Two nurses were hurt during a melee between protesting nurses and police security as Doug Ford arrived at Monday's leaders' debate, the union that organized their demonstration said.

Meanwhile, an up-close witness of the incident said that, from what he saw, nobody involved acted inappropriately.

Supporters of each of the party leaders positioned themselves at the entrance to TVO broadcast studio. About 200 nurses were there too, organized by the SEIU Healthcare union.

So was Frank Gunn, a photographer for the Canadian Press whose photo accompanies this story.

Right before Ford’s campaign bus arrived, Gunn says he heard one of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers ask a protester if he was okay.

Seconds later, “three or four” other nurses attempted to sit on the sidewalk right where the exit to Ford’s bus would be when it arrived, Gunn said. The OPP officers assigned to the three major parties’ campaigns were there working together, he added.

“(They) started to pick up and remove the protesters very smoothly and had them out of the way within, maybe, 30 seconds,” Gunn said.

Ford’s bus parked seconds later.

One video posted on Twitter shows confusion and commotion between the protesters and police security. In it, one demonstrator is seen to have been taken off his feet, and lies on the ground. This was the same man whose wellbeing Gunn said an officer asked about right before the impromptu sit-in started.

In the video of the commotion, an officer next to the man is heard yelling, "What is going on?" while another protesting nurse attempts to get closer to her co-demonstrator, while police are seen attempting to control her.

Seconds later, Ford exited his bus. He was "hustled in" to the building in comparison to the other leaders, Gunn said.

Andrea Horwath, Steven Del Duca and Mike Schreiner took more time to greet and high-five reporters, Gunn said, whereas Ford was rushed in by security.

Gunn rushed from the scramble involving police and demonstrators to photograph Ford on his way into TVO's studio.

Toronto Police officers then set up a perimeter around the man who was on the ground, which was the last Gunn witnessed of the commotion outside, as he had to head inside to photograph the debate itself.

"I saw nothing from any of the parties involved that was even slightly out of the ordinary for this sort of campaign demonstration," Gunn said. "The protesters were definitely peaceful. In fact, they were shoulder-to-shoulder with Ford supporters, and the Del Duca supporters, and they would have fun chants at each other."

He added that the impromptu sit-in surprised him, "because normally I would feel something (like that) was going to happen."

"It happened lightning quick and the OPP detail responded equally quickly and with minimal appropriate force — basically lifting and moving people, because the premier was about to arrive and would have been walking through exactly that spot," Gunn said.

"I saw absolutely nothing that was out of line from any side."

SEIU Healthcare said in a statement that "the peaceful demonstration of nurses was met with force as police cleared a path for Doug Ford before he exited his campaign bus."

The union called it "unacceptable" that the two nurses central to the chaos — the man, who fell, and the woman, who was trying to help him — were "injured."

"We will not comment further until we explore all options with legal counsel," SEIU Healthcare said.

No one was arrested, and the Toronto Police Service hasn't received any complaints, its corporate communications manager Connie Osborne wrote in an emailed statement.

QP Briefing attempted to reach OPP spokespeople through several means on Wednesday but didn't end up receiving a response.

An OPP spokesperson quoted in a CTV News article described the events similarly to how Gunn did, and how the Twitter video cited in this story show them. The OPP said one person was hospitalized and later released.

“While the OPP respects the rights of everyone to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, disruptive behaviour can pose safety concerns," Ontario Provincial Police spokesperson Bill Dickson said in the CTV News article. "At any time, when an individual’s behaviour reaches a threshold where it becomes unsafe, police are required to intervene to restore public safety. Only the level of intervention necessary to maintain peace, order and security is used.”

Ford's campaign wouldn't comment on the incident, saying it doesn't comment on matters of security.

All sides blameless in pre-debate kerfuffle that left two protesting nurses hurt, eyewitness says

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