Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

are a religious group that is an outgrowth of the

Bible student movement The Bible Student movement is a Millennialist Restorationist Christian movement. It emerged in the United States from the teachings and ministry of Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916), also known as Pastor Russell, and his founding of the Zion' ...

founded by

Charles Taze Russell Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American Adventist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of the Bible Student movement. He was an early Christian Zionist. In July ...

in the nineteenth century. The Christian denomination had an early presence in Canada, with many adherents experiencing

religious persecution Religious persecution is the systematic oppression of an individual or a group of individuals as a response to their religion, religious beliefs or affiliations or their irreligion, lack thereof. The tendency of societies or groups within socie ...

, particularly in Quebec. Jehovah's Witnesses were banned from 1940 to 1943 as a result of the ''

War Measures Act The ''War Measures Act'' (; 5 George V, Chap. 2) was a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. The Act was brough ...

''. The passing of the ''

Canadian Bill of Rights The ''Canadian Bill of Rights'' () is a federal statute and bill of rights enacted by the Parliament of Canada on August 10, 1960. It provides Canadians with certain rights at Canadian federal law in relation to other federal statutes. It was ...

'' in 1960 and the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

'' in 1982 established broader protections for Jehovah's Witnesses and their freedom to worship.

Radio stations

In the early 1900s, radio stations were operated by individual congregations in

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

. In 1927, the federal minister responsible for radio licensing, Arthur Cardin, revoked the licences for these radio stations because they shared airspace with the Ku Klux Klan in Canada. According to

Gary Botting Gary Norman Arthur Botting (born 19 July 1943) is a Canadian legal scholar and criminal defense lawyer (now retired) as well as a poet, playwright, novelist, and critic of literature and religion, in particular Jehovah's Witnesses. The author o ...

, this "strange alliance" was formed due to a mutual opposition against the Roman Catholic church. In response, Joseph Rutherford bought airtime from other radio stations. When Hector Charlesworth banned this activity as well, he was "indirectly attacked" in an issue of the ''

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

'' and Jehovah's Witnesses launched a petition to regain their licences that resulted in 406,270 signatures. Charlesworth's actions were debated by the House of Commons in 1933. While multiple members expressed concern that this prohibition was censorship of

free speech Freedom of speech is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or a community to articulate their opinions and ideas without fear of retaliation, censorship, or legal sanction. The right to freedom of expression has been recognise ...

, the ban was not lifted.

World War II

During the late 1930s, Witnesses were tried for

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech or organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, establ ...

because their literature attacked the clergy and political leaders of the country. In 1940, 115 Jehovah's Witnesses (mostly in Quebec) were charged with crimes related to libel and selling literature without a license. The denomination itself was banned in 1940 under the ''

'' as a subversive organization. This ban continued until 1943. Hundreds of adherents were prosecuted for being members of an illegal organization. Jehovah's Witnesses were interned in camps along with political dissidents and people of Chinese and Japanese descent. During this period, many Jehovah's Witness children were expelled from school, while others were placed in foster homes or juvenile detention. A separate ban on the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was not lifted until 1945. More than 100,000 dollars in assets were seized by the Canadian government and

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s of literature produced by the group were confiscated. After these bans were lifted, men who had been jailed tried to apply for the ordained minister exemption of the '' National Selective Service Mobilization Regulations'' without success. This led to a legal case being filed, '' R. v. Stewart'', which ruled that Jehovah's Witnesses were participants in a "commercial undertaking" and did not qualify as ministers. A similar outcome was reached in '' Greenlees v. A.G. Canada'', where the judge decided that Jehovah's Witnesses could not be ministers because they considered every member to be one and that they did not have an organizational structure independent of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.

Quebec

During the 1920s and 1930s, many Jehovah's Witnesses were charged with violating municipal laws through selling books. Non-Catholic religious minorities were especially persecuted after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

during the Duplessis era. Quebec's population at the time was 95%

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. Jehovah's Witnesses preached frequently while denouncing Catholicism and their publications depicted the pope as a whore. The group was considered to be a "seditious" and "subversive" religion. Through the Padlock Act and other legal measures, the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses were legally restricted. In 1947, Jehovah's Witnesses launched a preaching campaign condemning these restrictions and advocating the rights of religious minorities. The Legislative Assembly of Quebec responded to this campaign with increasing severity through the control of "subversive" materials. Individual municipalities also passed legislature restricting religious activities. Rabbi Solomon Frank, a founding member of the

Canadian Jewish Congress The Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC; ; ; ) was, for more than ninety years, the main advocacy group for the Jewish community in Canada. Regarded by many as the "Parliament of Canadian Jewry," the Congress was at the forefront of the struggle for Hum ...

