Juvenile delinquency and youth protection: The historical foundations of the Canadian Juvenile delinquents act of 1908

European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice

Volumn 7, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 41-62

  Trépanier, Jean ^a  

^a UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL   (Canada)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33749356981     PISSN: 09289569     EISSN: 15718174     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/15718179920518709     Document Type: Article

References (89)

1. D. Garland, Punishment and Welfare: A History of Penal Strategies (Aldershot 1985).
2. D. Garland, op. cit., p.31.
3. see: F. Tulkens (ed.), Généalogie de la défense sociale en Belgique (1880-1914) (Bruxelles 1988).
4. see: J. Trépanier, F. Tulkens, Délinquance et protection de la jeunesse: aux sources des lois belge et canadienne sur l'enfance (Bruxelles 1995).
5. Juvenile Delinquents Act, Statutes of Canada, 1908, chapter 40.
6. An Act for establishing prisons for young offenders, for the best government of public asylums, hospitals and prisons, and for the better construction of common goals, Statutes of the Province of Canada, 1857, chapter 28.
7. An Act for the more speedy trial and punishment of juvenile offenders, Statutes of the Province of Canada, 1857, chapter 29.
8. Another Act was passed at the same time that shows that the concern to reduce delays in criminal justice proceedings was not limited to cases involving youths: An Act for diminishing expense and delay in the administration of criminal justice in certain cases, Statutes of the Province of Canada, 1857, chapter 27.
9. For example, in Montreal, the most important city in Quebec and Canada at the time, an industrial and reform school for girls opened in 1870, while a reform school for boys (which replaced the reform prison set up in 1858) opened in 1873. For an account of these institutions, see S. Ménard, L'Institut Saint-Antoine et la problématique de réforme des garçons délinquants au Québec, 1873-1909 (Ph.D. thesis, Université de Québec à Montréal 1998);
10. V. Strimelle, La gestion de la déviance des filles et les institutions du Bon Pasteur à Montréal, 1869-1812 (Ph.D. thesis, Université de Québec à Montréal 1998).
11. An Act for the protection and reformation of neglected children, Statutes of Ontario, 1888, chapter 40.
12. Report of the Commissioners appointed to enquire into the prison and reformatory system of Ontario (Toronto 1891).
13. An Act for the prevention of cruelty to, and better protection of children, Statutes of Ontario, 1893, chapter 45.
14. A fair amount of research has been done on Kelso and his work. See particularly: A. Jones and L. Rutman, In the Children's Aid: J.J. Kelso and Child Welfare in Ontario (Toronto 1981).
15. William L. Scott, 'The Genesis of the Juvenile Delinquents Act' (Unpublished manuscript 1938), pp. 7-8.
16. This brief account only summarizes the events and process that led to the adoption of the act. Further information may be obtained from William L. Scott, op. cit. ('The Genesis ⋯');
17. Jones and Rutman, op. cit.;
18. J. Trépanier and F. Tulkens, op. cit. (Délinquance et ⋯');
19. J.N. Sutherland, Children in English-Canadian Society: Framing the Twentieth Century Consensus (Toronto 1976);
20. J.S. Leon, 'The Development of Canadian Juvenile Justice: A Background for Reform', 15 Osgoode Hall Law Journal (1977), pp. 71-106;
21. J.S. Leon, 'New and Old Themes in Canadian Juvenile Justice: The Origins of Delinquency Legislation and the Prospects for Recognition of Children's Rights', 8 Interchange (1977), pp. 151-175;
22. J. Hagan and J.S. Leon, 'Rediscovering Delinquency: Social History, Political Ideology and the Sociology of Law', 42 American Sociological Review (1977), pp. 587-598;
23. J. Hagan and J.S. Leon, 'The Rehabilitation of Law: A Socio-Historical Comparison of Probation in Canada and the United States', 5 Canadian Journal of Sociology (1980), pp. 235-251;
24. J. Trépanier, 'The Origins of the Juvenile Delinquents Act of 1908: Controlling Delinquency Through Seeking its Causes and Through Youth Protection', in R. Smandych, G. Dodds and A. Esau (ed.), Dimensions of Childhood: Essays on the History of Children and Youth in Canada (Winnipeg 1991), pp. 205-232;
25. J. Trépanier and F. Tulkens, 'Juvenile Justice in Belgium and Canada at the Beginning of the Century', 1 International Journal of Children's Rights (1993), pp. 189-211;
26. M.-S. Dupont-Bouchat, J.-G. Petit, J. Dekker, J.-M. Fecteau, É. Pierre, B. Schnapper, F. Tétard, J. Trépanier, with the collaboration of S. Ménard and V. Strimelle, Enfants corrigés, enfants protégés. Genèse de la protection de l'enfance en Belgique, en France, aux Pays-Bas et au Québec (1820-1914) (Report submitted to the French Department of Justice 1995).
27. Senator Scott, S.D., 1907-08, p. 1044.
