"The Dresden Story": Racism, Human Rights, and the Jewish Labour Committee of Canada

Labour/Le Travail, Spring, 2001 by Ross Lambertson

Human-rights activists reacted angrily, especially when it was pointed out that Grosch had been one of the property owners who, some years earlier, had argued in the Noble and Wolf case that a discriminatory restrictive covenant was legal. The Toronto labour committee presented this information to the two Toronto labour councils, which publicly called on the government to appeal the decision and to pass an amendment to the legislation that would make it easier to enforce. [115]

Frost too was angered by the decision. He was quoted as saying, "Surely it isn't necessary that a bank robber must announce that he is going to hold up a bank before he is convicted of bank robbery!" He was unwilling, however, to amend the legislation, maintaining that the error lay with the judge and not the statute. [116]

Although the human rights community (especially its labour component) kept up pressure for a Fair Accommodation Practices amendment Act that would more clearly define the nature of discrimination, and would also reduce the discretionary power of the Minister of Labour, Blum proceeded to see what he could do with the legislation as it stood. [117] To his delight, Attorney General Kelso Roberts told him privately that he was sympathetic to their cause and that his department would fully cooperate if further tests were held. [118]

Blum and Armstrong, along with some trade unionists from Windsor and London, attempted once more to obtain service from Kay's Cafe. Each time, however, the restaurant closed shortly after they entered, stayed shut for several hours, and then re-opened with a waitress stationed by the window to give warning should the test group return. As a result, McKay began to believe that he had perhaps won; he boasted to one of Blum's white "plants" that he had beaten the previous charges because "they couldn't prove anything." [119]

Due to this impasse, and because the Attorney General's office suggested that it might be better to test the cafe with someone who was unknown to McKay, Blum changed his tactics and called on two black University of Toronto students, Jake Alleyne and Percy Bruce. By using complete strangers rather than Hugh Burnett or Bromley Armstrong the Toronto labour committee hoped to get proof of refusal of service rather than simply a pattern of eccentric working hours. In addition, McKay could not claim that he was refusing service for personal reasons rather than reasons of race. [120]

When they went to Dresden in November, the black testers were careful not to provide any reason for dismissing their complaint. They were dressed respectably and were very careful to be polite. In addition, they requested service several times from both the waitress and from McKay, so there could be no doubt about a refusal of service. Moreover, a white student had come down with them from Toronto, entered the cafe after them, and then asked successfully for service. Finally, Blum had arranged that another student would be in the cafe simply to observe what had happened. [121]