As a beat cop patrolling Toronto in the mid-1960s, David Arbuckle knew a thing or two about crime and recidivism. Like many of his colleagues in uniform, he had issues with the correctional system of the day. Instead of complaining, he decided he’d effect change outside of policing. Ten days after submitting his resignation to the Chief of Police, the former intelligence bureau officer assumed the leadership role at the John Howard Society of Metropolitan Toronto. From here, Arbuckle would eventually become the Executive Director of Operation Springboard, expanding the organization’s mandate from its original grassroots founding.
Born in 1940 in Ottawa, the middle child of three, David Arbuckle and his first wife, Marjorie, moved into a Dixon Road apartment in west-end Toronto in 1964, when he joined the police force as a twenty-four-year-old rookie. The couple would raise two children before divorcing. Reached by telephone at his Cobourg-area home, he explained he chose this career path because he considered policing “a helping profession, and I felt like I could make a contribution.”
Assigned to No. 52 police station on College Street, PC Arbuckle quickly earned a reputation for his even-handedness in dealings with the public. Early on, he incorporated a brain-over-brawn approach and avoided physical confrontation whenever possible. His non-confrontational technique continued after being reassigned to No. 55 police station in the east end of Toronto. Higher-ups took notice of his method, promoting Arbuckle to the intelligence bureau. He investigated extortion, organized crime, and other serious offences in this new role.
Wishing to better understand delinquency, in the early 1970s, Arbuckle enrolled in night courses at the University of Toronto, studying criminology. During this time, he learned, “We were dealing with offenders who badly needed resources, including life skills and practical things, like housing.”
After a decade of policing, during which he received several commendations, Arbuckle retired at the end of 1974 to become Executive Director of the John Howard Society of Metropolitan Toronto.
Briefly, John Howard was an eighteenth-century English prison reformer. The origin of the John Howard Society dates back to ecclesiastical groups interested in the spiritual welfare of prisoners in Canada. The establishment of the Prisoners Aid Association of Toronto in 1874 led to the founding of the Citizens Service Association in 1929. Two years later, the John Howard Society was founded in British Columbia to aid prisoners and ex-convicts in rehabilitation and reintegration. In 1946, the Toronto-based Citizens Service Association was renamed the John Howard Society of Ontario. By 1986, sixteen branches were operating in Ontario.
In his new leadership position at the John Howard Society of Toronto, David Arbuckle focused on improving rehabilitation methods and providing living facilities for convicts transitioning back into the community. Volunteers played a significant role in the organization’s daily operations.
Arbuckle’s approach to dealing with offenders didn’t always align with the counselling methodology of his provincial overseers. In his opinion, the John Howard Society of Ontario’s therapeutic approach didn’t achieve optimal results. “They believed counselling alone could solve [offenders’] issues. I didn’t think so.”
Arbuckle acknowledged that the Toronto branch enjoyed a high degree of autonomy. Ideological differences would lead to the branch’s amicable separation, at which point Arbuckle would take the helm at Operation Springboard. This development, however, was years in the future.
Arbuckle hit the ground running in his new role as Executive Director of the John Howard Society of Toronto, with offices located in a nineteenth-century historical residence at 168 Isabella Street. In February 1975, he oversaw the establishment of Gerrard House, a halfway house adjacent to the Don Jail in the former two-storey brick dwelling of the jail superintendent. The house, a community residential centre, provided housing for provincial offenders who were completing temporary absence programs.
Gerrard House checked all the boxes in Arbuckle’s approach to “building a one-stop shopping centre for people who had been in trouble with the law.” While completing their sentences in the community, the 15 residents worked or attended school. The goal was to reduce recidivism and facilitate the reintegration of offenders into society. The facility, partnered with Ontario’s Ministry of Correctional Services, included five counsellors on staff and a cook who prepared one meal daily. Inmates paid $42 a week to reside at Gerrard House and were responsible for additional meals and maintaining their rooms and common areas.
Gerrard House integrated itself into the surrounding community, hosting social events for area residents, including Christmas parties for local youngsters, which were organized and funded by the offenders.
In the following years, Arbuckle would oversee the establishment of additional community residential centres, including Glen Thompson House on Leslie Street in Leslieville and Frank Drea House on Indian Road in Parkdale.
In some instances, the establishment of community residential centres came with conflict. Often, Arbuckle faced intense resistance from area homeowners. Some threats of violence, including bombings and arson, were severe enough to warrant police protection of properties. Again, Arbuckle’s even-handed approach to resolving conflict led to resolution, and the residents thrived.
Among other accomplishments, the agency set up a 24-hour crisis hotline staffed entirely by volunteers. The Alternatives Phoneline provided counselling, advice, housing suggestions, and other critical information for people in crisis.
During his tenure at John Howard Toronto, Operation Springboard approached Arbuckle about a merger. “Springboard had kind of run out of steam,” Arbuckle explained, “they didn’t have enough people to keep it going. They came to me one day and said, ‘Can you take it over?’” Arbuckle agreed to Springboard’s proposal, proving to be a fortuitous decision.
In 1986, Arbuckle oversaw the administration of two halfway houses in North Toronto, Blue Jays Lodge for young offenders and numerous supervised apartments.
The year would prove momentous for other reasons.
In September, the federal government announced the Accelerated Community Integration Program, which placed the 40-bed Keele Community Correctional Centre and 15-bed Montgomery Centre under Arbuckle’s supervision. His agency would also become responsible for a range of parole services, including life skills training, job training, counselling, and support programs.
The Accelerated Community Integration Program came online at the beginning of October, and within days, Arbuckle hired Marg Stanowski as Program Manager, also a fortuitous decision.
Around this time, philosophical differences between the Toronto and Ontario branches of the John Howard Society over their role in helping rehabilitate offenders came to a head, and the two branches amicably parted ways.
The split from the Ontario branch of the John Howard Society arose over Arbuckle’s decision to sign a contract with the federal solicitor general’s office to supervise parolees in Toronto. Arbuckle explained that the Ontario branch had “a great distrust of government funding,” adding, “We essentially gave up the name and gave it back to John Howard Society of Ontario, and moved all of our operations over to Springboard.”
David Arbuckle remained at the helm until 1992.
Reflecting on the agency’s accomplishments, he said he is proud of the multiservice model created on his watch. “We had a very robust menu of services, and I think it paid off.”
Today, in retirement, David Arbuckle and his wife, Linda, raise a teenage daughter together.
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