Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp

On September 26, 2024, this plaque was unveiled at Conrad Grebel University College in Waterloo, and then permanently installed at Twilight River Resort (the former site of the Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp) in Montreal River Harbour, north of Sault Ste. Marie, on September 28, 2024.

The bilingual plaque reads as follows:

MONTREAL RIVER ALTERNATIVE SERVICE WORK CAMP

When Canada introduced wartime conscription in 1940, many young men — largely of Mennonite and other historic peace churches — sought alternatives to military service based on religious conviction and conscience. In response, the Canadian government set up the non-military, alternative service work camps for conscientious objectors. On July 16, 1941, the first group of men, most from Southern Ontario, arrived at Ontario’s first camp, the Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp to serve four-month terms. Their work focused on extending the Trans-Canada Highway northwards. Remote camp life was unchartered territory for these men and a profound dislocation from their lives. In March 1942, the Canadian government issued an order-in-council requiring conscientious objectors to serve for the duration of the war instead. The men found this change deeply disappointing yet continued to serve as required. In spring 1942, many of the present occupants were transferred to British Columbia camps for general labour and forest protection. The Montreal River camp closed in May 1943, having served as a model for over 50 camps across Canada. For many, these work camps became symbols of resistance to war and a belief in pacifism. The work of these conscientious objectors greatly contributed to Canada’s essential services during the war years.

CAMP DE SERVICE DE REMPLACEMENT DE LA RIVIÈRE MONTRÉAL

Lorsque le Canada instaure la conscription en 1940, de nombreux jeunes hommes – pour la plupart des membres de l’Église mennonite ou d’autres églises traditionnellement pacifistes – souhaitent effectuer leur service sous une forme qui n’est pas liée au combat afin de respecter leurs convictions religieuses et morales. Face à cette situation, le gouvernement du Canada établit des camps civils pour accueillir les objecteurs de conscience, afin qu’ils y exécutent des travaux en lieu et place du service militaire. Le 16 juillet 1941, un premier groupe d’hommes, majoritairement originaires du sud de l’Ontario, s’installe au premier camp de travail établi en Ontario, le Camp de service de remplacement de la rivière Montréal, pour y effectuer un service d’une durée de quatre mois. Ils y sont principalement affectés aux travaux de prolongement de la route Transcanadienne en direction du nord. Dans ces camps éloignés de chez eux, ces hommes n’ont aucun repère et la vie y tranche brutalement avec leur quotidien d’avant. En mars 1942, le gouvernement du Canada publie un décret imposant désormais aux objecteurs de conscience de rester en service pendant toute la durée de la guerre. Quoique profondément déçus, les hommes ne s’en plieront pas moins à leurs obligations. Au printemps 1942, une grande partie des occupants du camp est transférée dans des camps de Colombie-Britannique pour y réaliser des travaux généraux et entretenir les forêts. Le camp de la rivière Montréal ferme ses portes en mai 1943 après avoir servi de modèle à plus de 50 camps au Canada. Ces camps de travail sont souvent considérés comme le symbole de la résistance à la guerre et de la croyance dans la non-violence. Ces objecteurs de conscience ont été des maillons indispensables au maintien des services essentiels au Canada pendant la guerre.

Historical background

During the Second World War (1939-45), the government of Canada reintroduced conscription in 1940 through the National Resources Mobilization Act¹ of 1940. In response, many young men sought alternatives to military service on the basis of religious conviction and conscience. The option of alternatives emerged as the result of lengthy negotiations between the Ontario-based Conference of Historic Peace Churches (CHPC) and the Canadian government, and was exemplified at a former lumber camp on the Montreal River, 133 km (83 miles) to the northwest of Sault Ste. Marie.² This was a significant step on the part of government in providing a non-military service option for conscientious objectors (COs) and on the part of Christian churches in putting aside theological differences to unite in their response to conscription. The camp would become a model for over 50 other camps across Canada, and for over 10,000 COs during the Second World War.³ Operating under the Department of Mines and Resources, it was to house up to around 200 men for four months at a time, representing primarily the CHPC (which included Mennonite denominations, Brethren in Christ, and Society of Friends (Quakers)), as well as other denominations such as Christadelphians, United Church of Canada, Seventh-day Adventist, Salvation Army, Pentecostal and Jehovah’s Witnesses.⁴

The camp’s primary purpose was to assist in the building of the Trans-Canada Highway;⁵ work included unloading gravel trucks, chopping trees, carpentry, surveying and other camp tasks.⁶ The men worked eight-hour days, with a one-hour lunchbreak, rising early in the morning to begin their work.⁷ Camp personnel included supervisor and engineer Charles E. Tench, work foremen and a first aid director. Spiritual leadership was provided by CHPC Secretary J. Harold Sherk, who visited the camp weekly, except in the winter when Harold D. Groh filled in.⁸ The grounds of the camp included a dining hall, kitchen, outhouse, staff hall, a recreation hall, storage shed, meat storage shack, utility pole, a bunkhouse and a stable. The government of Canada provided transportation to and from the camp, meals and lodging and a wage of 50 cents per day for most workers — although cooks, timekeepers, supervisors and truck drivers were paid up to double that amount.⁹ Churches and other organizations raised funds for the camp and sent goods to boost the men’s spirits, but any expenses while on leave would be covered by the men themselves.

The first group of men arrived at the camp in July 1941¹⁰ after receiving letters of instruction outlining their terms of service and their travel arrangements. Diaries of these men reflect the journey to the camp, first by rail and then in a truck packed with other interns, often rolling on through the darkness over rough roads towards an unfamiliar destination, accessible only by a log bridge across a river which was occasionally washed out.¹¹ The experiences of these interns were also the subject of some news coverage¹² and much discussion within the various denominations of the men’s congregations and churches.

