The Royal Commission on the Toronto Jail and Custodial Services, also known as the Shapiro Commission, was a public inquiry into the treatment of prisoners and the training of correctional officers in the province of Ontario, particularly

Toronto Jail The Don Jail was a jail in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located to the east of the Don River, on Gerrard Street East in the Riverdale neighbourhood. The original building was completed in 1864 and was reopened in 2013 to serve as the administrative ...

. With recommendations from the

Ministry of Correctional Services The Ministry of the Solicitor General (french: Ministère du Solliciteur général; formerly known as the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services) is the ministry in the Government of Ontario responsible for public security, law en ...

, the Executive Council of Ontario presented the matter to the Chief Justice of Ontario. Chief Justice

George Alexander Gale George Alexander Gale, (June 24, 1906July 25, 1997) was a Chief Justice for the province of Ontario, Canada from 1967 until his 1976 retirement from that post. Born in Quebec City, he would move to Vancouver, British Columbia for his youth befor ...

appointed Honorable Judge B. Barry Shapiro as the Commissioner in 1974 who presented its recommendations to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario

Pauline Mills McGibbon Pauline Mills McGibbon (21 October 1910 – 14 December 2001) served as the 22nd Lieutenant Governor of Ontario from 1974 to 1980. In addition to being the first woman to occupy that position, she was also the first woman to serve as a vi ...

in 1978.Shapiro, B. Barry. Report of the Royal Commission on the Toronto Jail and Custodial Services. Vol. 1-4 Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 1978. -- Ontario Legislative Library Catalogue has volumes 1 - 4 available in PDF The commission's inquest focused on four areas of interest: Firstly, the mistreatment of inmates in particular the use of unnecessary force and physical assaults. Second, the role and functions of a Correctional Officer at the institution. Third, the service demands on the staff within the institution. Fourth, the methods of recruitment and training of the institution. The Commission reported investigations and recommendations and that were broken down into four volumes. There were over 70 recommendations made in respects to the manner which inmates were treated and staff development.

References

{{Reflist * Shapiro, B. Barry. Report of the Royal Commission on the Toronto Jail and Custodial Services. Vol. 1-4 Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1978.

Royal commissions in Canada Imprisonment and detention 1978 documents Political history of Ontario