The G8/G20 reports
These are official reports on the G20 and G8 leaders' summits, which took place in Toronto and Huntsville, Ont., June 25-27, 2010.
Police actions in Toronto during the G20 summit resulted in the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.
Policing the right to protest: G20 Systemic Review Report
Office of the Independent Police Review Director
May 16, 2012
CBC story: G20 report slams police for 'excessive' force
Gerry McNeilly, head of Ontario's OIPRD, found that many police officers ignored citizens' basic rights and that "in some cases the use of force was excessive." That force included the use of rubber bullets.
The containment tactics police used on several occasions "conflicts with the policies and procedures of the Toronto Police Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, the RCMP, and most other police services."
The report then states that "this tactic was part of one incident commander's strategy to 'take back the streets.'"
The police command centre for the summit overreacted and became dysfunctional, according to the report.
One commander referred to protesters as "the terrorists that were attacking our city."
Public Interest Investigation into RCMP Member Conduct Related to the 2010 G8 and G20 Summits
Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP
May 14, 2012
CBC story: G20 report clears RCMP but raises questions over 'kettling'
The report was only concerned with the RCMP's role at the summits. The commission found that the actions of RCMP officers were, "in a general sense, reasonable and appropriate."
They did find that the RCMP's role in the kettling incident was not consistent with their policy and training, although it "was reasonable in the circumstances." The RCMP commander on location was concerned at the time about the order to box people in.
The report also mentions that, "Through the course of its investigation, the commission learned that of the five individuals arrested by the RCMP team, two of them were plainclothes police officers with the Toronto Police Service."
Investigative Report: Complaintant: Adam Nobody
Office of the Independent Police Review Director
Report: Jan. 13, 2012
CBC story: Charge G20 officers, police watchdog orders
Adam Nobody attended the G20 protests and was arrested at Queen's Park on June 26, 2010. OIPRD director Gerry McNeilly found that five Toronto constables — Michael Adams, Geoffrey Fardell, David Donaldson, Oliver Simpson and Babak Andalib-Goortani — "used unnecessary force during the arrest and apprehension" of Nobody and that their conduct was discreditable.
Toronto Police Service After-Action Review
Toronto Police June 23, 2011
CBC story: G20 overwhelmed Toronto police: report
This is an internal police report, noted for its detailed chronology of the events, in which 1,118 people were arrested.
The report found that police were overwhelmed and unprepared at times. "In particular, there was an inability to effectively prevent, mitigate and respond to Black Bloc tactics employed within the broader theatre when mass disorder was taking place."
The report recommends that the use of kettling — a term the report does not use — for containing people be modified, especially to leave an exit point when people are boxed in.
It says the detention and processing of people arrested on the weekend had significant shortcomings.
The report was criticized for its inadequacies, with the Globe and Mail editors writing that it "appears to perpetuate an apparent culture of silence within the service."
2011 Spring Report
Auditor General of Canada
June 9, 2011
CBC story: Ministers didn't follow own policies for G8 spending
The auditor general found that "No consolidated funding or cost information was presented to Parliament" about hosting the G8 and G20 summits and that the usual framework for funding such events was not applied.
Parliament approved expenditures of $1.1 billion but because of the way the information was presented, it was difficult to know the total amount being requested. In the end, the report says the total cost was projected to be just $664 million.
The report did find that the "funds were used for intended purposes."
The government didn’t tell Parliament it was approving $50 million for the G8 legacy infrastructure fund that doled out cash for projects in cabinet minister Tony Clement's riding, based on his advice, the auditor general reported. As well, "there is a lack of documentation to show how projects were selected."
The government accepted the report's recommendations.
Caught in the Act
André Marin, Ontario ombudsman
Dec. 7, 2010
CBC story: G20 police rule slammed by ombudsman
Marin's report looked at a regulation passed to enhance security during the G20 summit. The report states that it "should never have been enacted," was likely unconstitutional, and infringed "on freedom of expression in ways that do not seem justifiable in a free and democratic society."
By passing the regulation under an obscure wartime law, the Ontario government was "resorting to martial law" and giving police extravagant authority, Marin concluded.