1. T HE C OMPANY OF
Y OUNG C ANADIANS
Presented by:
Shannon Tang, Alice Maryniuk, & Sophia Koo

2. TABLE OF CONTENTS
 Significant People of the CYC
 History of the Company of Young
Canadians
 The twelve aims and principles
 The CYC Projects
 Mounting Problems
 Beginning of the End
 The Compagnie de Jeunesse
Canadien (CJC)
 References

3. S IGNIFICANT P EOPLE OF THE CYC
 Arthur Pape
 Doug Ward
 Rick Salter

4. A RTHUR PAPE
 Member of Student Union for Peace Action (SUPA)
 Brought the CYC credibility with activist youth
 Member of the governing council of CYC
 Aware of the lack of leadership among the youth
 Created the summer project of 1967 focusing on the
Maritimes, Toronto, and Quebec
 Found that the CYC should provide each project with
on the spot research component
 Proposed a research and training centre.

5. D OUG WARD
 Executive of the Canadian Union of
Students
 Also member of governing council of
CYC

6. R ICK S ALTER
 Director of Recruitment
 Ontario Regional Director
 Found that recruiting procedures
determine whether volunteers
were the sort who wanted to do
good work or were interested in
social change.

8. T HE C OMPANY OF Y OUNG C ANADIANS
The Company of Young Canadians was
produced by an Act of Parliament in
1966 with the support of all Political
Parties in the House of Commons.
They were in charge to be a
revolutionary body. The first political
happening of its kind in the world.

9. T HE CYC A CT (B ILL C-174)
 The Act was passed on June 28, 1966.
 The Act read: "The objects of the
Company are to support, encourage
and develop programs for
social, economic and community
development in Canada . . . through
voluntary service."
 This legislation made the CYC an
independent Crown Corporation.

10. S TRUCTURE OF THE CYC
 When the company was first launched in 1966, it had
50 volunteers. In 1968, the company had reached its
peak with 225 volunteers but this figure declined in
1970.
 Prior to October 1969, the CYC was governed by an
Interim or Provisional Council under the leadership of
the government.
 In December 1969, the federal government amended
the CYC Act and formed a new council of 9 members
who were all appointed by the federal government.
This prohibited the membership of volunteers on the
council.

11. E XECUTIVE D IRECTORS OF
T HE CYC
 April 1966: Bill McWhinney (resigned after
the Antigonish training camp).
 September 1966: Alan Clarke.
 June 1968: Stewart Goodings.
 December 1969: Claude Vidal.

12. C REATION OF THE CYC
 During the Pearson regime, the idea of a youth
corps was inspired by John F. Kennedy’s Peace
Corps.
 The Company of Young Canadians Act permitted
Canadian youth to perform worthwhile volunteer
work
 Each month, volunteers received living allowances
of about $185 to $225, as well as an additional $50
a month after two years of satisfactory service.

13. T HE TWELVE AIMS AND PRINCIPLES :
1. Canadians are to volunteer their time and talents
to engage in constructive social change at home
and abroad.
2. Help people to bring positive change to their
situations and engage in solving their own
problems.
3. The volunteers will work and live among the
groups and communities.
4. People have the responsibility to make decisions
about their own lives. *
* However, this method of organizing was perceived as a threat to
existing governments since individuals were controlled by the
government, corporations, or churches.

14. T HE TWELVE AIMS AND PRINCIPLES :
5. Volunteers will partner together with the people
to produce a mutual learning experience to
empower people towards action.
6. Volunteers will help people communicative their
own problems and find their own solutions.
7. There will be no hesitation in seeking volunteers.
8. The Company council will support its
volunteers, but will not share responsibilities of
the issues the volunteers are involved with.

15. T HE TWELVE AIMS AND PRINCIPLES :
9. The volunteer is the main decision maker in the
Company of Young Canadians.
10. The project should allow the volunteer to
exercise freedom in deciding his/her own
methods to take the initiative and be
independent.
11. The Company will support projects which will
deal with root issues regarding the causes of
problems and not simply "bandage" a symptom.
12. Volunteers in the Company will choose their
own assignments.

16. T HE CYC PROJECTS
 Antigonish, Nova Scotia
 Faust, Alberta
 Calgary, Alberta
 St. Jerome, Quebec
 Cape Breton

17. A NTIGONISH , N OVA S COTIA
 In June 26, 1966, 56 volunteers arrived at the
hastily arranged sensitivity training session.
 This training session was supposed to teach
volunteers how to be sensitive to other
people’s needs and problems.
 “seven volunteers quit the course and sixteen
needed psychiatric treatment by the time it
ended.”

