re "A report on police actions at the G20 summit deserves skepticism", Citizen Editorial, Monday, May 13, 2002

Your editorial notes: "The news reports on the panel's Web site are extremely limited and deal mostly with the work of the panel, rather than the events of last November."

As the Panel's amateur, volunteer, unpaid "webmaster", I'd like to remind you that it's YOUR job to provide the news.[part in italics removed by Citizen] The role of our web site is to collect and disseminate the views of the Panel and the citizens who made submissions to the Panel. Incidentally, you appear to have missed the 95 news article database and our link to an independent media site on our web site, which provide extensive coverage and numerous photos of the events of November 16-18.

Our web site also carries copies of the Ottawa Police policies for their public order and canine units and for crowd control - policies which they objectively did not adhere to in many incidents in November. We have been advised by the Ottawa Police Services Board that they do not have copies of these policies and standards available in French because they are internal working documents not normally requested by the public.

The public dissemination of police standards in a democratic society is an important part of accountability which we are pleased to provide, despite the absence of this public information on the Ottawa Police web site.

Sincerely,

Bob Thomson