Mounties wanted 'low-key' probe into G20 activities, documents show

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The RCMP recommended an investigation into its G20 activities be kept "low-key," noting that it played a limited role in the controversial mass arrests and detentions that occurred outside the summit, internal documents show.

The force's G20 conduct is facing renewed public scrutiny following revelations that it spied on Ontario activists for a year and a half before the Toronto summit, but police still failed to stop the smashing rampage that took place in the streets that weekend.

In an August, 2010, briefing note to then RCMP commissioner William Elliott, bureaucrats suggested a proactive review of the force's role in the G20 would be "low-key and measured."

The note, obtained under Access to Information law, said the Commission for Public Complaints against the RCMP had proposed the review. Senior brass would have an opportunity to examine the findings and remove sensitive information, the note said.

It said that the watchdog had other, more public options available to it, but cautioned that those could carry "a significant stigma" and leave members feeling as though they were being pre-judged.

Despite the recommendation in the briefing note, which was internal to the RCMP, the force's watchdog launched a public investigation in November, 2010, and says it expects to publish its report in the coming months.

A spokeswoman for the Commission for Public Complaints (CPC) said the report will not go to the RCMP for review, and will be made public in its entirety as soon as it's completed. The investigation will report on RCMP surveillance and infiltration of activist groups as well as the role the force played in the arrest and detention of protesters during the summit.

Toronto Police have borne much of the blame for the chaos that occurred on Toronto streets during the G20. Hours after a group of mainly black-clad protesters smashed windows and torched police cars, police began arresting and detaining hundreds of demonstrators, the vast majority of whom were later released without charge.

The briefing note states the RCMP didn't play a significant part in the arrests, but adds that given the RCMP's lead role in summit security, "it is clear at some point public scrutiny may come to bear on the RCMP's actions."

Asked about the force's role, an RCMP spokesman said Toronto police had jurisdiction over operations outside the security perimeter in Toronto.

"The protestors were on the streets of Toronto which is policed by Toronto Police Service," Greg Cox wrote in an e-mail on Thursday.

Earlier this year, a report by Toronto police Chief Bill Blair said his commanders were behind the order to clear the streets at the G20. But what role, if any, the RCMP played in that or other decisions during the summit was not made clear in the report.

Nathalie Des Rosiers, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said confusion around G20 policing illustrates the need for a more comprehensive oversight body.

Police forces from multiple provinces and municipalities worked with private security firms, the RCMP and CSIS to secure the G20 summit, making it difficult for the public to unravel who was responsible for decisions and where to direct complaints, she said.

"I think one of the lessons of the G20 is that the future of policing, which will be about multi-force co-operation, must lead to an accountability framework that responds to the co-operative nature of policing," she said.

In addition to the CPC review, a separate report for the civilian board that oversees Toronto police may shed more light on the RCMP's role at the G20.

The review, by retired judge John W. Morden, is expected to be out in March of next year, and is set to explain who made key policing decisions during the summit and when.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair would not discuss the RCMP memo when asked on Thursday.

"I don't speak for the RCMP and I'm not going to comment," he said.