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Michael Kerzner Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner speaks at Downsview Station in Toronto on May 4, 2026. <\/p>\nOntario wants to give special constables the power to arrest people caught doing drugs on public transit through a regulatory change aimed at cleaning up subways and buses in the province.<\/p>\n
On Monday, the province\u2019s solicitor general announced amendments to the Restricting Public Consumption of Illegal Substances act, a law passed last year which prohibits drug use in public spaces.<\/p>\n
Under the existing law, police officers and provincial offences officers can direct a person using drugs on transit to stop consuming the illegal substance and leave the area. Those officers can also seize the narcotics and place those individuals under arrest if they don\u2019t comply with the act.<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s announcement expands the enforcement of those measures to special constables.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to make sure that they (special constables) can tell a person who\u2019s openly using an illegal drug, \u2018Stop.\u2019 If they won\u2019t stop, then they may issue a fine or a warning,\u201d Michael Kerzner said Monday. \u201cIf they still won\u2019t cooperate, they\u2019ll be asked to leave the premises. And that\u2019s why it\u2019s important that the special constables be able to make an arrest.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kerzner added that if an arrest is made by a special constable, the police will be called.<\/p>\n
Those convicted under the provincial code could face a maximum fine of $10,000 and\/or six months in prison.<\/p>\n
Asked if the legislation could potentially push those who consume drugs to use at adjacent local businesses, Kerzner pointed to the strength of local policing efforts as a deterrent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe security network is sufficiently strengthened that if somebody tries to migrate from a subway station, as example, to a local coffee shop, that there will be somebody in the police service that will make the necessary arrests if needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Michael Kerzner Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner speaks at Downsview Station in Toronto on May 4, 2026. <\/p>\n
Before Monday\u2019s announcement, Premier Doug Ford had teased that \u201ctough new rules\u201d were coming to combat public drug use on transit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re bringing in tough new rules to crack down on people using drugs on public transit so we can keep our communities safe,\u201d he said in a tweet.<\/p>\n
The province previously teased the change in February. Ford stated at that time that Ontarians were \u201cscared\u201d to go on the subways due to the public drug use. Critics of the proposal say that giving special constables greater power is a mistake, and that more social supports are needed to support those who use drugs.<\/p>\n
The president of the Ontario Special Constable Association welcomed Monday\u2019s news, saying the legislative changes would give its members the power to make transit safer for riders and staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe OSCA is pleased to see the government\u2019s recognition of special constables as essential, professional law enforcement partners that can be relied on to deliver public safety within our varied roles across Ontario,\u201d Sarah Kennedy said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Targeting illicit drug producers, landlords who permit drug production<\/p>\n
Also included in Monday\u2019s announcement are provisions to crack down on illegal drug production. The province says that, as part of an upcoming legislative package, owning, using or selling devices like pill presses to make illicit narcotics would be prohibited. <\/p>\n
The ownership, production or trafficking or precursor chemicals to make illegal drugs would also be prohibited.<\/p>\n
As well, Kerzner said the province will bring the Measures respecting Premises with Illegal Drug Activity Act into force, making it an offence for landlords to knowingly allow illegal drug production to occur on their property.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ontario wants to give special constables the power to arrest people caught doing drugs on public transit through…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":283389,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[712,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-647390","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-apple-news","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647390","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=647390"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/647390\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/283389"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=647390"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=647390"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=647390"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}