Ministry of the Solicitor General
Ministère du Solliciteur général (French)
Government ministry overview
Formed1972
JurisdictionGovernment of Ontario
Headquarters18th Floor, 25 Grosvenor Street, Toronto, Ontario
Minister responsible
Websitewww.ontario.ca/page/ministry-solicitor-general/

The Ministry of the Solicitor General (French: Ministère du Solliciteur général; formerly known as the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services) is the ministry in the Government of Ontario responsible for public security, law enforcement and policing, emergency management, correctional and detention centres/jails and organizations such as the Ontario Provincial Police, Emergency Management Ontario, and the Office of the Fire Marshal.

The minister responsible is Michael Kerzner, Solicitor General of Ontario.

History

Law enforcement and public safety

Prior to 1972, the Attorney General and the Department of Justice had carriage of the responsibility for policing and public safety in the province.

The Ministry of the Solicitor General was established in 1972. Although there was no solicitor general of Ontario prior to 1972, one did exist for both the Province of Upper Canada (1791–1840) and the Province of Canada (1841–1867). With the re-organization of the Government of Ontario in 1972, however, this long-dormant office was re-established.

Correctional services

The Board of Inspectors of Asylums and Prisons, first appointed in 1859, was charged with general superintendence of the United Provinces' (i.e. Canada East/Quebec and Canada West/Ontario) 61 public institutions. These included 52 common gaols, the largest single type of institution, 4 lunatic asylums, 2 hospitals, 2 reformatory prisons, and one large penitentiary. Five inspectors were appointed and each one assigned an inspection district.

After Confederation, the Prisons and Asylums Inspection Act was passed on March 4, 1868. It vested control of all the above types of institutions located in Ontario, 49 in total, in the Office of the Inspector of Prisons and Asylums in the Department of the Provincial Secretary. On June 20, 1868, J.W. Langmuir was appointed first incumbent of the office.

In 1876, this office was renamed the Office of the Inspector of Prisons and Public Charities, and it became part of the Treasury Department. It was reverted to the Department of the Provincial Secretary in 1883. In addition to prisons, the office was also responsible for the superintendence of various public institutions that served social service functions, such as orphanages, houses of refuge, asylums for the insane, and hospitals. By 1925, the Inspector and his staff were responsible for superintending 380 institutions. Between 1927 and 1934, the provincial government gradually reduced the inspectorial functions and reassigned them to more specialized departments. For example, administration of charitable institutions was transferred to the newly created Department of Public Welfare in September 1930, and the responsibility for hospitals and sanatoria was transferred to the Department of Health in October 1930.

In 1934, the former Inspection Branch of the Provincial Secretary's Department became the Reformatory and Prisons Branch, the only Branch from the former inspectorate to remain in the Provincial Secretary's Department.

In 1946, the branch was elevated to department status, becoming the Department of Reform Institutions in the cabinet of Premier George Drew. The first minister was George Dunbar, whose first act was to create six work farms around the province.[1] In the following decade, the development of its administrative structure reflected the evolution from punitive custody to correctional services. In 1954, a director of rehabilitation, chief parole and rehabilitation officer, and a chief psychologist were added, followed by a director of neurology and psychiatry in 1955. Other offices and services created within the department included the director of social work and the chaplaincy services.

On July 1, 1968, the department was renamed the Department of Correctional Services. The first minister was Allan Grossman, who said the change was made to update the service to reflect changes in attitudes to penal institutions. Prison guards were issued new uniforms that removed aspects of militarism from their appearance.[2]

With the April 1972 reorganization of the Ontario government, the Department of Correctional Services was renamed the Ministry of Correctional Services. It took over the responsibility for probation services in 1972 from the Ministry of the Attorney General. In 1977, the Children's Services Division was transferred to the Ministry of Community and Social Services. In 1984, with the passage of the federal Young Offenders Act, the ministry assumed responsibility for detention and parole of young offenders aged 16 and 17.

Merger of the two functions

The Ministry of the Solicitor General and Correctional Services was formed on February 3, 1993, from the merger of the Ministry of the Solicitor General with the Ministry of Correctional Services. The two functions were separated again between 1999 and 2002.

In April 2002, the two functions merged again, and the newly created ministry was renamed as the Ministry of Public Safety and Security. This was done in the aftermath of the 2001 terrorist attacks. The new ministry encompassed correctional services as well as a new emphasis on border security.[3] In 2003, the ministry was renamed to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services. In April 2019, the solicitor general role was re-introduced, and the ministry's name was reverted to the Ministry of the Solicitor General.[4]

Security guard and private investigator licensing

In 2010, the ministry began to administer tests for new applicants and existing security guard or private investigator cardholders. Prior to 2010, any individual (as long as they were free, or pardoned, of a criminal charge) could obtain one or both licences just by paying 80 dollars for each. The new requirements came after a coroner's inquest into the death of Patrick Shand, who died from asphyxiation while in the custody of an untrained private security guard and staff at a Loblaws store in Scarborough. Despite the store chain's policy of prohibiting use of force against shoplifters, Shand was restrained and handcuffed. Shand remained handcuffed when staff had to perform CPR after the former went into respiratory arrest. The handcuffs were not removed until Shand was placed in an ambulance 18 minutes after the 911 call was made.[5]

In response to the inquest's recommendations, applicants for security guard or private investigator licences must pass a 40-hour training course before writing a test. 62.5% is a passing grade for security guards and 77% for private investigators.

List of solicitors-general

The position of Solicitor-General dates back to the foundation of Upper Canada, and also Canada West in the Province of Ontario, the predecessors to the current province of Ontario.

