In a shocking development revolving around the last weekend's G20 summit in Toronto, Police Chief Bill Blair has now confessed that a temporary but controversial law (that many say is against the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms) was a big fat LIE.
From the Toronto Star:
Toronto’s police chief has admitted there never was a five-metre rule allowing police to search and demand identification from members of the public who strayed too close to the G20 security perimeter.
This has now opened up new calls for the resignation of the Police Chief.
The law that was passed actually applied to the area within the massive security perimeter, which effectively was a "green zone" inside Canada's biggest city.
However, last week, the police chief actually lied to the media about the nature of this new law. Here is a report from CBC news on Friday (bold emphasis mine)...
Police powers expanded for G20 New regulations give police right to search anyone near security fence
Police forces in charge of security at the G20 summit in Toronto have been granted special powers for the duration of the summit.
The new powers took effect Monday and apply along the border of the G20 security fence that encircles a portion of the downtown core. This area — the so-called red zone — includes the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where delegates will meet. The new regulations effectively expand the jurisdiction of the existing Public Works Act to apply to high-security areas of the summit site.
Under the new regulations, anyone who comes within five metres of the security area is obliged to give police their name and state the purpose of their visit on request. Anyone who fails to provide identification or explain why they are near the security zone can be searched and arrested.
It was also reported by CBC in the same article that 2 or 3 people were actually already arrested under this new law...
[Sgt.] Tim Burrows [of the G8/G20 Integrated Security Unit] said police have already made "two or three" arrests under the new rules as of Friday morning.
As it is now clear, no one was arrested under this new law in the 5 metre security zone outside of the security fence. It turned out to be a somewhat chilling ploy (IMO) by the Toronto Police.
And now, the Chief of police is having a good chuckle out of it all.
When asked Tuesday if there actually was a five-metre rule given the ministry's clarification, Chief Bill Blair smiled and said, "No, but I was trying to keep the criminals out."
The ol' chief is feeling pretty good considering what happened in Toronto last weekend by a select few thugs during what was otherwise a peaceful parade of protesters. An entire major street was trashed by these criminals (including 3 police cruisers which were lit on fire). No police were in sight during most of the affair.
See a home video of this event here...
http://watch.ctv.ca/...
I guess they were too busy protecting the fake 5 metre security zone on that 1 billion dollar budget. The expense does not include the truth, apparently. It will be interesting if the outrage by Canadians expressed in the comments below these articles I've linked to will go further.
Something tells me this story has legs.