agreement, to which our own government has declared its adherence, thus spurring forward the enthusiasm and self-sacrifice of our people in the war effort for decisive victory over the enemy in the shortest period of time. 7. That our release from detention will not only restore us to personal freedom and to our families, and enable us to contribute our abilities, labour and lives to the benefit of our country's war effort, but especially will it enable us, many of whom have considerable public influence, particularly among the workers, to assist in mobilizing the people for the greatest exertions, both in uninterrupted war production and in the armed forces, to assure and hasten the victorious conclusion of the war. 8. That we repeat our solemn pledges contained in our sworn affidavits and our petitions that upon our release all our efforts will be directed loyally, unsparingly and unswervingly to achievement of the fullest national unity for the maximum contribution in all fields of the war effort. We are resolutely and sincerely opposed to any actions which would be injurious to the unity of Canada, the security of the state and the maximum war effort. And your petitioners as in duty bound will ever pray. Therefore we humbly pray of the House of Commons, as the elected representatives of the Canadian people, in whose hands rests the sovereignty of government and the direction of national policy, you institute such measures that will restore us our liberties in the interests of the welfare of our country and its war effort in this hour of supreme test and peril.

On the orders of the day:

On the orders of the day:

On the orders of the day: