Government Operations Committee on Nov. 4th, 2010

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

I see. Well, I'm—

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

You're going to have to divide that time, Mr. Chairman. Some of us have had one round.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

I was just going to continue with a round.

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Well, that doesn't do anything for me, so I would vote against that.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

The next round is Bloc Québécois, New Democratic Party, Conservative.

If I take that time to 10 o'clock, will that be satisfactory to colleagues?

[An hon. member]

Agreed.

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

Okay, then, for five minutes—

[Pat Martin, NDP, Winnipeg Centre, MB]

Mr. Chair, did anybody ask the witness if he has other obligations? I understand he's—

[The Chair, Liberal, John McKay]

He does have other obligations, and they are in one hour's time. That's why I'm limiting it to 10 o'clock.

The Bloc for five minutes, please.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I would also like to thank my colleagues.

Chief Blair, you surely worked hand in hand with CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, during the G-20, did you not?

[Chief William Blair]

Yes.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

What level of threat was discussed? Was the threat level during the G-20 low, medium or high?

[Chief William Blair]

There were a number of discussions about the protection of the internationally protected persons, which was primarily a discussion that I was aware of taking place with CSIS.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Excuse me.

Were you told that there was a high threat level? Were you told that demonstrators at the G-20 represented a serious threat?

[Chief William Blair]

I did not have any conversation with CSIS with respect to the threat level from demonstrators. Most of that was of a domestic nature.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

I see.

[Chief William Blair]

The discussion with CSIS pertained primarily, from my perspective, to any perceived threats or potential threats against the internationally protected persons attending the summit.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

So, no one ever told you about the threat level associated with demonstrators who were gathering democratically.

[Chief William Blair]

There was considerable discussion from our policing partners with respect to intelligence that was being gathered with respect to the demonstrators. But that was quite frankly a separate issue for me than the security of the summit participants and the presidents of various countries, etc.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

Forgive me, but I'm trying to pick up the pace.

You were the one who decided to arrest people as a preventative measure.

[Chief William Blair]

No, ma'am, I did not make that personal decision. Police officers on the ground, based on their own observations and their beliefs, their reasonable, probable grounds, made a determination whether or not to detain or to arrest persons and what charges to lay. The chief of police doesn't make those decisions.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

So, was it officers on the ground who decided to arrest people at the University of Toronto on Sunday morning?

[Chief William Blair]

No. As a matter of fact, those arrests at the University of Toronto, as I understand it, were as a result of an ongoing criminal investigation that had been taking place over several weeks or longer. It was an investigation primarily led by the Ontario Provincial Police, but it was a criminal investigation that took officers to that site, where they arrested a number of people whom I understand they had reasonable, probable grounds to believe had committed criminal offences.

[Diane Bourgeois, Bloc, Terrebonne—Blainville, QC]

So, it was following an OPP investigation, if I understood you correctly. Among those people were 90 Quebeckers whose basic rights were violated; 90 people who spoke French and against whom the charges were later dropped. They were neither officially charged or detained. They had no formal trial.

How do you explain the fact that the security service and the Ontario Provincial Police had to detain these people for two, three or even four days when there is actually nothing showing that they represented a clear threat?

[Chief William Blair]

With great respect, I disagree. In fact, my understanding is that a criminal investigation was conducted—