(CJC), advocated for the religious freedom of Jehovah's Witnesses, criticizing Quebec's government of being "anti-democratic." 800 charges were laid against the 300 adherents in the province by September 1946. In response, Jehovah's Witnesses published ''Quebec's Burning Hate for God and Christ and Freedom is the Shame of all of Canada'', which Duplessis perceived as another subversive act and copies of the tract were seized by police. Shortly afterwards, adherents faced more than 1,000 charges.

''Saumur v The City of Quebec''

In 1953, the case of '' Saumur v Quebec (City of)'' (1953) 25 CR 299 (in which a Jehovah's Witness challenged a Quebec City bylaw prohibiting public distribution of literature without a permit) left the question of religious freedom undecided as: "both Parliament and the provinces could validly limit freedom of worship providing they did so in the course of legislating on some other subject which lay within their respective powers." It is considered to be a

landmark case Landmark court decisions, in present-day common law legal systems, establish precedents that determine a significant new legal principle or concept, or otherwise substantially affect the interpretation of existing law. "Leading case" is commonly u ...

for religious freedom in Canada. This decision was part of a series of cases the Supreme Court dealt with concerning the rights of Jehovah's Witnesses under the Duplessis government of Quebec. Previous to this there was the case of '' R. v. Boucher''

951 Year 951 (Roman numerals, CMLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * King Berengar II of Italy seizes Liguria, with help from the feudal lord Oberto I. He reorganizes the territorie ...

S.C.R. 265 that upheld the right to distribute pamphlets.

''Roncarelli v Duplessis''

Subsequent to ''Saumur'' was the case of '' Roncarelli v Duplessis'' 959S.C.R. 121. The court held that in 1946

Maurice Duplessis Maurice Le Noblet Duplessis, (; April 20, 1890 – September 7, 1959) byname "Le Chef" (, "The Boss"), was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 16th premier of Quebec. A Conservatism in Canada, conservative, Quebec nationalism, ...

, both

Premier Premier is a title for the head of government in central governments, state governments and local governments of some countries. A second in command to a premier is designated as a deputy premier. A premier will normally be a head of govern ...

and

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

of Quebec, had overstepped his authority by ordering the manager of the Liquor Commission to revoke the liquor licence of Frank Roncarelli, a Montreal restaurant owner and Jehovah's Witness who was an outspoken critic of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec. Roncarelli provided bail for Jehovah's Witnesses arrested for distributing pamphlets attacking the Roman Catholic Church. The Supreme Court found Duplessis personally liable for $33,123.56 in damages plus Roncarelli's court costs.

Other cases

In several other cases, including '' Chaput v Romain'' (1955) and '' Lamb v Benoit'' (1959), Jehovah's Witnesses successfully sued the police for damages. In ''Chaput v. Romain'', police had raided a home where a religious service by Jehovah’s Witnesses was being conducted, seized

bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

s and other religious paraphernalia, and disrupted the service despite not having a warrant and no charges being laid. In ''Lamb v. Benoit'', a Jehovah's Witness, was arrested for distributing religious pamphlets in

Verdun, Quebec Verdun ( , , ) is a Montreal borough, borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, located in the southeastern part of the island. Long known as a working class neighbourhood, it has experienced significant gentrification and s ...

, in 1946, along with three other members of the religion. She was accused by the plaintiff of distributing copies of ''Quebec's Burning Hate'', but the Supreme Court found no evidence of that specific pamphlet being distributed. Lamb was detained for a weekend without access to legal counsel. Local authorities offered to release Lamb if she would not hold them responsible for her detention, but she refused. She was then charged with conspiracy to publish

, but this was dismissed by a trial judge and that decision was upheld when appealed.

Canadian Bill of Rights

In order to obtain religious freedom, Jehovah's Witnesses in Canada helped promote the creation of a national

bill of rights A bill of rights, sometimes called a declaration of rights or a charter of rights, is a list of the most important rights to the citizens of a country. The purpose is to protect those rights against infringement from public officials and pri ...

. In 1946, a provincial bill had been enacted ensuring religious freedom through the Saskatchewan Bill of Rights. On June 9, 1947, Jehovah's Witnesses presented a petition to Canada's parliament for the enactment of a similar bill, followed by a similar petition in 1949.

John Diefenbaker John George Diefenbaker (September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to 1963. He was the only Progressive Conservative Party of Canada, Progressive Conservative party leader between 1930 an ...

became an advocate of the bill. The Canadian Bill of Rights was the precursor to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms which is part of the Canadian constitution.

References

Sources

* * * {{cite book, last=Richardson, first=James T., author-link=James T. Richardson, year=2015, chapter=In Defense of Religious Rights: Jehovah's Witness Legal Cases around the World, title=Handbook of Global Contemporary Christianity, pages=285–307, isbn=978-90-04-29102-7, editor-last=Hunt, editor-first=Stephen J., publisher=Brill

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Canadian freedom of religion case law Christian nonviolence Conscription crises Conscription in Canada Military history of Canada during World War II