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On Wednesday, June 1st, 2011,  Queer Ontario delivered a deputation to the Independent Civilian Review into Matters Relating to the G20 Summit, which was launched by the Toronto Police Services Board on September 23, 2010 to look into the policing strategy that was employed by the Toronto Police Service during the G20. Headed by John W. Morden,  a former Associate Chief Justice for the Province of Ontario, and guided by the Terms of References outlined here, the Review will present a report with a set of recommendations to the Police Services Board which will determine:

(1) the role the Board played in the planning of the police strategy for the G20 Summit;
(2) the role the Toronto Police Service played during the G20 police strategy; and
(3) whether or not the plans that were developed and implemented were adequate and effective for the proper policing of the Summit.

There are still tho hearing sessions left — one on the 6th, and another on the 13th — so feel free to register at http://g20review.ca/hearings.html if you wish to depute.

Also, do note that while the reviewers are asking deputants to focus on the question of the role civilian oversight should have in determining the policing strategies of major events, they also appear to be accepting deputations on other G20-related issues, so please take the time to share your insights.

Queer Ontario’s deputation can be previewed and downloaded here:

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For a text-only version, click on Read more…

Historically there has been widespread concern within the queer communities about unequal enforcement of the law. Queers are disproportionately targeted as being perceived as more serious offenders meriting more severe punishment.

Policing of the recent G20 Summit in Toronto has aggravated that concern, particularly in respect to the reported attitude of the police toward queer people who were detained. Our concerns go beyond this to the very laws that appear to have precipitated these detentions. Not only the enforcement of which the police themselves have retrospectively admitted was not legal, and which flies in the face of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but also the secretive way in which those regulations were supposedly enacted. Beyond that, we are concerned about the pressure from the federal government to enact tough on crime laws which appear to focus on establishing a police state; a state which is exemplified by the attitude of those who made and enforced laws during the G20 Summit.
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