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Liberal Cabinet’s Abstention From Genocide Vote Echoes History

Liberal Cabinet’s Abstention From Genocide Vote Echoes History
Police officers patrol in Kashgar, in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, on June 4, 2019. Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images
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Commentary

On Jan. 24, 1939, Liberal MP Pierre Gauthier issued a statement on what was then the intensifying plight of the Jewish people under Nazi rule. With remarkable callousness, he downplayed the need for Canada to do something about it, particularly regarding the question of accepting refugees, citing the country’s economic interests. It is an astonishing document.