REPORT ON DIPLOMAT

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28257, 20 April 1957, Page 11

REPORT ON DIPLOMAT

“Information Unfounded” (Rec. 10.30 p.m.) OTTAWA, April 18. Information on Mr Herbert Norman supplied in confidence by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to United States security agencies fell into the hands of the United States Senate Internal Security Sub-Committee, the Canadian External Affairs Minister, Mr Lester Pearson, said last night. He said that this original information, forwarded to the United States security agencies in October, 1950, was later discovered by the Mounted Police to be unfounded. The United States security bodies were so informed in December, 1950. The original information was to the effect that Mr Norman, Canadian Ambassador to Egypt, who took his own life earlier this month, was a member of the Canadian Communist Party in 1940, Mr Pearson said. Mr Pearson has recently been accused of being “less than frank” in his statements on Mr Norman’s Communist affiliations. He made last night’s statement in a telegram to the “Montreal Gazette,” challenging an article critical of his handling of the controversy. He said that the original police report, based on information supplied by a secret agent, was no doubt the report referred to on March 12 by Mr Robert Morris, counsel for the Senate Sub-Com-mittee.

“How this report became public I can only guess,” he said. Second Report

A second report had been made in December, 1950, Mr Pearson said. It covered a number of unrelated matters, but referred to what the secret agent had said about Mr Norman’s Communist Party membership in these words:

“We have made extensive inquiries concerning the information originally supplied by our secret agent, and have arrived at the decision that the information given is one of either mistaken identify or unfounded rumour by an unidentified sub-source. “Of the numerous points supplied at the time, the majority have been absolutely determined to be in error; the remaining few have not been confirmed, nor does there appear to be any answer to them.

“The source does not recall the matter. We have, therefore, deleted the reference in so far as Norman is concerned,” said the report.