William Thomas McGrath
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William Thomas (Bill) McGrath (1918-Sept. 30, 1999) was the longest-serving executive director of what is now the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, performing the role from 1951 to 1982[1].
Early life and career
McGrath was born in 1918 in Pointe du Chene, New Brunswick, to William McGrath and Maude McGrath (nee Tucker). He earned bachelor’s degree from Mt. Allison University in New Brunswick before entering the Canadian Armed Forces in 1941. He served as a Captain with the New Brunswick Division of the Carleton and York Regiment, was wounded in the Battle of Rome and became a decorated war hero.[2] While serving in Italy, he served on a number of court martials “as both a judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney.” What he saw in courts made him question the value of a punitive approach to justice, and so he pursued a master’s degree in social work upon his return from the war (he wanted to study criminology, but said no program was available in Canada at the time). Upon graduating with a master’s from the University of Toronto, he worked for the Department of Public Welfare in Nova Scotia.[3]
Canadian Corrections/Criminal Justice Association
In 1951,[1]McGrath joined the Canadian Welfare Council as an executive director.[4] On Feb. 1, 1956 he was named executive director of the newly formed Canadian Corrections Association, which was the result of a merger of the Council’s Division on Crime and Delinquency and the Canadian Penal Association. The new association remained a division of the Canadian Welfare Council.[3] [5] McGrath served as secretary and member of the Special Committee on Corrections (better known as the Ouimet Committee for its chairman, Quebec Superior Court Justice Roger Ouimet), which was appointed in 1964 by then-Canadian Minister of Justice Guy Favreau “to study the broad field of corrections, in its widest sense and to recommend … what changes, if any, should be made in the law and practice relating to these matters.”[6] Among many other findings, the committee’s final report in 1969 recommended the complete abolition of corporal punishment in Canada; the practice was banned by Parliament three years later.[7] While serving on the committee, McGrath produced the anthology textbook Crime and Its Treatment in Canada, “addressed primarily to university students in the various disciplines involved in the control of illegal behaviour, such as criminology, law, medicine, psychology, social work, sociology, and theology, and to students in the many in-service training-courses offered by the police and correctional services across the country.”[8] It proved popular and influential: It was reprinted five times between 1965 and 1980.[9] The book contained a chapter by Frank Miller, who would later serve as president of the Canadian Corrections Association.[3]
Retirement
McGrath retired from the Association (then called the Canadian Criminology and Corrections Association) in 1982. At the time, Association President Gillian Sandeman remarked: “When it was left to Bill McGrath to chart his path, he chose a route for which the guideposts have been his professional skills, his knowledge of the criminal justice process and a deeply humane philosophy of life: His goal has always been crime prevention in its widest sense.”[3]
Personal life
McGrath married Flora MacDonald Wilkie. Their children are Patricia Feasey (from Wilkie’s previous marriage), Jefferson Christine and noted Canadian activist Maude Barlow.[2]
References
- ^ a b “History – CCJA.” Canadian Criminal Justice Association (https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/pub/en/about-ccja/history/ ) Retrieved Sept. 7, 2017
- ^ a b Barlow, Maude. “Lives lived: William Thomas McGrath.” The Globe and Mail. Toronto, Canada. Oct. 18, 1999, p. A22.
- ^ a b c d Yeager, Mathew. (1994). The First 75 Years: A History of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association, 1919-1994. Ottawa, Canada: Canadian Criminal Justice Association. Retrieved from http://www.bccja.com/images/CCJA_HISTORY-ENG.doc on Sept. 7, 2017.
- ^ “Government’s responsibility in legal aid, topic of talk.” https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/43031897/ The Ottawa Journal. Ottawa, Canada. Dec. 9, 1965, p. 36. Retrieved Sept. 7, 2017, via newspapers.com.
- ^ “Canadiana Authorities.” http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/canadiana-authorities/index/view?cdnAutNbr=0002D6448E&format=full&index_name=heading&search_text=&page=2733&filter= Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved Sept. 7, 2017.
- ^ Canadian Committee on Corrections. (1969). Toward Unity: Criminal Justice and Corrections. Ottawa: The Committee. Retrieved from https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/lbrr/ctlg/dtls-en.aspx?d=PS&i=699970 on Sept. 7, 2017.
- ^ “50 Years of Human Rights Developments in Federal Corrections.” http://www.csc-scc.gc.ca/text/pblct/rht-drt/05-eng.shtml Correction Service Canada. Retrieved on Sept. 7, 2017.
- ^ McGrath, William T. (ed.). (1965). Crime and Its Treatment in Canada. Toronto: Macmillan of Canada.
- ^ “McGrath, W.T. (William Thomas) 1917-“ http://worldcat.org/identities/lccn-n81038786/ WorldCat.org. Retrieved Sept. 7, 2017.
A biography of William Thomas (Bill) McGrath.
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