Until around 1970 the strap was an official punishment for breaches of prison discipline in Canada, but prisons were also responsible for administering judicial corporal punishment ordered by courts as part of a sentence.
Its use by the courts was less frequent than for reasons of prison discipline: in 1954 it was ordered 14 times.
This legislation was repealed in 1972.
"The strap is about 18" or 14" long and 3.5" wide and an eighth of an inch thick with a handle at one end. In most of these institutions they have a strapping machine. The accused is strapped into the machine, more or less handcuffed to the framework; he is locked into it and his feet in the same way -- in a bending position. His buttocks are exposed and the strap is applied."
The Ontario "machine"
"The Machine" was photographed for the first time at Monteith Industrial Farm. The picture appeared on the front page of the Toronto Telegram on 14 February 1956. This is evidently very similar to, if not identical with, the contraption at Guelph into which Roger Caron described being "securely anchored in an upright position", "naked from head to foot".
The Telegram, January 1959 The Strap and the 'Cat' No. 2 'Just a Job' to Lasher By Val Sears
The corporal is a big man-six feet tall and 200 pounds. He is married and has 15-year-old twin sons. among his other duties at Guelph Reformatory he straps people. He does so without animosity, without heat and with a great deal of skill. "It's like a big hitter in baseball", says the corporal. "He doesn't try to kill the ball every time-knock it out of the park. "It's a matter of control: speed and control." the corporal is careful that the strap doesn't twist in the air, because it might cut if it did. And he has to be careful to hit exactly where he's aiming. Strappings don't bother him "one way or another." "It's a job I'm told to do and I do it, that's all. "No, I don't strap my kids except one of them when he was five. Now I just talk to them. "I want them to love their mother. They don't have to love me, just respect me. "And they do."
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