Report critical of G20 tactics, Chief Blair defensive

It was a defensive Chief Bill Blair who met reporters in the atrium of Toronto police headquarters on Wednesday. A scathing report on police conduct during the G20 protests in 2010 had just been released. It found that disorganized, poorly trained police had often trampled on the rights of protesters and sometimes resorted to excessive force.

Did the chief care to apologize? Would he acknowledge that police sometimes acted outside the law? Did he have any sense of regret?

No, no and no. “Generally – I think overwhelmingly – the rights of our citizens were protected that weekend,” he said. Asked if he agreed with the report's finding that police had acted unlawfully on several occasions during the G20, he replied: “No. That has not been proven at all.”

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