Latest news with #MichaelKerzner
CTV News
22-07-2025
- CTV News
‘Brutal home invasions': Peel police to reveal results of ‘Project Night Train'
Peel Regional Police logo is shown on a vehicle in Brampton, Ont., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Cole Burston Peel police are expected to reveal today the results of an investigation linked to what they describe as 'brutal' home invasions and jewelry store robberies across the Greater Toronto Area. Investigators will announce the results of 'Project Night Train' at 11 a.m. at a news conference attended by Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown, Solicitor General of Ontario Michael Kerzner, and Deputy Mayor of Mississauga Matt Mahoney. The announcement will be streamed live on and as well as on the CTV News and CP24 apps.
CTV News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Ontario adding 150 more jail beds in Niagara, Milton, Sudbury
THOROLD — Ontario's solicitor general says the province is adding 150 beds to three jails across the province using modular construction. Michael Kerzner made the announcement Thursday at the Niagara Detention Centre, which will expand by 50 spaces, as will the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, and the Cecil Facer Youth Centre in Sudbury, which is also being converted to an adult facility. Construction is expected to begin next year and cost the province more than $180 million. The announcement comes not long after the province's ombudsman raised concerns about an overcrowding 'crisis' in Ontario's correctional facilities, saying some are operating at more than 150 per cent of their capacity, compromising safety for inmates and staff alike. Premier Doug Ford has also recently been pushing the federal government for stricter bail laws and urging judges and justices of the peace not to let violent, repeat offenders out on bail when they are charged with a new crime. Provincial jails hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day, but the vast majority fit into the first category and have not been convicted. This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 17, 2025.
Global News
17-07-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Ontario adding 150 more jail beds in Niagara, Milton, Sudbury
Ontario's solicitor general says the province is adding 150 beds to three jails across the province using modular construction. Michael Kerzner made the announcement Thursday at the Niagara Detention Centre, which will expand by 50 spaces, as will the Vanier Centre for Women in Milton, and the Cecil Facer Youth Centre in Sudbury, which is also being converted to an adult facility. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Construction is expected to begin next year and cost the province more than $180 million. The announcement comes not long after the province's ombudsman raised concerns about an overcrowding 'crisis' in Ontario's correctional facilities, saying some are operating at more than 150 per cent of their capacity, compromising safety for inmates and staff alike. Premier Doug Ford has also recently been pushing the federal government for stricter bail laws and urging judges and justices of the peace not to let violent, repeat offenders out on bail when they are charged with a new crime. Story continues below advertisement Provincial jails hold people accused of a crime but not out on bail, as well as those serving sentences of two years less a day, but the vast majority fit into the first category and have not been convicted.
CTV News
14-07-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Province refuses to consider letting OPP replace Sault police
Sault Ste. Marie must keep its police service, the Solicitor General's office says. Council sought had OPP cost estimates amid rising policing expenses. Ontario's solicitor general won't be providing the city with a plan to replace the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service with Ontario Provincial Police. The city requested a policing resource plan from the province in May, when it emerged that city police were running a significant budget deficit. Sault police services cruiser Sault police services cruiser The police service said in April that a year-end review revealed a $2.9 million deficit in 2024. And the 2025 budget is already headed for a $1.9 million shortfall. However, the province said the city should work with its existing police force. 'The Sault Ste. Marie Police Service stands out as a leading example in northern Ontario and I am proud of the dedication its frontline officers have shown in serving and protecting their community for more than 150 years,' Minister Michael Kerzner said in the letter. 'I believe the service remains well-positioned to continue delivering effective, community-based policing to the residents of Sault Ste. Marie ... I have directed the OPP commissioner not to provide the Sault Ste. Marie municipal council with an OPP policing resource plan.' As a result, a staff report said council has to focus on working with city police. City staff is working with the police services board on adopting recommendations from KPMG, which did a review of police operations. Sault Ste. Marie Police Skyrocketing costs The goal is 'to improve communication and collaboration between the city and Sault Ste. Marie Police Services, particularly between the finance and human resources departments of the respective organizations,' the report said. The city will also continue to advocate for more policing funds as costs continue to skyrocket. 'Since 2019, the actual percentage increase for community policing costs has increased 52 per cent,' the report said. 'The Consumer Price Index increase over the same period was 18.9 per cent. This level of increase is unsustainable for a municipality to absorb with current financial resources. The 2024 BMA Municipal Study indicated Sault Ste. Marie has the highest net policing costs per capita for communities with a population between 30,000-99,000.' Read the full report here. At the police services board, meanwhile, chair John Bruno and vice-chair Ian MacKenzie resigned July 11. They were replaced by Nuala Kenny as the new chair while Mayor Matthew Shoemaker is the news vice-chair.
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ontario police associations launch recruiting campaign amid staffing shortage
Several police associations in Ontario are launching a joint campaign to recruit more officers amid staffing shortages across the province. The campaign, known as Answer the Call, will support over 50 police services in Ontario and is backed by the provincial government, according to a news release Monday. "Police services across Ontario are under real pressure to fill critical roles, and boards see that strain every day," said Lisa Darling, executive director of the Ontario Association of Police Service Boards, which is part of the initiative. She called the campaign a "practical response to a growing challenge" in a statement in Monday's news release. Other associations leading the initiative are the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police, Police Association of Ontario, Indigenous Police Chiefs of Ontario, Ontario Provincial Police Association and Toronto Police Association. Police staffing shortages are impacting public safety, response times and officer well-being, Monday's news release said. The initiative aims to address these shortages but is also focused on "modernizing recruitment and opening the door to a more diverse pool of candidates," the release said. Ontario has made several changes to police training and recruitment in recent years — including scrapping a post-secondary education requirement and covering the costs of mandatory training. The province expanded the Ontario Police College in October to make room for 80 more cadets annually. The newly opened training spots, which are expected this year, will be reserved for small, medium and First Nation police services, Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said at the time. Meanwhile, the Toronto Police Services Board approved a new five-year hiring plan in November, which would guarantee the force the maximum number of police officers that can be hired in 2025 and 2026. Toronto has a ratio of officers in the low 160s per 100,000 people, Chief Myron Demkiw said at the time. But more police does not necessarily mean greater safety, said Timothy Bryan, a sociology professor at the University of Toronto. Major cities in North America have high ratios of police officers to their population, but continue to have high rates of crime, he said. "Police services themselves will not guarantee an X per cent decline in crime if we have an X per cent increase in officers, because they know that that's not how it works," Bryan said. "These things are not quite linked in the way that they're being presented." He said it is important to consider issues that impact public safety and crime other than the number of police officers, such as poverty and other socioeconomic factors. "Once we dislodge the police from the centre of the conversations that we have on public safety, [we can] actually reimagine how to do public safety in ways that might be … more effective and more efficient for the residents of this province," he said.
