involved in a shooting. In the spring of 1991 a secret deal was worked out where some police force investigations were allowed to take precedence over the SIU's business. This deal was widely criticised by the public and Pilkey led a drive to rescind the deal in January 1992. Cuts to the budget of the Ontario Provincial Police also proved to be a problem. The police union stoked fears that the cuts would endanger public safety. This was dismissed as fear-mongering by Pilkey. He said, "I do welcome their suggestions but I really do believe if someone is trying to paint a Draconian, desperate picture, it perhaps is a reach." Another initiative led to a doubling of the number of native constables on Ontario reserves. The agreement was made between the Indian Commissioner of Ontario, Bud Wildman, the provincial minister responsible for native affairs, Doug Lewis, the federal Solicitor General and several native leaders. In 1992, two high-profile police shootings of black men in Toronto increased pressure on the government to react. On September 9, 1992, Pilkey announced changes to the Police Act that would be effective January 1, 1993. He said that the use of pepper spray would be allowed by police but that choke holds would be banned. In addition police officers would not be allowed to draw their guns unless threatened by loss of life or serious bodily harm. Also police officers would not be allowed to carry firearms unless they had passed an annual training course in firearms. The most contentious change was that officers would now be required to fill out a report every time they drew their weapons in public. This led to widespread protests amongst Ontario police forces. Beginning in Toronto, Metro officers started a protest by refusing to issue tickets parking or for minor traffic violations. They also began wearing baseball caps instead of regulation police-issued hats. This protest spread to other police forces across the province until by November 1993, 90% of police forces were involved. On October 28, 1993, 5,000 police officers gathered on the lawn of Queen's Park to protest the changes. This was one of the first legal partisan actions by Ontario police. The protest ended when Pilkey agreed to upgrade the outdated .38 calibre firearms, hire more OPP police officers and negotiate with police union leaders regarding the reporting requirements. Minister without portfolio On February 3, 1993,