Ontario tweaks strip search law to promote 'less intrusive' methods in jails

EDITOR’S NOTE: A version of this article originally appeared on The Trillium, a new Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.

Ontario's Progressive Conservative government quietly last week published tweaks to the province's law dictating when inmates in provincially run jails can be strip searched.

The changes are meant to better clarify when strip searches are necessary, "ensure respect for human rights and dignity," and "promote the use of less intrusive search methods," a spokesperson for Solicitor General Michael Kerzner said in an email on Monday. They're set to take effect in phases over the next year. 

The Ford government published amendments to regulations under Ontario's Ministry of Correctional Services Act about eight and a half months after finishing a one-month consultation about them. A document published by Kerzner's ministry last fall said its proposed changes were meant to "reduce the number of strip searches" and improve oversight of them while still maintaining safety and security in jails.

In 2017, the year before Premier Doug Ford's PCs were elected, an independent panel recommended the government make major changes to strip search rules in Ontario correctional institutions after finding provincial laws around their use were "inadequate."

"In fact, MCSCS (ministry) policy requires Ontario’s provincial correctional institutions to carry out regular, routine strip searches of inmates in circumstances that are specifically prohibited by laws in other jurisdictions," said a backgrounder published by the corrections review panel.

In the document it published as part of its consultation last fall, Ontario's Ministry of the Solicitor General acknowledged that "most Canadian jurisdictions have legislative or regulatory provisions outlining the specific circumstances in which strip searches may be permitted."

Some of the new restrictions around strip searches in provincial correctional facilities are set to take effect on Oct. 2 of this year, while others will be implemented on July 31, 2024.

The government's regulatory changes will also require Ontario's solicitor general to review the use of strip searches and their operational impact before Sept. 30, 2028.

More to come...