Attorney General (Ontario)

Attorney General of Ontario
French: Procureur général de l'Ontario
Incumbent Doug Downey since June 20, 2019
Executive Council of Ontario
Style	The Honourable
Term length	At His Majesty’s Pleasure
Inaugural holder	John Sandfield Macdonald as Attorney General of Ontario
Website	Office of the Attorney General

The Attorney General of Ontario's main office (McMurtry-Scott Building) in downtown Toronto

The Attorney General of Ontario is the chief legal adviser to His Majesty the King in Right of Ontario and, by extension, the Government of Ontario. ^[1] The attorney general is a senior member of the Executive Council of Ontario, and oversees the Ministry of the Attorney General, which is the department responsible for the oversight of the justice system in the province of Ontario. ^[2]

The attorney general is an elected Member of Provincial Parliament who is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario on the constitutional advice of the Premier of Ontario. Doug Downey was appointed attorney general of Ontario on 20 June 2019, replacing Caroline Mulroney. ^{[3] [4]} Most holders of the office have been practising lawyers, with the exception of Mulroney and Marion Boyd. ^{[5] [6]}

Authority

The attorney general has the authority to represent the provincial government in court personally, but this task is often delegated to crown attorneys, or to crown counsel in civil cases. ^[2] Previous Attorneys General Ian Scott and Roy McMurtry were both courtroom lawyers before entering politics, and later acted for Ontario in constitutional appeals before the Supreme Court of Canada. ^{[7] [8] [9]}

Responsibilities

The Ministry of the Attorney General delivers and administers a wide range of justice services, including:

1. administering approximately 115 statutes;
2. conducting criminal proceedings throughout Ontario;
3. providing legal advice to, and conducting litigation on behalf of, all government ministries and many agencies, boards and tribunals;
4. providing advice on, and drafting, all legislation and regulations; and
5. coordinating and administering court services throughout Ontario.

The Ontario Crown Attorney's Office, the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee, the Office of the Children's Lawyer (formerly called the Official Guardian), and the Special Investigations Unit (SIU) all fall within the Ministry's responsibilities. The Ministry also partially funds Legal Aid Ontario, which is administered by an independent board and also receives funding through the Law Foundation of Ontario and from the federal government.

Portfolios

In 2008, the Office of the Independent Police Review Director (IPRD), now the Law Enforcement Complaints Agency, was established under the authority of the Attorney General, as a civilian body with powers invested through Public Inquiries Act to investigate complaints about municipal police forces and the Ontario Provincial Police. ^{[10] [11] [12]}

Following the 2013 release of former Supreme Court judge Frank Iacobucci's report on the relationship between Aboriginal peoples and the Ontario justice system, ^[13] a position of deputy attorney general with responsibility for Aboriginal issues was created. ^{[14] [11]}

List of attorneys-general

Upper Canada

1. John White (Frontenac County) 1791–1800
2. Robert Isaac Dey Gray 1800–1801
3. Thomas Scott 1801–1806
4. William Firth 1807–1812
5. G. D'Arcy Boulton 1814–1818
6. Sir John Robinson, 1st Baronet, of Toronto 1818–1829, acting AG 1812–1814
7. Henry John Boulton 1829–1833
8. Robert Sympson Jameson 1833–1837, last British-appointed AG
9. Christopher Alexander Hagerman 1837–1840, first Canadian-born AG of Upper Canada
10. William Henry Draper 1840–1841, last AG of Upper Canada

Province of Canada (Canada West)

In 1841, the Province of Upper Canada became the District of Canada West in the Province of Canada

11. William Henry Draper 1841–1843
12. Robert Baldwin 1843–1848
13. William Buell Richards 1848–1854
14. John A. Macdonald 1854–1862, 1864–1867
15. John Sandfield Macdonald 1862–1864

After 1867, the attorney general position was split into federal and provincial counterparts:

Attorney General of Ontario
Attorney General of Quebec (renamed the Ministry of Justice in 1965)
Attorney General of Canada

Ontario (since Confederation)

