Police union chief dismisses G20 review

Police arrested more than 900 protesters during the G20 summit in Toronto. (Canadian Press)

The head of the Toronto Police union is calling an independent civilian review of G20 policing a "lame duck" inquiry because it has no legal power to effect changes in police operations.

July 7, 2010 CBC NEWS: The head of the Toronto Police union is calling an independent civilian review of G20 policing a "lame duck" inquiry because it has no legal power to effect changes in police operations.

The comments made by Mike McCormack come one day after Toronto Police Services Board, a civilian agency overseeing the police force, approved an independent review of police tactics during the G20 protests. The review is not a full-fledged public inquiry, which would be legally binding.

McCormack, the head of Toronto Police Association, said Wednesday a number of officers from police agencies across Canada were involved in policing the protests on June 26-27, but the review's findings can only be applied to Toronto police.

Even then, the review may not yield any results, as the role of the police services board is solely to provide policy and oversight advice to the police chief, he said.

"They have no carriage through any legislative power to have any bearing on any of the operational ... aspects of policing," he told CBC's Metro Morning.

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Premier can't order inquiry

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has been called upon repeatedly to order a public inquiry that would be legally binding. But he told reporters Wednesday that only the federal government can call for such a probe.

The police services board will decide on the scope of the review it ordered in two weeks at the latest, and will appoint an external reviewer to head the probe.

"I don't understand what this will achieve," McCormack said.

"As far as looking into the conduct of what happened as far as operationally, the chief has committed to having a review."

Toronto police Chief Bill Blair has already said another internal review of police actions will be conducted. That announcement came after civil liberties groups, journalist and protesters decried police tactics during the protests, in which more than 900 people were arrested.

Criticism was especially strong of police tactics on the evening of June 27, in which about 500 people were hemmed in by hundreds of riot police at the intersection of Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue for several hours in the pouring rain.

It's easy to second guess police actions, but that's uncalled for, McGuinty said.

"I think our police, given the challenges and the circumstances, responded remarkably well."

But he admits there has to be a better way to host events like the G20 summit because of how disruptive it was to life in Toronto.

"I also think that there was some tremendous psychological scarring because of what people saw on TV. Burning police cars [are]not something people will forget for some time."

McCormack dismissed notions that the public's confidence in the police had eroded following police handling of the protests.

"The overall community respects the police and understands the job that we do."