Government Operations committee  I don't want to compare apples and oranges. But I'm aware, for example, that two years before, at the conclusion of a hockey series, as part of the celebration, unfortunately, a number of people then—not sports celebrants but people—just came out to wreck the place. Vandals and people committing crimes burned about four times as many cars as we lost in Toronto during the G-20 summit.

Government Operations committee  I'm familiar with the term, sir. There were no agents provocateurs from the Toronto police or any of my policing partners, to the very best of my knowledge, who were in any way involved in this summit throughout its entire period.

Government Operations committee  No, sir.

Government Operations committee  Some were working in plain clothes and observing within the crowd to identify people engaged in criminal behaviour, and other operations had been taking place in criminal investigations and intelligence gathering over a number of months. The majority of our resources, of course, were out in uniform.

Government Operations committee  In my experience, there is no place for the protesters to stay in Huntsville. There are only about 1,300 hotel rooms and they would have all been occupied. They would not have been able to get close to the perimeter. Most of them are going to gather in urban areas where the media gathers, and the plan throughout the G-8 and the G-20 was that the meeting would be located in Toronto.

Government Operations committee  My reference was to the closest urban centre.

Government Operations committee  There is a possibility of bringing civil suits. I'm not qualified to suggest it would be successful. Sometimes these organizations are rather loosely constructed and don't necessarily have a lot of money behind them that's readily accessible. I'm not sure. I wouldn't necessarily see that as an avenue available to those poor shopkeepers.

Government Operations committee  Let me also tell you, sir, that I believe very much in accountability for criminal action as well. We've assembled an outstanding investigative team. They have been able, through excellent efforts and great cooperation from the public, to identify many of the people who were responsible for that violence and vandalism.

Government Operations committee  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.

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

Government Operations committee  —and people were arrested on criminal charges. They were brought before the courts as required—they must be brought before the courts. I heard yesterday testimony from a young man who said that he, along with approximately 60 of his colleagues, was arrested and brought before the courts and that subsequently a legal decision was made by the crown attorney that although there were reasonable and probable grounds to believe a criminal offence had been committed, there had been a technical error by the police officers making the arrest, which made it unlikely that there was a reasonable prospect of conviction, and on that basis they did not proceed with the criminal charges.

Government Operations committee  They were contained.

Government Operations committee  I'd never heard the term until I heard it that evening on television. But I know a decision was made to contain what was perceived to be a significant threat at that location.

Government Operations committee  Again, sir, there is an authority under the Criminal Code where the police have a reasonable apprehension, an honest belief, reasonable, probable grounds to believe that a breach of the peace is about to take place and that it is necessary to detain persons to prevent that breach.

Government Operations committee  There are a number of reasons why that badge could come off. All that forms part of our investigation. When we receive complaints and we see the person is not wearing the badge because we have photographic evidence, we conduct an investigation. Because there was Velcro, some of them may have been torn off in a struggle.