BY PATTI EDGAR

Ottawa Citizen, Monday February 11, 2002 p.D3

A bishop and a retired judge are among the panellists looking into the conduct of police and protesters after clashes last November during the G20 summit.

Later this month, a panel of Professionals will hold a series of public meetings on what happened when the world’s top finance ministers and heads of central banks met in Ottawa Nov. 16-18 for meetings of the G2o group of industrial and developing countries.

The event, which left rubber bullets scattered on downtown streets and saw business windows smashed, drew thousands of delegates, journalists and protesters to Ottawa.

This month, former mayor Marion Dewar will be joined on a panel by Ottawa’s Anglican Bishop Peter Coffin, former judge Ken Rinks, and conference organizer Jacqueline Pelletier.

They hope protesters, residents, business owners and police officers will either attend the meetings or file a statement from their Web site: http://members.rogers.com/citizenspanel.

I’m certainly not out to get the police," said Ms. Dewar. "I think it’s important to listen to each other’s stories and see how we can do things together so the voice of dissent can be heard safely."

Ottawa police Chief Vince Bevan has delegated deputy Chief Larry Hill to work with the panel, she said.

Backed by religious organizations and area protest groups, the panel will prepare a report of their findings and present it to Ottawa police by April.

Jamie Kneen, a spokesman for Global Democracy Canada, said his protest group is supporting the panel’s work because trust between protesters and police officers has almost completely broken down.

Last November, protesters complained that police overreacted and squelched their lawful right to demonstrate by confiscating signs and gas masks, and by using attack dogs to intimidate people. They also denounced 50 arrests.

However, Chief Bevan defended his officers, saying he was proud of their work during the summit.