A photo taken from Reuters video and released by the SIU shows Canute Fernandes, in red shirt, on ground with two potential witnesses standing to the right.Reuters
A private-security company faces multiple charges for breaking provincial licensing laws in connection with its contract to provide security services for the G8 and G20 summits last summer.
Contemporary Security Canada, a Vancouver-based company that also provided security for the Olympic Games last year, won a $21-million contract for security services with the RCMP before the firm was licensed to work in Ontario.
The company began in May to hire the 1,500 workers needed to screen pedestrians throughout the summits in Huntsville, Ont., and Toronto.
CSC was finally granted a licence just two weeks before the summits in June, after the provincial ministry scrambled to get the company accredited.
The Ontario Provincial Police on Friday laid several charges against the company under the Private Security and Investigation Services Act, including three counts of offering to provide security services while not licensed.
Police have also charged 12 CSC employees - including president Stephen Vincent Mirabile - with related offences, the OPP said.
A court date has been set for April 29.
CSC spokeswoman Lecia Stewart said the company was "surprised and disappointed" by the charges.
"At no time did CSC provide security without the proper licencing," Ms. Stewart said. "We haven't been provided any information from the OPP, so we'll have to wait and see what happens next."
The company is "proud" of the security service it provided for the summits, she said.
The OPP investigation did not tackle how the RCMP awarded a multimillion-dollar contract to a company unlicensed to work in Ontario, or why the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services expedited the process to get CSC accredited.
Awarding a licence typically takes four to six months and ministry staff are also required to run background checks on the company and the security guards it has hired. In CSC's case, it received its licence within two weeks.
Ministry officials would not comment Friday but last June, Laura Blondeau, the spokeswoman for then minister Rick Bartolucci, said her "understanding is that the RCMP has a long-standing relationship with this company. So they secured them and we found out about it after the fact. It's an inconvenience."
The RCMP declined to comment on the ongoing investigation, but spokesman Sergeant Greg Cox said it was the responsibility of the security firm to ensure it had the proper Ontario licencing at the time of the summit.
The charges are being applauded by Canadian firms, who were furious that an unaccredited company was awarded the contract.
"This was actually outrageous and I'm gratified that at least charges have been laid," said Ross McLeod, president of the Association of Professional Security Agencies. "It's a small step in the right direction and hopefully, now there will be some investigation into why this contract was awarded to an unqualified company and then the ministry process rushed. We've finally got some traction on this issue."
Meanwhile, Ontario's police watchdog concluded on Friday that Toronto police officers were probably not involved when a man was injured while being arrested during G20 protests last June.
The Special Investigations Unit say Canute Fernandes, 42, fell to the ground after being overrun by a crowd as police moved in on protesters last June. His was one of the four investigations of police brutality reopened by the SIU.
The initial investigation in November could not determine whether the man's injuries were caused by police or protesters. But when new video evidence came to light, the SIU reopened the case in March and made an appeal for witnesses.
While the SIU interviewed five more police officers last month, no new witnesses have come forward in Mr. Fernandes' case, which means the SIU could not bring forward any criminal charges.
"With respect to the two digital video recordings, neither shows the complainant being initially apprehended; they depict Mr. Fernandes already on the ground and being dragged behind a police line," director Ian Scott said in a statement. "On the basis of the original investigation, new video footage, and the new police witness interviews, I am of the view that the police were probably not responsible for Mr. Fernandes' injuries," he said.
Of the six cases into police brutality, four were reopened by the SIU.