18. FAUST, A LBERTA
 In August 1966, Al Burger and Jeremy Ashton arrived in
Faust, Alberta which is 200 miles north of Edmonton. They
had a population of 800 people and the majority was
Metis, who were on welfare. The whites were involved in
fishing, logging and mink ranching. The CYC was invited in
to help organize recreation for Faust's teenagers.
 They started a men‘s basketball team, and a Boy Scout
troop, hoping to improve relations between whites and
Métis, but in February, 1967, the Whites drove them out
of town. The Métis circulated a petition asking them to
come back and in July they responded. The white
community drove them out again in April, and the project
seemed doomed. Ashton and Burger admitted their
mistakes, and tried to correct them.
 The main problem of the project: racial discrimination

19. C ALGARY, A LBERTA
 The CYC focused on the demands of the poor people of
Calgary.
 The CYC taught the people how to speak out about rising
rent prices (from $100 to $185 in 2 months) and they
helped them to elect a new mayor. In turn, this led to the
creation of the Welfare Rights Group in Calgary.
 Claude Vidal’s attempt at interfering with the Project was
what led to the ‘down’ phase of the Calgary Project.
Because the government disproved of the CYC’s
autonomy, severe budget cuts were made to the company
in 1968.

20. S T. J EROME , Q UEBEC
 In 1967, the objective was to transform an outdated industrial
city into a technological centre with modern factories and
plenty of jobs. English language lessons were also promoted
since the majority of the population spoke French.
 This project had more structure compared to the early CYC
projects. The CYC employed local volunteers who were already
doing their work in the community.
 However, the employment rate did not improve. Individuals
from outside of St. Jerome were coming and taking the jobs
away from the locals. Vidal wished to shut down the project
because there were only two volunteers.
 The volunteers did not tackle the real problems in the area
since they mainly worked in recreation even though a large
portion of the population was unemployed.

21. C APE B RETON
 It was a pure Community Development
project.
 June 1968 volunteers were trained to believe
that the poor and the disadvantaged have
both the right and power to work out their
own destiny.
 The project folded in 1970 when Vidal fired
Bert Deveaux, the Community Development
organizer.

22. M OUNTING P ROBLEMS
 According to Vidal, the Staff Co-ordinating Committee did
not exist and were not covered under the CYC Act.
 Volunteers were concerned about protecting their own
interests.
 Volunteers were disappointed that 1). Vidal had been
appointed without consultation of volunteers and 2).
There was no sign that elections for the permanent council
will take place.
 The government wanted to cut funding for the CYC.
Volunteers’ pay cheques arrived 2 to 6 weeks late.

23. O N T HIS D AY: O CTOBER 11, 1969
http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/10/11/

24. B EGINNING OF THE END
 1968
 With the backing of Doug Ward, volunteers demanded
the resignation of the Interim Advisory Council
 1969
 October 11
 Mr. Lucien Saulnier (Chairman of the Executive Council of
the City of Montreal) linked the CYC with acts of violence
and terrorism in Montreal and called for Royal
Commission inquiry

25.  October 12
 CYC volunteer, Bernard Montaigne said he was convicted
in 1964 of possession of dynamite and given a two year
sentence. He stated that he no longer believed in
terrorism
 October 19
 Prime Minister Trudeau promised that is any criminal
element were found in the CYC theses elements would be
removed from the organization

26.  October 22
 CYC officials stated that the Company will fully cooperate with
the investigation and welcomes the opportunity to sort out
‘accusers’
 October 24
 A parliamentary committee started investigating the
usefulness of the Company
 It included the committee examining the legislative
framework, organization, and operations of the Company
 December 17
 CYC was brought under close government control following a
bill passed by the Commons

27.  1970
 January 13
 The parliament inquiry into the activities of the CYC has
stimulated community and youth interest in the CYC
 February 18
 A bill was passed allowing the government to have sole
authority to make appointments to the new council
governing the Company
 This bill forever removed the possibility of volunteer
participation

