OTTAWA—Liberal leader Justin Trudeau, introducing former Toronto police chief Bill Blair as a potential Liberal candidate, says he doesn’t want to be a Monday morning quarterback and second-guess the conduct of police during the G20 summit in Toronto.

“I’m not going to Monday morning quarterback decisions made five years ago by the chief of police,” Trudeau said when asked about the summit in 2010. High-ranking police officers were blamed for excessive use of force and widespread violations of citizens’ rights in the face of riots and protests during the meeting of international leaders.

Trudeau said he was impressed by Blair’s strength, his candour and “his integrity in every sense of the word.”

Blair told reporters the G20 summit was “a very, very challenging weekend” and he acknowledged that citizens in Toronto and across Canada were concerned about police actions during the meeting. But he said Toronto police have moved quickly to adopt the post-summit recommendations for improving how officers handle protests.

Blair, whose plan to run as a Liberal in the upcoming election emerged Sunday, defended the use of carding by police. During his tenure as chief in Toronto, he was caught up in controversy over the practice, which many consider discriminatory. Blair justified the practice of creating police files on people who have not broken the law as part of information gathering needed to keep communities safe and prevent crime.

But it is “completely unnecessary and unacceptable” if carding is based on race or violates citizens’ rights, Blair stressed.

While saying he was excited to have Blair hoping to run for the Liberals in the riding of Scarborough Southwest, Trudeau said, “Bill is going to have to go through an open nomination” to become a candidate.

Blair said the Conservatives will have trouble depicting him as weak on law-and-order issues. After 39 years of policing, he said, “any suggestion that I’m soft on crime is absolute nonsense.”

He said he opted for the Liberals because of the importance of an inclusive society. Blair has said he was swayed by Trudeau’s commitment to this goal as expressed in a recent speech in which the Liberal leader accused Prime Minister Stephen Harper of stoking public fears against Muslims. “One of the things I’ve learned is that fear is the basic threat to public safety,” Blair remarked.

“If we create a sense of exclusion, if we make a young person feel that they are less included in society and have less access to opportunity in their country, they’re more likely to make bad choices,” he added.

Trudeau spoke earlier to the International Association of Fire Fighters conference. He promised a Liberal government would introduce a $300,000 compensation package for families of firefighters or police killed or permanently disabled while on duty. The Liberals would also bring back funding for four Heavy Urban Search and Rescue (HUSAR) teams across Canada.

NDP MP Dan Harris, who represents Scarborough Southwest now, says he is not deterred about a possible face-off with Trudeau’s star candidate.

“I’m focused on knocking on doors, talking to residents, as I have for the last four years . . . and focused on the issues,” Harris told the Star in an interview Monday.

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“I think when the election comes around, the NDP’s platform and policies are going to outshine the others,” Harris said, citing the party’s pledges on minimum wage, daycare and a new spotlight on urban affairs.

With files from Bruce Campion-Smith

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