Upper Canada

Canada West

Ontario

Name Term of office Name Term of office Political party
(Ministry)
Note
Ministers of Reform Institutions (Public safety/policing was part of the portfolio of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice prior to 1972.) PC
(Drew)
George Dunbar15 April 194619 October 1948
19 October 19484 May 1949 PC
(Kennedy)
4 May 194915 July 1949 PC
(Frost)
William Hamilton15 July 194916 November 1950
John Foote16 November 195018 July 1957
Matthew Dymond18 July 195728 April 1958
Ray Connell28 April 195822 December 1958
George Wardrope22 December 19588 November 1961
Irwin Haskett8 November 196114 August 1963 PC
(Robarts)
Allan Grossman14 August 19631 July 1968
Minister of Correctional Services
Allan Grossman1 July 19681 March 1971
Syl Apps1 March 197126 February 1974 Solicitor General PC
(Davis)
John Yaremko7 April 197226 February 1974
Richard Potter26 February 19747 October 1975George Albert Kerr26 February 197418 June 1975Kerr resigned pending investigation of bribery allegation. Kerr later returned to cabinet as the investigation found no grounds to warrant charges.
John Clement (interim)18 June 19757 October 1975
John Smith7 October 19753 February 1977John Palmer MacBeth7 October 197521 January 1978MacBeth concurrently served as Provincial Secretary for Justice (October 7, 1975 – January 21, 1978) while being Solicitor General.
Arthur Meen3 February 197723 June 1977
John MacBeth (interim)23 June 197721 September 1977
Frank Drea21 September 197718 October 1978
George Albert Kerr21 January 197811 September 1978Kerr concurrently served as Provincial Secretary for Justice.
Roy McMurtry11 June 197813 February 1982McMurtry concurrently served as Attorney General.
Gordon Walker18 October 197810 April 1981Walker concurrently served as Provincial Secretary for Justice (August 30, 1979 – February 13, 1982)
Nick Leluk10 April 19818 February 1985
George William Taylor13 February 19828 February 1985
8 February 19851 May 1985John Reesor Williams8 February 198517 May 1985 PC
(Miller)
Don Cousens17 May 198526 June 1985Bud Gregory17 May 198526 June 1985
Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services Liberal
(Peterson)
Ken Keyes26 June 19853 December 1986Keyes stepped down as Solicitor General during investigation of an instance of him sharing an alcoholic drink with police officers on a police boat.
Minister of Correctional ServicesSolicitor General
Ken Keyes3 December 19869 January 1987Ian Scott (interim)3 February 19869 January 1987
Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services
Ken Keyes9 January 198729 September 1987
Minister of Correctional ServicesSolicitor General
David Ramsay29 September 19872 August 1989Joan Smith29 September 19876 June 1989Smith resigned due to allegation of improper contact to the police while Solicitor General.
Richard Patten2 August 19891 October 1990Ian Scott (interim)6 June 19892 August 1989
Steven Offer2 August 19891 October 1990
Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services NDP
(Rae)
Mike Farnan1 October 199031 July 1991
Allan Pilkey31 July 199123 September 1992
Minister of Correctional ServicesSolicitor General
David Christopherson23 September 19923 February 1993Allan Pilkey23 September 19923 February 1993
Solicitor General and Minister of Correctional Services
David Christopherson3 February 199326 June 1995
Bob Runciman26 June 199527 April 1998 PC
(Harris)
Runciman resigned for ministerial responsibility after a young offender's name was inappropriately revealed in the Speech from the Throne.
Jim Flaherty (interim)27 April 199827 July 1998
Bob Runciman27 July 199817 June 1999
Minister of Correctional ServicesSolicitor General
Rob Sampson17 June 19994 December 2000David Tsubouchi17 June 19998 February 2001Sampson resigned for ministerial responsibility after a government backbencher improperly revealed names of several young offenders in the legislature.
Norm Sterling (interim)5 December 20008 March 2001
Rob Sampson8 March 200114 April 2002David Turnbull8 February 200114 April 2002
Minister of Public Safety and Security PC
(Eves)
Bob Runciman15 April 200222 October 2003
Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Liberal
(McGuinty)
Monte Kwinter23 October 200330 October 2007
Rick Bartolucci30 October 200718 August 2010
Jim Bradley18 August 201020 October 2011
Madeleine Meilleur20 October 201111 February 2013
11 February 201325 March 2014 Liberal
(Wynne)
Yasir Naqvi25 March 201413 June 2016
David Orazietti13 June 201616 December 2016
Kevin Flynn (acting)16 December 201612 January 2017
Marie-France Lalonde12 January 201729 June 2018
Michael Tibollo29 June 20185 November 2018 PC
(Ford)
Sylvia Jones5 November 20184 April 2019
Solicitor General
Sylvia Jones4 April 201924 June 2022
Michael Kerzner24 June 2022Present

See also

References

  1. "Important Cabinet Changes". The Globe and Mail. April 16, 1946. p. 6.
  2. "Guards to get new uniforms with new image". The Globe and Mail. May 30, 1968. p. 35.
  3. "New ministry to oversee public security". The Kitchener Record. April 16, 2002. p. A4.
  4. "Statement by Premier Doug Ford as Minister Sylvia Jones is Sworn in as the Solicitor General", Ontario Newsroom, April 4, 2019
  5. Man died from accidental suffocation during arrest: inquest, CBC News, April 23, 2004
  6. Burns, Robert J. (1983). "Gray, Robert Isaac Dey". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. V (1801–1820) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  7. Lownsbrough, John (1987). "Boulton, D'Arcy (1759-1834)". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. VI (1821–1835) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  8. J.O. Côté Political Appointments and Elections in the Province of Canada, 2nd ed. (Ottawa: G.E. Desbarats, 1866) p. 6.
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