Many of the men viewed their terms at the camp as an acceptable consequence of their religious faith, or even as a form of Christian communal living. Their convictions were reflected in Canada’s first Christian conscientious objector publication, the Northern Beacon, which saw 10 issues in print before its publication was transferred to camps in British Columbia, and which was to inspire at least one other newsletter, the Canadian CO.¹³ The content of the Northern Beacon was meant to foster unity among men from a range of denominational backgrounds, and included articles on faith and religion, camp happenings and updates on camp work, poetry (including the camp song) and letters from readers.

Camp life could be challenging; morale suffered as many of the men became convinced that their activities were really make-work projects and would not contribute significantly to highway development.¹⁴ Few of the men were truly prepared for this life in the north, far away from farms and loved ones. They eagerly awaited letters from home, but the post office and store were 128 km (80 miles) away.¹⁵ The camp also suffered from occasional setbacks, including a fire that burned the chaplain’s tent, quarantines due to illness, and being snowed in.¹⁶ Tensions at times surfaced between the men, whose perspectives on faith and service could be different from one another.¹⁷ Evenings were often spent together, however, in singing and sports activities, and the autograph books signed by the men at the end of their terms reflected deep friendships formed across denominational boundaries.

By 1942, the Canadian government had come to value the work of the conscientious objectors at Montreal River, or "conchies," as they were nicknamed, as an asset on the home front. On March 30 of that year, the government issued an order-in-council that all men at the camp would remain for the duration of the war.¹⁸ For men who were in the process of packing to go home, this was devastating news. In June, they also received news of their deployment to camps in the interior of British Columbia, in part to protect forests against fire-bombing by Japanese forces.¹⁹ When they heard of this news, some men applied for leaves of absence to go home. These requests, however, were often denied.

The camp at Montreal River was effectively closed in May 1943. Many of the men stationed at the camp were transferred to farms in Southern Ontario, in accordance with the government’s new agricultural policy, and their wages were garnished for the Red Cross for a period of one year after the war was over.²⁰ In total, 570 men served time at Montreal River Alternative Service Work Camp. The work of the men at Montreal River, and at CO camps across Canada, greatly contributed to Canada’s essential services during the war years.

---

The Ontario Heritage Trust gratefully acknowledges the research of Timothy Epp in preparing this paper. The Trust also thanks the Mennonite Historical Society and Conrad Grebel University College.

© Ontario Heritage Trust, 2024

---

¹ Thomas P. Socknat, Witness Against War: Pacifism in Canada 1900-1945 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 226.

² Melvin Gingerich, "Alternative Service Work Camps (Canada)." Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. March 2009. Web. 28 Mar 2022.

³ Conrad Stoesz, “This Thing is in Our Blood for 400 years.”: Conscientious Objection in the Canadian Historic Peace Churches during the Second World War.” In Lara Campbell, Michael Dawson, and Catherine Gidney, editors, Worth Fighting For: Canada’s Tradition of War Resistance From 1812 to the War on Terror (Toronto: Between the Lines Press, 2015), pp. 101-102.

⁴ Edward Gilmore, “The Alternative Service Work Program.” In E.J. Swalm, Nonresistance Under Test (Nappanee: E.V. Publishing House, 2012), pp. 77, 78.

⁵ J.A. Toews, Alternative Service in Canada During World War II. Publication Committee of the Canadian Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church, 1959, p. 76.

⁶ Darrell James, Called to be a Soldier, (Moundridge, Vineyard Publications, 2014), p. 49.

⁷ Samuel J. Steiner, In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario (Windsor: Herald Press. 2015), p. 313.

⁸ Samuel J. Steiner, In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario (Windsor: Herald Press. 2015), p. 313.

⁹ Edward Gilmore, “The Alternative Service Work Program.” In E.J. Swalm, Nonresistance Under Test (Nappanee: E.V. Publishing House, 2012), p. 78.

¹⁰ Thomas P. Socknat, Witness Against War: Pacifism in Canada 1900-1945 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 241.

¹¹ Darrell James Frey, Called to be a Soldier (Moundridge: Vineyard Publications, 2014), p. 119.

¹² Frank Flaherty, “Conchies Doing Great Job on Roads.” The Sault Daily Star, 29 August 1941, p. 12.

¹³ Thomas P. Socknat, Witness Against War: Pacifism in Canada 1900-1945 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press. 1987), p. 242.

¹⁴ Samuel J. Steiner, In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario (Windsor: Herald Press. 2015), p. 314.

¹⁵ Thomas P. Socknat, Witness Against War: Pacifism in Canada 1900-1945 (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1987), p. 241.

¹⁶ "Christmas Show is Well Attended: Children Put on Concert Directed by Marie Rabicheau." The Sault Star, 16 January 1942, p. 7. (Letters, letter, MAO XV-11.1.2.2).

¹⁷ Samuel J. Steiner, In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario (Windsor: Herald Press. 2015), p. 315.

¹⁸ Samuel J. Steiner, In Search of Promised Lands: A Religious History of Mennonites in Ontario (Windsor: Herald Press. 2015), p. 315.

¹⁹ "60 Conscientious Objectors Moved: Montreal River Road Crew to Go to British Columbia.” The Sault Star, 06 July 1942, p. 3.

²⁰ J.A. Toews, Alternative Service in Canada During World War II. Publication Committee of the Canadian Conference of the Mennonite Brethren Church, 1959, p. 76.