Andrew Mercer Ontario Reformatory for Females

Over 20,000 women & girls were incarcerated at the Mercer Reformatory in Toronto, ON from 1880-1969. What happened to the children of imprisoned mother’s or their babies born while incarcerated? Follow as we explore #HiddenHistories & #adoption Annual Report 1948. No. 18, p. 36

Cody writes: “Protection for the red dress” "This piece is created for May 5th-red dress day The man who killed my grandma, was charged 200 dollars or two months in jail." (Released from Mercer just prior) Instagram: instagram.com/p/DFQqTzuS9qe/n Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id…

A Permanent People’s Tribunal will be held soon in Montreal with intentions to seek justice for Canada’s role in the residential school system. The tribunal is not legally binding, but those involved hope the tribunal will remind people of the issue. youtu.be/UMejV-o5vfg

The Government of Canada has been notified of the upcoming Permanent People's Tribunal session on missing indigenous children and unmarked grave in Montreal, May 2026. Canada is being called to answer for longstanding harms against Indigenous peoples on an international platform.

Yr ending Mar 1964: 559 females imprisoned at Mercer—293 single, 266 married. Though framed as addressing a “child in need of protection,” the Child Welfare Act disproportionately impacted single mothers, effectively treating sole caregiving as grounds for child removal.

The Government of Canada has been notified of the upcoming session on missing indigenous children and unmarked graves in Canada (Montreal, May 25-29 2026) permanentpeoplestribunal.org/the-government…

J. J. Kelso, Canada’s “child saver.” 130 yrs later, descendants still can’t access records—modern child welfare laws block it. Two descendants were denied CAS records from 1900 & 1905. Why are 100+ year-old records still sealed? thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/joh…

New book on Ireland’s Catholic-run institutions that imprisoned thousands of women and girls. In Canada, meanwhile, records are blocked by federal & provincial laws. It raises a haunting question: what happened to the babies born in our Magdalene asylums? theguardian.com/books/2026/apr…

Eugenic ideology shaped laws, abusive institutions, & forced sterilization. Today, federal & provincial disclosure laws still hide the experiences of women & girls in Canada labeled “incorrigible,” blocking access to records. The U. S. #Incorrigibles Ry Marcattilio-McCracken 👇

"...Justice Minister Jung Sung-ho said the country’s past adoptions amounted to “forced child trafficking” and that the government will largely refrain from appealing rulings in cases brought by victims seeking compensation for government wrongdoing." apnews.com/article/south-…

continues...“A crime has been committed here – a crime against humanity,” declared Mr. MacDonald. “Unless the conscience of the people of Ontario is aroused sufficiently to stir the government, our reform institutions will continue to create criminals rather the correct hm.” 2/2

🧵Torture at the Ontario Training School for Girls: a 12-year-old brutally abused for 92 days—then incarcerated in the Mercer Reformatory. Two snippets from the Toronto Star. 👇1/2

Must-read on the class action at the “House of Horrors” in B.C. & the overrepresentation of Indigenous girls 👇 Note: in Ontario, “incorrigible” girls who escaped training schools were committed to the Mercer Reformatory. ctvnews.ca/vancouver/arti…

What the documentary doesn’t say: Ontario Training Schools girls were surveilled until 21, and many pregnant girls were sent to Mercer. Adoption records don’t identify their mothers as ‘juvenile delinquents,’ keeping these carceral birth origins hidden. gem.cbc.ca/cbc-docs-pov/s…

While the commission has received numerous applications for investigation from overseas adoptees, this is the first time that mixed-race adoptees — born primarily near US military bases — have approached the commission. english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_e…

Not only scholarly gaps—for many descendants, Mercer records are unobtainable. “…first brought to my attention the glaring historiographical gaps in scholarship focusing on the women who gave birth in the institution or the children born to these incarcerated women.” (p. 7)

Finally, bold action on the homelessness crisis. $8.8 billion to provide a welfare benefit of $200,000 for every Ontarian wealthy enough to buy a new house for $1 million or more. thestar.com/real-estate/ma… @torontostar

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal approves deal that promises to reform First Nations child welfare system in Ontario aptnnews.ca/national-news/…

Actually, adoption systems worldwide—domestic and international—must be investigated, including children of young mothers who were criminalized and incarcerated, whose records are restricted by youth disclosure laws, concealing the truth of their adoption youtube.com/watch?v=Koxdfr…

Cody of Houle Fine Art’s grandmother, Cecile, survived residential schools but faced further injustice—jailed at Mercer while her children were taken in the Sixties Scoop. She died soon after release; her children never knew. instagram.com/p/DFQqTzuS9qe/ facebook.com/profile.php?id…

Getting access to RCMP 'Native extremism' files took 4-year fight 'National security' cited in 42-month delay by Library and Archives Canada Forester says LAC still holds thousands of more pages of secret files on other Indigenous leaders and cbc.ca/news/indigenou…