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CBC Toronto | Features | G20 | Flashdance: G20 style
G20 Summit Toronto

No more G20 pass accreditation



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If you need a pass to gain access to the inner G20 security zone and have yet to apply, it looks like you're going to be out of luck.

Toronto police Staff Supt. Jeff McGuire told a meeting of about 150 residents and business owners who gathered inside St. Andrews Presbyterian Church on King Street yesterday that the accreditation process is now over.

The names of some 35,000 people have been submitted, but the Integrated Security Unit is now not accepting any further requests, McGuire said.

The pass will expedite the screening of people through the security zones. People without a pass will not be allowed to enter the fenced-in inner security zone at all.

But many at the meeting said they have yet to receive their passes and bemoaned the lack of communication from the authorities.

One of those people is Kay Takashima, who lives at a 24-storey building on University Avenue inside the fenced zone.

She said management at her building told residents they would receive their passes "three weeks prior to G20. We are already [at] two weeks.

"We've also not been told can we walk about within the fenced area or do we stay shut up in our condo."

Greg Gibb, who lives in a condo building at Queen's Quay and York, said people who live in the outer security zone like him don't need the passes, but need to carry government-issued photo identification.

When asked how he thinks the summit will affect his personal life, he replied: "No idea. We don't expect there to be any riots. We hope not. But you have to be prepared for anything."

Area councillor Adam Vaughan, who hosted the meeting, said he was doing his best to communicate with his constituents, but it isn't an easy task.

"The reality is the operations are sort of being executed at lightning speed with little notice to catch everybody off guard to a degree for safety concerns which makes it difficult for our residents."