28.  1971
 August 26
 The Report of the federal Committee on Youth submitted
to the Secretary of State General Pelletier recommended
the disbanding of the CYC *
*However, the recommendation was not accepted at the
end!!
 October
 Newly appointed Executive Directors continued the legacy
to have tight administrative control over the Company
 Guidelines that defined the limits of membership activities
outside the Company had been clearly written into policy

29.  1976
 Trudeau government removed funding to cutback
federal spending and to divert resources to other youth
programs
 Several members struggled to keep the Company alive
BUT………………………

30.  1977
 Nothing could be done to save the organization
 the allegations and others that followed lead to the
eventual termination of the Company

31. L UCIEN S AULNIER ’ S A CCUSATIONS
1. “That several CYC members in Montreal had been
convicted of terrorist activities following the first wave of
FLQ bombings in 1963.”
2. “That a printing press belonging to the Company was used
to print a leaflet urging students and workers to take part
in a demonstration in front of City Hall organized by the
FLP.”
3. “That police found firearms when they raided an office
used by volunteers on a CYC slum project.”
4. “That CYC volunteers helped organize student strikes.”
5. “That ‘Communist propaganda’ literature, and leaflets
including instructions on how to make things like Molotov
cocktails, were found by police in a CYC office (Daly, 213).”

32. P ROBLEMS LEADING TO THE
END
 Ian Hamilton (former company member)
 Spent considerable time studying problems that
plagued the organization
 He suggested the Company’s close ties with the
government significantly hindered its ability to
appropriately represent youth

33.  Margaret Daly (journalist for the Toronto Daily Star)
 She followed Hamilton by saying the complicated
bureaucratic structure of the Company did more harm
than good

34. “Liberal attempt to co-opt radical youth, [which] would
be run by older people with only token youth
representation, and would be concerned not with
basic social change but with token social service.”
-Margaret Daly

35. T HE C OMPAGNIE DE
J EUNESSE C ANADIEN (CJC)
 Quebec branch of CYC was organized one year
later than the rest of CYC
 This particular branch had important differences
from the rest of CYC
 It was assigned to different projects
 CJC had its own staffing and construction

36.  Major projects of CJC
 La Petite Bourgogne
 le centre Est de Montréal
 Joliette
 Association co-opérative d’économie
familiale (ACEF)

37.  1967
 CJC was faced with major problems such as:
 Financial problems
 Mounting number of volunteers
 Martin Beliveau became the Associate Director
of the organization in Québec
 He declared independence of CJC from the rest
of the CYC

38. “We therefore ask the people and the
government of Quebec to fully accept us.
Our Company is the CJC. We are entirely
Quebecois and want to be accepted as
such by the population of Quebec.”
Martin Beliveau

39.  Reorganization of CJC
 With financial difficulties, Beliveau decided to
cut back on paid staff and turn them into ‘true’
volunteers
 In reaction to Beliveau’s act, CYC removed him
from his position
 With a new director, CJC had undergone a
complete reorganization

40. A CHIEVEMENT
 National Film Board of Canada’s Indian Film Crew
(1968)
 In 1968, as part of the Challenge for Change
program, the Indian Film Crew was established at the
Board’s Montreal headquarters.
 The Indian Film Crew was jointly sponsored by the
Company of Young Canadians and the Department of
Indian Affairs.

41. R EFERENCES
 Burger, B. (2011). Company of Young Canadians. Retrieved
from
http://www.albertburger.com/company%20of%20young%2
0canadians.htm
 CBC. ca. (2012). On This Day- Oct. 11, 1969- CBC Archives.
Retrieved from http://archives.cbc.ca/on_this_day/10/11/
 Daly, M. (1970). The Revolution Game: The Short, Unhappy
Life of the Company of Young Canadians. Toronto: New
Press.
 Dickenson, C. A., & Campbell, W. J. (2008). Strange
bedfellows: Youth activists, government sponsorship, and
the company of young canadians (cyc), 1956-1970.
European journals of American studies. Special Issue, 1-20.

42. R EFERENCES
 Draper, J. A., Carere, J. (1998). Selected Chronology of
Adult Education in Canada. CJSAE/RCEEA, 12(2), 44-76.
 Mulvin, Dylan. (n.d.). Two Generations of the Company of
Young Canadians. Retrieved from
http://www.sfu.ca/dialog/undergrad/pdfs/0601-
DylanMulvin.pdf
 Struthers Swanick, M.L. (1974). The Young Crusaders; the
Company of Young Canadians: a bibliography. Monticello:
Illinois.