Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women

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Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women

Location:	Toronto, Ontario
Status:	Closed
Opened:	1872
Closed:	1969

The Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women was the first women's (16 years of age or older) prison in Canada. At various times, the facility was also known as the Mercer Complex, Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Females, and Andrew Mercer Ontario Reformatory for Females.^[1] Located on King Street in Toronto, Ontario, it opened in 1872 with the idealistic promise of a "homelike" atmosphere for its inmates. One of the major tenets of the reformatory was to instill feminine Victorian virtues such as obedience and servility. Work, such as cooking, baking, and cleaning were also a major part of prison life. According to one superintendent of the reformatory, "of all wretched women the idle are the most wretched. We try to impress upon them the importance of labour, and we look upon this as one of the great means of their reformation."^[2]

By 1965 three institutions made up what was then referred to as the Mercer Complex: the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women in Toronto, the Ontario Women's Guidance Centre, and the Ontario Women's Treatment Centre, both in Brampton at what would become the Vanier Centre for Women in 1970. The Treatment Centre, originally part of the reformatory in Toronto, was set up in 1955 for the treatment of alcoholism, drug addiction and psychiatric disorders. It was relocated to Brampton in 1963 and named the Ontario Women's Treatment Centre, also to become part of the Vanier Centre for Women. The Ontario Women's Guidance Centre opened in 1959 at the same site and concentrated on academic and vocational training.^[3]

At times the Mercer Reformatory also housed female offenders under age sixteen in a separate part of the building. These separate areas were distinctly known as the Industrial Refuge for Girls from 1880 to 1905 and the Ontario Training School for Girls from 1952 to 1960.

But despite its promising beginnings, the Andrew Mercer Reformatory for Women would become the centre of controversy with allegations of torture, beatings, experimental drugs, and medical procedures, all in the name of reform and in 1964, a grand jury was convened to investigate. That same year, on November 5, Toronto Star journalist, Lotta Dempsey, reported the grand jury's findings of medical care so bad that "we could find no one with anything good to say about it." The jury also found that the rehabilitation process was so nonexistent that "the name of the institution should be changed to jail, since it is in no sense a reform institution." Dungeon-like basement "bucket cells" used for solitary confinement were 1.2 metres by just over 2 metres, with no windows or lights. Although the report of the grand jury was challenged, Dempsey reported that Toronto Star files were "full or stories of escapes from Mercer, harsh treatment of expectant mothers, riots," and more.^[4] In 1969, the reformatory was closed and demolished, being officially replaced by the Vanier Centre for Women in Brampton.

Today, the site of the old reformatory is home of the Lamport Stadium and all that remains is the original superintendent's house at the corner of King Street and Fraser Avenue.