Premier Dalton McGuinty says his government will not accelerate an overhaul of controversial legislation used by police during the G20 summit despite a scathing official probe that found it “likely unconstitutional.”

In his first comments since Ombudsman André Marin tabled a 125-page report denouncing “the most massive compromise of civil liberties in Canadian history,” McGuinty insisted looming changes should suffice.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at a Front Street office overlooking the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where the June 26-27 meeting of world leaders was held, the premier admitted his administration “failed to take the appropriate steps” to inform people that police had been granted new authority.

At issue is regulation 233/10 requested by Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair under the 1939 Public Works Protection Act and secretly enacted by McGuinty’s cabinet on June 2.

“The police came to us and said: ‘We need your help, we’re going to be hosting the G20, there are possibly the top 20 terrorist targets on the face of this planet, they’re coming together in one particular city . . . we need you to make a change so that we have additional authority,’” the premier said.

“In hindsight there are a couple of things we could have and should have done better. It’s been said that too much haste makes waste. We moved pretty quickly on this in order to help our police at the earliest possible opportunity,” he said.

“And we did not take the appropriate steps to properly communicate this to the public. Then . . . there was the mix-up in terms of what it actually stood for, what it represented and we communicated directly with the police.”

Blair initially interpreted the law as giving police the power to arrest anyone refusing to provide identification or submit to a search within five metres of the outer perimeter of the G20 site.

The unusual regulation only applied to within the secure area around the convention centre, but provincial politicians and police did not immediately convey that to Torontonians.

“We’re going to make some changes, we accept all the findings,” said McGuinty of Marin’s report, which urged the Act be scrapped or amended and new protocols developed to ensure the public is told when police powers are increased.

But the premier emphasized the timetable for dealing with the controversial legislation remains unchanged.

That means the law will stay on the books until former Ontario chief justice Roy McMurtry completes his review of it next spring. The House is slated to rise June 2 and not return until after the Oct. 6 provincial election, so it’s unclear if any changes could be passed in time.

McGuinty also rejected Marin’s charge that the government’s actions were “illegal” and “likely unconstitutional.”

“Technically . . . we were in compliance . . . with the rules and procedures but this was an extraordinary regulation and it deserved more transparency and more debate,” the premier allowed.

“The very premise of our regulation, the law itself, is likely not in keeping with the balance that we would want to strike . . . when it comes to public safety and . . . freedom of expression.”

Community Safety Minister Jim Bradley, who took over the file in August to deal with the G20 aftermath, said “following Justice McMurtry’s advice, we’ll make any needed amendments to the Public Works Protection Act.”

Attorney General Chris Bentley sidestepped questions when asked if he, as the province’s chief legal officer, should be taking action because Marin said the government’s actions were against the law.

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Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Rick Bartolucci, who ran community safety at the time of the summit, should be dumped from cabinet for being complicit in a “cover-up” of the questionable regulation.

“If I were premier I would fire that minister,” Hudak said.

Outside the House, Bartolucci admitted he had briefly considered quitting.

“Yes, and I’m not going to tender my resignation,” said the veteran minister. “I’ve decided I’ve acted in the best interest of public safety.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, who again called for a full public inquiry, said “heads need to roll over this.”

“What happened during the G20 showed a chilling disregard for people’s civil liberties and for democracy itself. The premier passed an illegal and unconstitutional wartime law and, not only didn’t debate it, he bent over backwards to hide it from the public,” said Horwath.

In Ottawa, Federal Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is pleading ignorance over Ontario’s decision to enact the controversial law, claiming he didn’t find out about the regulation until after the summit, and distanced himself from the controversy.

“We certainly have had no involvement in the enacting of that regulation nor had we requested it,” Toews told reporters Wednesday.

He turned aside questions about how the minister in charge of public safety could be in the dark around a key security measure for the meeting of world leaders. That didn’t sit well with New Democrat MP Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway), who noted that the Integrated Security Unit coordinated the efforts by local and provincial police as well as the RCMP for months leading up to the June event.

“I think it’s inconceivable that the minister didn’t know what was going on. If he didn’t know what was going on, then I think it was irresponsible,” said Davies.

With files from Bruce Campion-Smith

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