In a Toronto Star article, Professor and Class Action Clinic Director Jasminka Kalajdzic commented on G20 protestors' "kettling" class action against the Toronto Police Service. According to the settlement agreement, class members will get between $5000-24,700 less 22.5% for fees/levies, if approved by a judge this fall.
"If the agreement is made in good faith, it should greatly reduce [the practice of kettling] and ensure that the right to peaceful protest is honoured by the Toronto Police Service,” says Professor Kalajdzic.
As of 2014, Professor Kalajdzic’s research found that less than 10 percent of class actions in Ontario involved human rights or civil liberties issues. This settlement “shows that class actions can be very effective tools to hold government agencies accountable for Charter violations,” she adds.
According to the article, the settlement also includes the requirement that Toronto police make a public acknowledgment of the mass arrests and the conditions in which protesters were detained, as well as make a commitment to changing how protests are policed in the future.