Police advance towards protesters at Queen's Park during G20 protests in Toronto on saturday june 26, 2010
As world leaders and their entourages began to leave Toronto Sunday evening, police slowly started to ease security around the secure perimeter, but said extra officers will remain in the city at least until Monday night.
The security fence that became a fact of life for the thousands who live and work around the site of the summit will remain in place a little longer, as it's expected to take workers some time to pull it all down.
"Our security plan runs from the 18th to the 28th, so [the plan]will remain in place until midnight Monday evening," said Sergeant Tim Burrows, a spokesman for the Integrated Security Unit that handled security preparations for the summits. "If [police are]required to stay longer, we'll make that decision then."
He said officers would remain on duty around the security perimeter, but if the situation was peaceful enough, they might start letting people into the secure perimeter early.
City Councillor Adam Vaughan, whose ward overlaps with the summit site, was optimistic that the perimeter would be relaxed late Sunday night once the last of the summit VIPs left.
"I think we'll see some of the anxiety leave as the G20 does," he said. "My understanding is that some of the barricades are coming down tonight."
He noted that, by Sunday afternoon, he was already able to pass into the zone via Queens Quay without being stopped by police.
As for the fences themselves, Mr. Vaughan pointed to the fact that it took three weeks to erect them.
"I hope it won't take that long to take them down. I think by the middle of the week we will start to see a return to normalcy, fence-wise," he said.
Janice Solomon, executive director of the Entertainment District Business Improvement Area, which sits just north of the summit site, said businesses would likely keep security precautions in place Monday as they assessed whether it was safe to return to business as usual.
"Now we have to wait out tonight and wait out tomorrow and see what happens," she said Sunday evening.
Businesses shuttered during the protests would likely try to re-open Monday.
Ms. Solomon said none of the businesses in her area were vandalized by protesters, but they lost enormous amounts of business.
On Saturday, the most violent day of protests, she said only a handful of restaurants and clubs remained open to serve the few patrons in the area.
Adrian Morrow