28. J.J. Kelso, 'Children's Courts', 28 Canadian Law Times and Review (1908), pp. 163-166, at p. 164.
29. An Act respecting arrest, trial and imprisonment of youthful offenders, Statutes of Canada, 1894, chapter 58.
30. S.D., 1906-07, p. 823.
31. J.J. Kelso, op. cit. ('Children's ⋯'), p. 165.
32. see also similar views in J.J. Kelso, 'Delinquent Children: Some Improved Methods Whereby They May be Prevented from Following a Criminal Career', 6 Canadian Law Review (1907), pp. 106-110, at p. 106;
33. William L. Scott, 'The Juvenile Delinquent Act', 28 Canadian Law Times and Review (1908), pp. 892-904, at pp. 893-894.
34. S.D., 1906-07, p. 895.
35. S.D., 1906-07, p. 876.
36. The text of the Senate Debates (1906-07, pp. 824-825) does not provide any precise information on the origin of this resumé. We have found out that it comprises extracts from W.D. Morrison's Juvenile Offenders (1896; reprint Montclair 1975), pp. 94-102.
37. S.D., 1906-07, p. 825.
38. S.D., 1906-07, p. 825.
39. See especially D. Garland, op. cit., pp. 99-100.
40. S.D., 1906-07, p. 806.
41. S.D., 1906-07, pp. 895-896.
42. S.D., 1906-07, p. 807.
43. Senator Béique, S.D., 1907-08, p. 975.
44. Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, p. 978.
45. Senator MacDonald, S.D., 1906-07, p. 807.
46. J.N. Sutherland, op. cit., pp. 17-18.
47. Report of the Commissioners ⋯, op. cit., p. 40; emphasis added in the part of the original text enunciating the causes.
48. Senator MacDonald, S.D., 1906-07, p. 821.
49. It is worth nothing that, from 1903, Canada experienced a spectacular influx of immigrants. In this regard, see K.G. Basavarajappa and B. Ram, 'Population and Migration', in F.H. Leacy (ed.), Statistiques historiques du Canada, 2nd ed. (Ottawa 1983) series A350. However the historical data available does not support the idea that these waves of immigration contributed to the emergence of the bill. They seem to have been still too recent at the time to have had any impact during the preparation of the bill. Very few references are made to it in the parliamentary debates or anywhere else.
50. Senator Sullivan, S.D., 1907-08, p. 1045.
51. Senator Ross, S.D., 1907-08, p. 1155.
52. Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, pp. 978-979.
53. Senator Cloran, S.D., 1906-07, p. 896.
54. Senators Ellis and Béique, S.D., 1906-07, pp. 887 and 891.
55. J.A. Lee, 'Three Paradigms of Childhood', 19 Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology (1982), pp. 591-608.
56. Senator Ross, S.D., 1907-08, p. 1154.
57. Senator Ross, S.D., 1907-08, pp. 1154-1155.
58. Senator Ross, S.D., 1906-07, p. 901.
59. Senator Ross, S.D., 1906-07, p. 902.
60. W.L. Scott, op. cit. ('The Juvenile Delinquent Act'), p. 894.
61. W. L. Scott, op. cit. ('The Genesis ⋯'), p. 50.
62. Senator Ross, S.D., 1907-08, p. 1155.
63. Senator Ross, S.D., 1906-07, p. 900.
64. Juvenile Delinquents Act, sections 11 and 22.
65. Senator Ross, S.D., 1906-07, p. 805.
66. The senators were not the first to support the idea of indeterminate sentences in Canada. We see, for example, that the delegates at the Prison Reform Conference of Toronto had endorsed it in 1891; see The Dominion Government and Prison Reform, 2nd ed. (Toronto Prisoners' Aid Association of Canada, n.d.), p. 2.
67. Still more important, the Langmuir Commission had officially recommended its adoption during the same period: see Report of the Commissioners ⋯, op. cit., p. 221.
68. After the law came into force, some judges of the classical tradition refused to set the expiration point of the measure only during its execution. In time, however, this state of things changed. see P. Rains, 'La justice des mineurs et The Boys' Farm: 1909-1968', 18 Criminologie (1985), pp. 103-127.
69. Juvenile Delinquents Act, section 17.
70. S.D., 1906-07, p. 825.
71. see D. Garland, op. cit., p. 102.
72. J.J. Kelso, loc. cit. ('Children's Courts'), p. 166.
73. Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, p. 976.
74. Senator Scott, S.D., 1906-07, p. 806.
75. Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, p. 978.
76. Senator Ellis, S.D., 1906-07, p. 890.
77. Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, p. 976.
78. S.D., 1907-08, p. 977.
79. Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, p. 977.
80. Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, p. 977.
81. Senator Scott, S.D., 1907-08, p. 1044.
82. Juvenile Delinquents Act, sections 27 and 28.
83. Senator Scott, S.D., 1907-08, p. 1044.
84. Juvenile Delinquents Act, section 14.
85. Senator Ellis, S.D., 1906-07, p. 890; Senator Coffey, S.D., 1907-08, p. 978.
86. Juvenile Delinquents Act, Section 31.
87. Mr. Leighton McCarthy, D.H.C. 1907-08, col. 12405.
88. For a discussion of this question, see R. McGowen, 'The Image of Justice and Reform of the Criminal Law in Early Nineteenth-Century England', 32 Buffalo Law Review (1983), pp. 89-125.
89. The Young Offenders Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, chapter Y-1.