Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services

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 for 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, on 4 March 1868, the Prisons and Asylums Inspection Act was passed vesting control of all the above type 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 20 June 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 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 were 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.^[2] 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. Grossman 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.^[3]

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 from the Ministry of the Attorney General in 1972. In 1977, the Children’s Services Division was transferred to the Ministry of Community and Social Services. And, 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 merging 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 aftermath of 2001 terrorist attacks. The new ministry encompassed correctional services as well as a new emphasis on border security.^[4]

In 2003, the ministry was renamed to the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services.

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