La Loi québécoise de protection de l'enfance de 1944 : genèse et avortement d'une réforme

Abstract

This article recounts the process in which the Quebec Child Protection Act of 1944 was drafted, passed, and then shelved. It places this legislation within the social, political, and religious context of the era. Two opposing ideological currents ran through Quebec society in the 1940s. They confronted each other in many different arenas, not least that of child welfare, which represented a significant issue for the adherents of the two world views. The reformist forces succeeded in having a law passed that was considered advanced for the time: it was a hollow victory, as once Maurice Duplessis and the conservative forces returned to power they permanently suspended its implementation.