The novitiate was attended by the son of Charles Doherty, the Justice Minister of Canada.

The Military Service Act was passed in 1917 to increase the men enlisted to replace the casualties in World War I.

[1] By April 1918, the government had amended the act so that most of the exemptions had been removed, such as those working on farms,[2] except "clergy, including members of any recognised order of an exclusively religious character, and ministers of all religious denominations existing in Canada at the date of the passing of this Act.

Charles Doherty, the Minister of Justice, felt that the act exempted Catholic students for the priesthood.

Many, such as General S. C. Mewburn, Minister of the Militia and Defence, Henry Westoby, the military representative in Guelph, and Colonel Godson-Godson, provost marshal for Canada, were not aware of the Minister of Justice's previous interpretation or did not agree with it.