DOUG FORD, ONTARIO’S FIRST MINISTER, HIS ATTORNEY GENERAL DOUG DOWNEY, AND HIS SOLICITOR GENERAL MICHAEL KERZNER KNOW PROVINCIAL EMPLOYEES AT THE MAPLEHURST CORRECTIONAL COMPLEX BROKE THE LAW.  Their response has been to decline comment.  In the end, they’ll use tax dollars to settle victims’ lawsuits, settlements that include non-disclosure clauses, and then expect the mess to disappear from media scrutiny and public interest.

Have Doug Ford, Doug Downey and Michael Kerzner committed a crime?  They probably haven’t met the standard under Canadian law, but if they were just John Q members of the public and not ministers of the Crown, what repercussions might these men face?

This space has twice brought forward the “disgusting and gross” treatment of prisoners by guards at Maplehurst on December 22 and 23 in 2023.  See “Corrections or corruptions…” from March 23 of this year, followed by “Ontario jails…a familiar refrain” on April 6.  Since then, the Toronto Star has printed three further Brendan Kennedy entries on the rampant savagery at Maplehurst at Christmas in 2023.

Detailed here are only the titles and decks of these three accounts.  They say enough.
June 2 – “A murder. Alleged human trafficking. Drugs.  These are cases that have been compromised by inmate abuse by Maplehurst guards.”  ‘This is the first accounting of the scale of disruption to the justice system caused by the violent crackdown at the Ontario jail.’
June 9 – “Hours of audio and video evidence is missing from Maplehurst guards’ crackdown on inmates.”  ‘The missing footage, which some jail staff allege was purposely destroyed, has fueled calls for a public inquire into the violent incident.’
June 16 – “Ontario government facing lawsuits from inmates over ‘unconscionable conduct’ by Maplehurst jail guards.”  ‘The lawsuits mark a widening fallout from the violent incident, which has already compromised dozens of criminal prosecutions.’

The Star published one statement from solicitor general Michael Kerzner in the June 9 article, one comment only given the numerous times he had refused to say anything.  “When it comes to our expectations of the professional conduct of everyone that keeps Ontario safe, it’s simple.  They’ll maintain the highest standard of professional conduct and when they don’t there’ll be consequences.”  Really?  That’s novel.

As bad as the actions at Maplehurst are, like the murder by guards of Soleiman Faqiri in Lindsay in 2016, these are but the extremes of what are normal daily operations in Ontario’s jails.  That should be the takeaway to rattle us all.

 July 1, 2025

Doug Ford, Premier,
Toronto, ON  M7A 1A1

Re:      Doug Ford, crime boss?

Premier Ford:

Recently, you ranted about the stupidity of a bunch of masked men running down the street to steal your car while two police cruisers kept watch on your home.  Should they be in jail?  Yes, given due process.  Bail?  Maybe.  We’re in Canada. 

Bill Blair was still Toronto’s police chief when he talked crime with host Matt Galloway on CBC Radio’s Metro Morning.  He wanted the system to “help these people turn their lives around” when offenders were locked up.  He knew our carceral networks’ programs had the substance of a soufflé.  Think about it.  Without this, we’d simply be growing a criminal class and building prison industries.

But hold on one moment, Premier Ford!  For all your broadsides condemning what we’re not doing about crime and criminals, you don’t seem to have any concerns about criminals on your payroll.  I’m referring to the Maplehurst jail guards who made a joke of the criminal code, their employer’s policies and best practices, and their oaths of office, on December 22 and 23, 2023. I’m referring also to Lindsay’s jail guards who murdered Soleiman Faqiri on December 15, 2016.

You, your attorney general Doug Downey, and your solicitor general Michael Kerzner couldn’t comment on Maplehurst because of ongoing investigations.  Then you couldn’t talk for the same reason even though the two investigations were complete.  Now you can’t talk because of the pending class action and numerous lawsuits. 

What should disturb you most is the events in Maplehurst and Lindsay represent the extremes of standard daily practices in your Ontario jails.  Mr. Kerzner’s, “They’ll maintain the highest standard of professional conduct and when they don’t there’ll be consequences,” rings hollow.

Charles H. Klassen

cc:       Messrs. Michael Kerzner and Doug Downey.

 

Expected outcome?  Nothing!  Check the record.