Ombudsman determines G20 amendment was "illegal", "likely unconstitutional"

In their haste to bump up G20 security, Ontario authorities kept silent on a convoluted amendment to 71-year-old legislation that was “illegal” and “likely unconstitutional,” abrogating the Charter rights of thousands of people in the process, says Ontario Ombudsman André Marin.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair, who requested the regulation, misrepresented it after officers were trained according to an incorrect interpretation of the law, Mr. Marin said. The Chief then refused to speak with or provide information to the Ombudsman investigating its execution.

A spokesman for the police argues Mr. Marin was overstepping his jurisdiction by making the request.

And according to Mr. Marin, the secretive amendment to the Public Works Protection Act put in place without debate in the weeks leading up to Toronto’s G20 summit shouldn’t have been enacted period. The 1939 law was originally meant to protect public works during the war. The regulation allowed police to detain, question and arrest without warrant people within the G20 security perimeter. Chief Blair told reporters the Friday before the summit that it gave police those privileges within five metres of the fence.

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Mr. Marin said he received “zero” co-operation from the police during his investigation. A string of e-mails between the Ombudsman’s office and the Toronto police indicate Chief Blair repeatedly declined requests for information and to interview his officers and himself regarding the regulation.

“Our position was and is that we are co-operating fully with bodies that have jurisdiction over the police service,” said police spokesman Mark Pugash, noting that in addition to Ontario’s Office of the Independent Review Director and the province’s Special Investigations Unit, the Police Services Board has commissioned its own independent review of police conduct during the G20.

Globe and Mail