CANADA’S CALL-UP

Grey River Argus, 3 May 1944, Page 5

CANADA’S CALL-UP

RESPONSE QUESTIONED. (Rec. 9.50.) OTTAWA. May 2. Nearly three hundred and ninety thousand men in Canada have failed to respond to the Dominion’s compulsory military service calls. This was. asserted bv Mr. John Diefenbaker, of Saskatchewan, a Progressive Conservative, in the House of Commons. “There is a vast army wandering about the Dominion, free from any serious threat of prosecution,” said Mr. Diefenbaker. He contrasted the Canadian record with British, American, Australian and New Zealand records. The Canadian record, he added, revealeld an appalling condition of default and disobedience unknown anywhere else amongst countries having the system of the call-up.”

Mr. Diefenbaker said that a return tabled in the House showed that 1,449,417 men had been called up for medical examination. Of that number nearly 390,000 had not reported. The Minister of Labour, Mr. Mitdhell, had fixed the total of the unaccounted men at 49 thousand, which figure was not borne out by the records.

■ Mr. Mitchell replied that he stood, tv his earlier total. He charged Mr. Diefenbaker with quoting figures to spit himself. He added that the allegation that there was a lost legion of men was untrue.