Posted By: Mark Carcasole
The heat on Premier Dalton McGuinty has been turned up.
A series of emails between Liberal staffers, recently revealed in the Ontario Ombudsman's G20 report show that the province tried to keep the details on the so-called "G20 secret law" quiet. One email even appears to stifle a press release from the Ministry of Community Safety that would have clarified the exact powers of police during the summit.
With those details now out in the open, the Progressive Conservatives are asking for more time to question the Liberals.
The Legislature is now closed for its winter break, but if the PCs had their way, it would still be in session. As unlikely as he knows it is, PC MPP Peter Shurman says the Premier needs to answer for the secrecy around G20 amendments to the Public Works Protection Act. "This is not a matter of communication, it is a cover-up," says Shurman. Quoting the Ombudsman, he tells reporters "it was a premeditated, conscious plan to bring forward war measures and keep them secret from the general public."
Shurman says there has been too much attention paid to Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair in recent days, and not enough to the province's efforts to keep the law secret. While he wouldn't call him a scapegoat, Shurman says Blair and his oficers were only trying to uphold the law. He says McGuinty is the one who misled the public.
Different opinions coming from the NDP's Justice Critic, though. Peter Kormos , unlike the PCs, says there needs to be a public inquiry on the matter. Calling it the "only way" to get real answers. He also disagrees with Shurman's stance that Chief Blair shouldn't be wrapped up in the issue. Kormos says "Mr. McGuinty and Chief Blair were very much joined at the hip," and that neither have accepted any responsibility for the secret amendments.