Man’s G20 Charge Has Disappeared
Posted July 29, 2010 7:38 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A man held in a detention centre after being charged under a controversial so-called five-metre rule during the G20 was prepared to head into a court hearing this week when he learned the charge against him no longer existed.
Dave Vasey, 31, was arrested and charged under the temporary G20 regulation under the Public Works Protection Act. Authorities initially said the regulation, passed without public debate in the provincial legislature June 2, gave police officers the authority to search and demand identification from anyone within five metres of the security fence.
On June 29 — two days after the summit — provincial politicians and police clarified that the amended legislation only applied to the area within the security fence, not outside of it.
Vasey was the only person charged under the controversial and misunderstood law. He was arrested June 24 and held for several hours at the film studio-turned detention center on Eastern Avenue.
He arrived at Old City Hall Wednesday for a court hearing to learn record of the charge against him no longer exists.
The man’s lawyer, Howard Morton, believes the charge may have disappeared to end “further embarrassment” to the government.
A spokeswoman for the Ontario Attorney General told the Toronto Star an “administrative error” may be the reason the charge disappeared from the record books.
Toronto Police claim the strange circumstance has nothing to do with the fact this was a G20-related charge.
