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Several inmates in Ontario were still at large months after they were mistakenly released from jail, despite the solicitor general insisting they were returned to custody “immediately.”
After Global News revealed jails in Ontario had accidentally released more than 150 inmates over the past five years, an issue the minister in charge of the file was briefed on last year, the government vowed to “get to the bottom” of how the releases had happened.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he was “furious” about the issue, and his solicitor general, Michael Kerzner, acknowledged “way too many” people were being mistakenly released.
Facing a second day of questions, Kerzner reassured MPPs on Thursday that any inmates mistakenly released were rapidly returned to jail.
“The deputy solicitor general for corrections reaffirmed this yesterday, that if there was an improper release, those people are immediately re-apprehended and put back in jail where they belong,” he claimed during an exchange in question period.
Pressed by the Ontario Liberals, Kerzner doubled down on his talking point.
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“It’s very simple; when there was an improper release, those people were re-apprehended instantaneously. I said that,” he insisted.
Later, he added, “When an improper release occurred, which was completely unacceptable, those prisoners were rearraigned and put back in jail almost instantaneously.”
Documents obtained by Global News, however, suggest the solicitor general’s answer wasn’t accurate.
In fact, several accidentally released inmates were still unaccounted for months after they were let go.
A spreadsheet, accessed using freedom of information laws and labelled as an “errant release tracker” for 2025, contains details of former inmates the province appears to have lost.
On Feb. 20, 2025, for example, an inmate was mistakenly released from Maplehurst Correctional Complex. A week later, on Feb. 27, another inmate was accidentally let out of Sudbury Jail.
At various correctional facilities across the province, inmates were accidentally let go on April 7, July 21, July 25, Aug. 15 and Sept. 8. As of mid-September, when the document appears to have been finalized, all were still considered to be unlawfully at large.
The records Global News obtained indicate that of 39 improper releases from January to September 2025, seven had been lost. The figure equates to 18 per cent of all accidental releases in the period not being re-arrested.
A political official with the Ministry of the Solicitor General acknowledged Kerzner wasn’t accurate when he said inmates were always immediately re-arrested.
In a background call, they said the minister had intended to refer to the fact that police are immediately notified, underscoring the majority are re-apprehended quickly, and accidental releases are a fraction of all inmates processed by corrections staff.
The official attributed the solicitor general’s inaccurate comments to the heat of debate in the legislative chamber.
Ontario Liberal Leader John Fraser had asked Kerzner for proof of his claim the province immediately reprehends.
“Maybe the minister just doesn’t know the file or doesn’t read his notes,” he suggested to reporters.
“Yesterday, 11 times we asked and nobody said, ‘It’s a problem, we’re going to fix it.’ And the next day, (they said) they were all arrested instantaneously. That sounds like a talking point that somebody gave him.”
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