Eugenics Society of Canada formed in Ontario

1930. The Eugenics Society in Canada (ESC) was established by Dr. William Hutton. It was never a large organization and it mostly attracted academics, medical professionals (primarily from the field of public health), and welfare workers (McLaren, 1990). Notable members of the society included Dr. Clarence Hincks, Dr. H. A. Bruce (Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario), Dr. Helen MacMurchy, Dr. Charles Hastings, and Dr. Clarence B. Farrar (Wheatley, 2013). The society hoped to improve the race through educational programs, immigration restriction, changes in the Marriage Act, segregation of the "feeble-minded", and legislation which both discouraged reproduction of the "unfit" and encouraged "fit parenthood", including sterilization (McLaren, 1990 ; Wheatley, 2013). The Society also helped organize traveling exhibits of eugenics propaganda in the 1920s (Wheatley, 2013).

There was considerable support for the ESC, but most provinces never took on eugenic legislation. By the time the society was created, sterilization legislation had already passed in Alberta. It would pass in British Columbia three years after the creation of the ESC. However, the ESC was created more as a result of an increasing interest in the eugenics movement. In 1938, it was implied that the ESC and the Nazi party shared similar goals and methods. After World War II broke out, the society’s influence began to decline (McLaren, 1990).

-Erna Kurbegovic and Colette Leung

Eugenics Society of Canada formed in Ontario

1930. The Eugenics Society in Canada (ESC) was established by Dr. William Hutton. It was never a large organization and it mostly attracted academics, medical professionals (primarily from the field of public health), and welfare workers (McLaren, 1990). Notable members of the society included Dr. Clarence Hincks, Dr. H. A. Bruce (Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario), Dr. Helen MacMurchy, Dr. Charles Hastings, and Dr. Clarence B. Farrar (Wheatley, 2013). The society hoped to improve the race through educational programs, immigration restriction, changes in the Marriage Act, segregation of the "feeble-minded", and legislation which both discouraged reproduction of the "unfit" and encouraged "fit parenthood", including sterilization (McLaren, 1990 ; Wheatley, 2013). The Society also helped organize traveling exhibits of eugenics propaganda in the 1920s (Wheatley, 2013).

There was considerable support for the ESC, but most provinces never took on eugenic legislation. By the time the society was created, sterilization legislation had already passed in Alberta. It would pass in British Columbia three years after the creation of the ESC. However, the ESC was created more as a result of an increasing interest in the eugenics movement. In 1938, it was implied that the ESC and the Nazi party shared similar goals and methods. After World War II broke out, the society’s influence began to decline (McLaren, 1990).

-Erna Kurbegovic and Colette Leung