Given different circumstances, an event like the Guelph Raid may not have received much attention in the media, but the affair was the talk of the country for almost a year as it brought into focus, and to the forefront of Canadian consciences, conflicts that were already dividing the country.
The Military Service Act
Enacted on 6 July 1917, the Military Service Act allowed Canadian Prime Minister Robert Borden to introduce conscription if he felt that enlistment rates were too low. Under certain circumstances, though, men could apply to a local tribunal for an exemption from this law. For example, practicing clergy members of recognized religious denominations could be spared the call of duty if their faith prohibited combat. The wording of the Act was a major reason for the Guelph Raid, as few were certain if the young men of St Stanislaus, as theological students, could be considered "clergy."
The Lead-Up to the Guelph Raid
The events that would eventually result in the June 1918 raid began as early as November 1917 when the Guelph area military representative, Henry Westoby, asked the men of St Stanislaus - a Jesuit seminary where young men trained to join the clergy - to present themselves for the requisite medical inspection. Father Henri Bourque, the priest who was in charge of St Stanislaus, responded by asking Guelph MP and Canada's Solicitor General, Hugh Guthrie, to look into the matter.
Guthrie informed Westoby that the Jesuits at St Stanislaus were exempt from service, but unfortunately, this did not stop one Reverend Kennedy Palmer, a Presbyterian minister and outspoken anti-Catholic, from encouraging further investigation into the novitiate.
Kennedy's encouragement, in addition to that of the Guelph Ministerial Association, resulted in a minor inquiry into the novitiate. This led to a series of misinterpreted and poorly phrased memos and notes that would bring about Captain A. C. MacAuley's instructions to clean out the novitiate.
The Raid of St Stanislaus
With a small group of men, MacAuley was allowed entry into St Stanislaus Novitiate on 7 June 1918, where he proceeded to demand that all of the men be brought before him for questioning. After much arguing and under protest, Bourque had the young men brought downstairs, where they were all assumed by MacAuley to be defaulters because they did not have exemption certificates.
MacAuley only arrested three men, though, including Marcus Doherty, the son of the Minister of Justice, Charles Doherty. Marcus phoned his father in Ottawa before leaving St Stanislaus to inform him of what was occurring, and the senior Doherty immediately responded by beginning a series of phone calls that resulted in MacAuley being told to retire for the night and leave the men at St Stanislaus.
The Guelph Raid and Ethnic Divisions
English- and French-Canadians had been at odds for many years, but the division was deepened further by the introduction of Conscription. Generally speaking, English-Canadians felt compelled by their loyalty to Great Britain to join in the war effort, but French-Canadians felt no loyalty to any European country, and thus had no interest in fighting in what they saw as a European war.
The Jesuits of St Stanislaus Novitiate were primarily young French-Canadians, and were under the tutelage of a migrant from Montreal, while the raiders were decidedly English-Canadians. There was little doubt in the minds of most Canadians that this had played a large part in the raid.
The Guelph Raid and Religious Divisions
Furthermore, there was obvious anti-Catholic sentiment across Ontario at the time of the Raid. As such, the group of seemingly eligible young Catholics who refused conscription found themselves the topic of much bitterness and contempt within the city of Guelph.
The subsequent media coverage, however, made Canadians recognize the discrimination against Catholics within their country, thus paving the way for increased tolerance.
The Importance of the Raid of St Stanislaus
Though no men were sent to prison or injured in the Guelph Raid, the events of 7 June 1918 are significant in Canadian history. The thoughts of most Canadians were focused on the events in Europe, but the Guelph Raid brought to their attention the divisions and conflicts that were present within the country itself.
Sources:
Johnson, Leo A. History of Guelph: 1827-1927. Guelph: Guelph Historical Society, 1977.
Rutherdale, Robert. Hometown Horizons: Local Responses to the Great War. Toronto: UBC Press, 2004.
Ontario and the First World War 1914-1918: A Collection of Documents. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977.