	Portrait	Name	Term of office		Tenure	Political party (Ministry)	Note
	Attorney General					Liberal Conservative (MacDonald)
1		John Sandfield Macdonald	July 16, 1867	December 20, 1871	4 years, 157 days	While Premier.
2		Adam Crooks	December 20, 1871	October 25, 1872	310 days	Liberal (Blake)
3		Oliver Mowat	October 31, 1872	July 21, 1896	23 years, 264 days	Liberal (Mowat)	While Premier.
4		Arthur Sturgis Hardy	July 21, 1896	October 21, 1899	3 years, 92 days	Liberal (Hardy)	While Premier.
5		John Morison Gibson	October 21, 1899	November 22, 1904	5 years, 32 days	Liberal (Ross)
6		Francis Robert Latchford	November 22, 1904	February 8, 1905	78 days
7		James Whitney	February 8, 1905	May 30, 1905	111 days	Conservative (Whitney)	While Premier.
8		James Joseph Foy	May 30, 1905	October 2, 1914	9 years, 125 days
9		???	October 2, 1914	December 22, 1914	81 days
10		Isaac Benson Lucas	December 22, 1914	November 14, 1919	4 years, 327 days	Conservative (Hearst)
11		William Raney	November 14, 1919	July 16, 1923	3 years, 244 days	United Farmers (Drury)
12		William Folger Nickle	July 16, 1923	October 18, 1926	3 years, 94 days	Conservative (Ferguson)
13		William Herbert Price	October 18, 1926	December 15, 1930	7 years, 265 days
December 15, 1930			July 10, 1934	Conservative (Henry)
14		Arthur Roebuck	July 10, 1934	April 14, 1937	2 years, 278 days	Liberal (Hepburn)	Resigned from cabinet to protest Hepburn's handling of the United Auto Workers strike.
15		Paul Leduc	April 15, 1937	October 12, 1937	180 days	Interim Attorney General upon Roebuck's resignation, while Minister of Mines.
16		Gordon Daniel Conant	October 12, 1937	October 21, 1942	5 years, 218 days	Conant remained Attorney General when he served as Premier. He resigned both position on May 18, 1943.
October 21, 1942			May 18, 1943	Liberal (Conant)
17		Eric Cross	May 18, 1943	August 17, 1943	91 days	Liberal (Nixon)	Concurrently Minister of Municipal Affairs.
18		Leslie Blackwell	August 17, 1943	October 19, 1948	5 years, 260 days	PC (Drew)
October 19, 1948			May 4, 1949	PC (Kennedy)
19		Dana Porter	May 4, 1949	August 17, 1955	6 years, 105 days	PC (Frost)
20		Kelso Roberts	August 17, 1955	November 8, 1961	7 years, 69 days
November 8, 1961			October 25, 1962	PC (Robarts)
21		Fred Cass	October 25, 1962	March 23, 1964	1 year, 150 days
22		Arthur Wishart	March 26, 1964	May 18, 1966	6 years, 340 days
	Minister of Justice and Attorney General
22		Arthur Wishart	May 18, 1966	March 1, 1971
23		Allan Lawrence	March 1, 1971	February 2, 1972	338 days	PC (Davis)	Concurrently Provincial Secretary for Justice from January 5, 1972, to September 28, 1972).
24		Dalton Bales	February 2, 1972	April 10, 1972	2 years, 24 days
	Attorney General
24		Dalton Bales	April 10, 1972	February 26, 1974
25		Bob Welch	February 26, 1974	July 18, 1975	1 year, 142 days (first instance)	Concurrently Provincial Secretary for Justice.
26		John Clement	January 14, 1975	October 7, 1975	266 days	Concurrently Provincial Secretary for Justice and Solicitor General (June 18, 1975 - October 7, 1975).
27		Roy McMurtry	October 7, 1975	February 8, 1985	9 years, 124 days	Concurrently Solicitor General (September 11, 1978 – February 13, 1982). The ministry headquarters is named jointly after McMurtry and Ian Scott.
28		Bob Welch	February 8, 1985	May 17, 1985	98 days (second instance) (1 year, 240 days in total)	PC (Miller)	Concurrently Deputy Premier.
29		Alan Pope	May 17, 1985	June 26, 1985	40 days
30		Ian Scott	June 26, 1985	October 1, 1990	5 years, 97 days	Liberal (Peterson)	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs. Interim Solicitor General (February 3, 1986 – January 9, 1987; June 6, 1989 – August 2, 1989). The ministry headquarters is named jointly after Scott and Roy McMurtry.
31		Howard Hampton	October 1, 1990	February 3, 1993	2 years, 125 days	NDP (Rae)
	Minister of Justice and Attorney General
32		Marion Boyd	February 3, 1993	June 26, 1995	2 years, 143 days	First woman to serve as Attorney General. Only Attorney General who was not a lawyer.
	Attorney General					PC (Harris)
33		Charles Harnick	June 26, 1995	June 17, 1999	3 years, 356 days	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs.
34		Jim Flaherty	June 17, 1999	February 7, 2001	1 year, 235 days	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs.
35		David Young	February 8, 2001	April 15, 2002	2 years, 17 days	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs.
April 15, 2002			February 25, 2003	PC (Eves)
36		Norm Sterling	February 25, 2003	October 22, 2003	239 days	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs.
37		Michael J. Bryant	October 23, 2003	October 30, 2007	4 years, 7 days	Liberal (McGuinty)	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs and Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal (October 23, 2003 – June 29, 2005).
38		Chris Bentley	October 30, 2007	October 20, 2011	3 years, 355 days	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Native Affairs (January 18, 2010 – October 20, 2011).
39		John Gerretsen	October 20, 2011	February 11, 2013	2 years, 156 days
February 11, 2013			March 25, 2014	Liberal (Wynne)
40		Madeleine Meilleur	June 24, 2014	June 13, 2016	1 year, 355 days	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs. First francophone to serve as Attorney General.
41		Yasir Naqvi	June 13, 2016	June 29, 2018	2 years, 16 days	First visible-minority and first Muslim to serve as Attorney General.
42		Caroline Mulroney	June 29, 2018	June 20, 2019	356 days	PC (Ford)	Concurrently Minister Responsible for Francophone Affairs. Licensed to practice law in New York; not licensed to practice law in Ontario
43		Doug Downey	June 20, 2019	present	6 years, 116 days

