Ontario’s under-fire solicitor general is shifting the blame for accidentally released inmates to the province’s courts and jail staff as he battles to get a handle on an issue he was briefed on more than a year ago.
Last week, Global News reported more than 150 inmates were mistakenly released between 2021 and 2025, with some missing for months without being caught.
Solicitor General Michael Kerzner initially gave the impression he was just learning about the issue, promising to “get to the bottom of it,” despite being briefed on it more than a year earlier.
He then told MPPs inmates were “immediately” reapprehended, his office later acknowledging that wasn’t the case and the minister had mispoken multiple times during the heat of debate.
On Monday, Ontario Liberal interim leader John Fraser grilled Kerzner on the mistake, asking him how jails run by his government could have lost multiple inmates, and how he hadn’t acted sooner on an issue his office is regularly notified about.
“Let’s set the record straight: inmates must stay in jail until the courts decide otherwise,” the solicitor general said during question period, appearing to then pivot to blame courts and correctional workers.
“It’s unacceptable when a corrections or a court staff makes an administrative error about the date of the release. When these releases happen, inmates are returned to custody as soon as is possible.”
Kerzner did not repeat his incorrect claim that inmates are “immediately” returned to custody when they’re accidentally released, but he didn’t correct the record either.
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Asked by reporters if he had lied when he told the legislature inmates were immediately reapprehended, Kerzner sidestepped.
“The police were notified,” he responded. “I don’t direct any police service. We know that the vast majority of people were re-apprehended almost instantaneously.”
“If you come and you basically give an answer that is untrue, you come back in here, and you say, ‘I mispoke.’ You can correct your record,” Fraser said.
“Deliberate? One hundred per cent, absolutely deliberate because he said it once in a question, as soon as possible, but he said (immediately) more than half a dozen times. It’s more than just a throwaway in a question.”
Fraser said he had “no confidence” in Kerzner as solicitor general.
“He can’t answer any simple questions, he won’t answer any simple questions,” he said. “It’s about public safety. People deserve to know. It’s not just about us in here.”
Kerzner also claimed inmates had been improperly released under the Liberals, who were in power eight years ago. His office did not clarify the data they were referring to or over what timeline.
The solicitor general said a move to digital release documents would improve the issue, as well as hiring more correctional officers and building jails.
He repeatedly told reporters that police were notified and responsible for the next steps.
“I’m not blaming the police at all,” Kerzner clarified. “Our police services across Ontario have done a phenominal problem.”
Kerzner added he was frustrated by the accidental releases, but refused to engage in any questions about when he first found out and why he had not addressed the issue.
“I don’t find the improper releases acceptable, I find them very, very bad,” Kerzner told reporters on Monday.
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