G20: Dalton's Fake Law

Turns out that on Friday when Toronto's chief of police announced the new measures that anyone coming within 5 meters of the G20 security fence would be detained, he was in fact not telling the actual truth. Those particular powers were never instituted, and nobody was arrested for that transgression. It is unclear whether the chief knew that law was not in effect when he made the statement, or if it was intended to discourage protesters from conducting their disobedience directly in front of the fence. The law that was passed by the McGuinty government was to make the area inside the fence public land, with the same jurisdictional status as say a courthouse.

Even if it was a mistake for the chief to announce a new law that wasn't actually a law, they were told shortly after that there was a mistake, but nobody corrected it (even Dalton McGuinty who was under fire for allegedly introducing the law). As a matter of fact Dalton has been decidedly quiet on this whole episode of Ontario life. The longer Dalton stays in power, the more withdrawn he becomes, which seems to help him deflect responsibility for anything.