Crime and Education in Canada
| Date | 01 April 1930 |
| Published date | 01 April 1930 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X3000300203 |
| Author | William Banks |
| Subject Matter | Article |
Crime and Education in Canada
By
WILLIAM
BANKS
Editor
of The Canadian Police Bulletin (official organ of
the
Chief
Constablea'
Association of Canada)
CONSIDERATION of any phase of the crime problem in
Canada must include several primary actualities. Fore-
most is that the Canadian constitution, officially ,
The
British
North America Act, 1867,' divides legislative powers between
the Dominion Parliament and the legislatures of the provinces.
In
the words of Edward Bayly, K.C., Deputy Attorney-
General of Ontario: ' While criminal law is thus enacted by the
Dominion Parliament for the whole of Canada, the adminis-
tration of justice, including the enforcement of criminal law,
is in the hands of the provinces.
In
the year 1892
the
criminal
laws of the Dominion were codified and now appear in rela-
tively concise form in what is called the Criminal Code
....
The
criminal law of England, as it existed in September 1792,
and in so far as it has not been repealed or altered, is retained
and remains in the criminal law of Canada. .
..
The
provin-
cial legislatures have jurisdiction with regard to liquor laws,
game and fisheries, public health, municipal institutions, etc.,
and offences against any of these laws are punishable on sum-
mary conviction.'
Thus
gaols and reformatories are under
provincial governments and every province has its own system
of treatment for inmates. Penitentiaries are under the control
of the Dominion Government.
Secondly, education is a provincial matter, and while
principles are the same, systems show variances.
This
situation adds to the difficulties of attempting to clarify any
connection between crime and education.
The
nearest
approach to adequate treatment of any angle of the question,
and certainly of its adequate discussion, has so far been made
in the annual conventions of the Chief Constables' Association
176
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