THE JUVENILE COURT AND THE CHILDREN’S AID SOCIETY OF MONTREAL
The Juvenile Court, which of recent years has been established to treat younger delinquents than those already mentioned, was largely the effort of the promotion of the Children’s Aid Society of Montreal.
This association developed out of a movement inaugurated by the Montreal Women’s Club, which, in 1905, formed a committee having as its object the establishment of reforms in the methods then in use in dealing with the children of the city who had offended against the law. The members of the club had become convinced from personal observation during the course of their charitable work that, not only was juvenile crime increasing to an alarming extent in Montreal, but also that the existing legal machinery was very badly adapted to cope with the situation. The “Juvenile Court” committee, therefore, began by collecting information regarding the methods in use in children’s courts and the probation system in various cities of the American continent and Europe, and interviewed many public men in Montreal in the interests of reform. Of these the first to offer definite encouragement and assurance of personal support was Judge F.X. Choquet, who, in an interview with some members of the committee on the 28th February, 1907, expressed his opinion that complete reformation of the law respecting juvenile offenders was urgently needed, and that a juvenile court with a special magistrate and officials was over-due in Montreal, in order that children’s cases might be promptly and efficiently dealt with, the circumstances and family history of the cases being investigated before sentence should be pronounced. It was recommended to the committee as their first step that a petition should be framed and sent to the Minister of Justice asking for a new law regulating the treatment of children’s cases before the courts.
Another public official to whom credit must be accorded for encouragement given in the initial stages of this reform is Governor Vallée of the Montreal jail, who stated as the result of personal experience that the greatest wrong was being done to the youth of the city by the system then in vogue; that he was familiar with the juvenile court methods, and heartily in favour of their introduction in Montreal.
A petition was prepared and was subsequently sent to the different branches of the Legislature bearing the signatures of over five thousand citizens. Public interest was increased in the movement by an address given by Mr. W.L. Scott, president of the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, before the Montreal Women’s Club, in the autumn of 1907, on juvenile courts and probation officers, and as a result of this address the club undertook to defray the cost of supporting a probation officer, for a time, provided the magistrates would sanction the innovation. Approval and promise of co-operation having been obtained from Judge Choquet, Mr. Recorder Weir, and Mr. Recorder Dupuis, a French lady, Mlle. Maria Clément, was engaged to fill the position.
It was now thought that the growth and prospects of the movement warranted the formation of a Children’s Aid Society, and the first meeting of ladies and gentlemen to form the executive board of such an association was assembled at the residence of Senator and Mme. Beïque on Sherbrooke Street, February 1, 1908, with Judge Eugène Lafontaine in the chair. Although the probation officer had only been at work during a few weeks it was stated at this meeting that her services had already proved of much value. Judge Choquet explained the purposes and need of the proposed society, whose officers were elected as follows: President, Judge F.X. Choquet; vice presidents, Mme. Beïque, Mme. Choquet, Judge Lafontaine, Miss Ferguson, president of the Montreal Women’s Club, Reverend Dr. Symonds, Mrs. Waycott, Mr. J.M. Wilson; secretaries, Mrs. Weller, Dr. St. Jacques; treasurer, Mr. F. Beïque.
By kind permission of the Protestant Board of School Commissioners, the meetings of the council of the Children’s Aid Society were subsequently held in the board room of the Protestant High School on Peel Street.
The members of the juvenile court committee of the Women’s Club were incorporated with the council of the new society, and subsequently, until the official organization of the juvenile court, held meetings twice a month with the probation officer at the home of Mme. Beïque in order to assist with the probation work.
In June, 1908, the Juvenile Delinquents Act was passed by the Dominion Parliament, and at the meeting of the Children’s Aid Society in September of that year a letter was read from Mr. W.L. Scott, one of the original framers of the bill, in which he stated that, “the success of the Juvenile Delinquents Bill has been due in great measure to your Society, and particularly to your having secured the interest of Senator Beïque and Mr. Bickerdike.”
The Society next exerted its effort towards having the act proclaimed by the Provincial Parliament as a preliminary to its being put into force in the province. To this end a public meeting was arranged, which was addressed by the Chief Justice, Sir Charles Fitzpatrick, and by Mr. J.J. Kelso, the originator of the juvenile court system in Toronto.