February 27, 2002

The Citizens Panel on Policing and the Community
Box 722
410 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON K1Y 1Y8

Dear Panel members,

Further to your request to participate in your review of last November s G-20 conference, and specifically the conduct of the Police, please find below the text of a letter we wrote to Chief Vince Bevan following the conference:
I am writing on behalf of the ByWard Market Business Improvement Area, an organization that represents over 450 businesses in the area bounded by George Street, Sussex Drive, St. Patrick Street / Cathcart Street and Cumberland Street.

At its November 19 meeting, our board of management asked me to write a letter of commendation to your officers, particularly newly-appointed Inspector Pierre Bélanger and Staff Sergeant Bob Ralph, for their role in the G-20 conference held in Ottawa from November 16 to 18.

While many of our businesses were hard-hit economically because many residents stayed home that weekend, we received excellent treatment from the police. In fact, the ByWard Market BIA was kept informed of developments almost from the moment the Minister of Finance announced his decision to host the meeting at the Government Conference Centre.

We were invited to attend a police briefing on November 7 at the Westin Hotel. We took the information shared there and prepared a mailout to all our members and simultaneously worked with City Councillor Madeleine Meilleur to organize a special ByWard Market briefing on November 15. Over 100 people attended to hear Superintendent Roger Brown of the RCMP, Insp. Bélanger and SSgt. Ralph. At the meeting, special phone numbers set up for both businesses and residents were shared with the crowd.

During the conference, the BIA received a daily phone call from the police with an update on developments. Dedicated police officers from the Ottawa force, the RCMP, the OPP and, we believe, the Toronto police were highly visible on our streets. Our interactions with them showed them to be polite and helpful.

Because of this exemplary work, we are pleased to report that the ByWard Market did not suffer a single violent incident, nor was any property damage inflicted. We attribute that to the excellent work of the officers involved.

Thank you again for a remarkable job. Please pass on our congratulations to the officers involved.

The board of management of the BIA, at its February 25 meeting, stood by the comments made in this letter to Chief Bevan. Thank you for the opportunity to comment.

Sincerely,

Phil Waserman
Chair
ByWard Market BIA