Guelph Raid
Ignatius Jesuit Centre built in 1949, on the site of the original novitiate building which burnt down in 1954.
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| Date | June 7, 1918 |
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| Location | St. Stanislaus Novitiate, Guelph, Ontario |
| Also known as | Guelph Novitiate Raid |
| Theme | Conscription Crisis of 1917 |
| Participants |
Society of Jesus Charles Doherty Department of Militia and Defence |
| Inquiries | Royal Commission in April 1919 |
| Verdict | No foundation for charges Exemption of Jesuit novices from the Military Service Act |
The Guelph Raid was an incident that occurred at the St. Stanislaus Novitiate in Guelph, Ontario in 1918. While the novitiate was attended by the son of the Justice Minister of Canada, Charles Doherty, Canadian military officers surrounded it attempting to enforce the Military Service Act, causing a Royal Commission to be appointed by the Parliament of Canada in April 1919.
The Military Service Act was passed in 1917 to increase the men enlisted to replace the casualties in World War I. When it was enforced in on 1 January 1918, riots broke out in Quebec in protest at the act. By April 1918, the government had amended the act so that most of the exemptions had been removed, such as those working on farms, except "clergy, including members of any recognised order of an exclusively religious character, and ministers of all religious denominations existing in Canada at the date of the passing of this Act." However, the question on when a clerical student becomes clergy was an issue. Catholic seminarians became members of the clergy at the start of their training. Protestant students for the priesthood became clergy or ministers at the end of their training. Charles Doherty the Minister of Justice felt that the act exempted Catholic students for the priesthood. However, in late May 1918, enforcement of the act no longer became the responsibility of the police under the Ministry of Justice, but the Military Police who came under the Department of Militia and Defence. Many, such as General S. C. Mewburn, Minister of the Militia and Defence, Henry Westoby, the military representative in Guelph, and Colonel Godson-Godson, Provost Marshall for Canada, were either not aware of the Minister of Justice's previous interpretation, or did not agree with it.
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