About 90 Toronto police officers are facing disciplinary action for removing the name badges from their uniforms during the G20 summit, Chief Bill Blair said Wednesday.

Blair was appearing in Ottawa before the House of Commons public safety committee to answer questions about summit security. He discussed the disciplinary action in response to MPs’ queries about accusations that a large group of officers deliberately tried to hide their identities from G20 protesters.

“I have a rule with the Toronto Police Service — it’s my rule — it’s in accordance with the policy of my police services board that our officers will wear their names displayed on their uniforms,” Blair told the committee.

Brandishing one of the badges, which attach to officers’ uniforms with Velcro, the chief emphasized any officers who disobeyed the policy were acting individually.

“If they have made a choice to engage in misconduct by disobeying a rule of the service they will be held accountable,” he said.

The chief said police had received 13 complaints from the public about missing badges, but launched an investigation that involved reviewing thousands of hours of videotape.

“The matter was investigated very thoroughly and individuals are held accountable.”

When asked what discipline the officers are facing, Blair said, “It’s still to be determined but the discussion, I believe, is the loss of a day’s pay.”

Blair also revealed that a “technical” issue led to the dropping of charges against about 100 people arrested over the G20 weekend at the University of Toronto gymnasium.

“It was because the police did not have the proper warrant for the apprehension of those individuals,” he said. “But that does not negate the fact that they had evidence to make the arrest.”

Toronto Police Association President Mike McCormack confirmed officers have been notified of the disciplinary action.

“We’re cooperating,” he said.

McCormack said each officer facing disciplinary action must respond individually to any allegations and offer an explanation as to why they weren’t wearing a badge. “We’re there to make sure it’s a full and frank and transparent process,” McCormack said.

Lawyer Julian Falconer, who is representing several journalists detained during the summit, said he “laud(s) Chief Blair for showing the leadership to mete out discipline.”

But, he said, “From the point of view of my clients, who were the victims of excessive police force . . . when they consider that some of these officers have escaped prosecution and have escaped accountability by virtue of removing their identification tags, it sure seems like (a day’s pay) is a pretty good deal for them.”

As Blair defended his force’s role in front of the committee, Montreal student Kevin Gagnon spoke about his experience as a protester.

The biochemistry student at the University of Montreal, who was arrested at the U of T gymnasium, described several breaches of rights after being awoken by police who were “jumping over my mattress” with weapons pointed at him. He says he came to the G20 to protest the treatment of the environment.

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After his arrest Gagnon said his rights were not read to him, and officers did not let him use the washroom for a long time. “I can tell you that when you’re awakened in that manner, you need to go to the bathroom,” Gagnon said.

It took one and a half hours to drive to the detention centre, he said. There, detainees were put “in cages,” where “there was one toilet visible to everybody and there was no toilet paper either, so we had to use sandwich papers to wipe ourselves.”

After 16 hours, he was finally read his rights; after 18 hours, the only food he had been given was a glass of water and a sandwich. He was strip-searched and his glasses and belt were taken away. Gagnon was driven to the court jail, and was finally allowed to speak with a lawyer, who he says started crying.

“When your lawyer cries, you’re in trouble,” he said.

Finally, after almost three days, Gagnon was released on the condition that he leave Toronto within 24 hours. His charges have been dropped along with the others.

Of the more than 1,100 people arrested over the G20 weekend, less than two dozen are still facing charges. Those include the cases of alleged anarchist ringleaders Alex Hundert and Kelly Pflug-Back.

Hundert’s bail was revoked after police determined he broke his no-demonstration clause by speaking on a Ryerson University panel. The bail was updated to bar him from speaking with media or expressing political views publicly, a move that legal experts said infringed on his charter rights. Hundert was rearrested last month on new charges.

There are a litany of inquiries into policing during the G20 summit.

Blair has stated that the force is conducting an internal investigation, and the Toronto Police Services Board, the force’s independent oversight body, is also conducting a review. Retired Judge John Morden was recently named as the lead for that inquiry.

Two class-action lawsuits related to the G20 have been launched. One, for $115 million, is on behalf of those whose stores were vandalized as well as anyone arrested or detained. Another, for $45 million, was launched on behalf of hundreds of people wrongfully arrested or detained.

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