See also

• Government of Ontario

References

1. "Expenditure Estimates for the Ministry of the Attorney General (2025–26)". ontario.ca. 2025-06-04. Archived from the original on 2025-10-14. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
2. "Administration of Justice Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. A.6". ontario.ca. Archived from the original on 2025-09-23. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
3. Bruton, Bob (2025-02-27). "Downey 'thrilled' to win third term in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte". Barrie Today. Archived from the original on 2025-04-09. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
4. Dino, Angelica (2025-03-20). "Doug Downey reappointed as Ontario's attorney general". www.canadianlawyermag.com. Archived from the original on 2025-08-12. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
5. Walker, William (1993-02-03). "Rae chops 10 ministries 'leaner' cabinet sworn in". Toronto Star .
6. Casey, Liam; Jones, Allison (2023-07-11). "Ford says he didn't see or approve list of lawyers getting King's counsel designation". CBC News . Archived from the original on 2025-07-01. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
7. "Re: Anti-Inflation Act, 1976 CanLII 16 (SCC)". www.canlii.org. 1976-07-12. Archived from the original on 2020-11-21. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
8. "Re: Resolution to amend the Constitution, 1981 CanLII 25 (SCC)". www.canlii.org. 1981-09-28. Archived from the original on 2025-07-01. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
9. "Reference re Bill 30, An Act to Amend the Education Act (Ont.), 1987 CanLII 65 (SCC)". www.canlii.org. 1987-06-25. Archived from the original on 2022-09-19. Retrieved 2025-10-14.
10. "Gerry McNeilly Nominated As Director Of New Police Review System". news.ontario.ca. 2008-05-02. Archived from the original on 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
11. Wallace, Kenyon (2010-07-24). "Police complaint director thrust into limelight". National Post . Retrieved 2018-12-30. As the province's newly minted Independent Police Review Director, Mr. McNeilly is tasked with handling all public complaints against police in Ontario
12. McNeilly, Gerry (December 2018). "Broken Trust: Indigenous People and the Thunder Bay Police Service" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-12-12. Retrieved 2025-10-13.
13. Talaga, Tanya (2013-02-26). "Ontario's justice system in a 'crisis' for aboriginals: Frank Iacobucci report". Toronto Star . Toronto. Archived from the original on 2013-02-28. Retrieved 2018-12-30.
14. Guttsman, Janet (2016-06-01). "A new portfolio". Canadian Lawyer Magazine. Archived from the original on 2016-04-30. Retrieved 2017-01-04.

Further reading

• Romney, Paul (1986). Mr Attorney: The Attorney General for Ontario in Court, Cabinet, and Legislature 1791–1899. University of Toronto Press. ISBN   978-1-4875-8118-3.

External links

• Official website