He was rounded up and detained during the G20 five years ago, and that episode prompted Tommy Taylor to run in the upcoming federal election against Bill Blair — the man he blames for human rights abuses surrounding his arrest.

Taylor, 34, a theatre artist and activist from Toronto, is the Green Party candidate in the Scarborough Southwest riding. He’s taking on Blair — the Liberal candidate and former Toronto police chief.

Taylor will also be challenging New Democrat Dan Harris, the incumbent in the race.

But Taylor decided to run in the riding because of his indirect connection to Blair.

Blair was Toronto police chief at the time of the G20 economic summit. It was during that summit, on June 26, 2010, that Taylor left his home to watch the demonstrations. But he ended up in a crowd numbering in the hundreds, consisting mostly of peaceful protestors and some innocent bystanders, who were surrounded by police during a controversial “kettling’’ incident.

Taylor was later detained in a makeshift jail and held for nearly 24 hours, before being released with no charges.

The horrible experience was an awakening for him. It turned him into an activist, and he went on to collaborate with a theatre company and turn what he saw during the incident into a one-man show called You Should Have Stayed Home.

The Greens chose him as their candidate Tuesday.

Taylor believes Blair’s role during the G20 arrests, Blair and his party’s support for the Conservative’s anti-terrorism legislation Bill C-51, and other positions the former chief has taken, show Blair is soft on civil liberties.

“I don’t think we need people in Ottawa who fight us on transparency and accountability. We don’t need public servants who are only interested in their own authority,’’ Taylor said of Blair’s candidacy.

When he announced his candidacy in Scarborough Southwest earlier this year, Blair defended his actions in the G20 episode, saying he ordered an independent review of how police conducted themselves during the protests, and he implemented recommendations from the review.

On Bill C-51, Blair says he supports the increased powers for spy agencies and police, but wants more oversight and bipartisan review by parliament of those powers.

Taylor wants to debate Blair one on one in a single event during the election campaign, in a bid to “clear the air’’ and get the G20 issue out of the way, so he, Taylor, doesn’t come across as a single issue candidate.

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Taylor, a resident in Toronto’s Cabbagetown community, says environmental issues such as the erosion of the Scarborough Bluffs, and the economic disparities among residents in the riding are pressing concerns he also wants to focus on.

As for Dan Harris, the NDP incumbent in the riding, Taylor says the New Democratic Party has shifted to the centre and “softened’’ its policies.

“I don’t think the safe and soft approach is what people need right now,’’ Taylor says.

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