A May 28 posting on a G-8 activist Web site stated: "We will be in Calgary as part of the week of action, and the events that we have been planning will take place whether or not public space is approved."
If the intention of city decision-makers was to be so unco-operative it would force protesters to stay home, they have failed. The denial must stop.
The city has refused all the requests of protest organizers to establish a Solidarity Village in Calgary, and Mayor David Bronconnier even went so far as to chastise organizers for not coming around months ago to work out the details.
Let's get real. G-8 protest groups are not the Calgary Folk Festival. It's remarkable they are even trying to go through official channels for approvals. Besides, Calgary was the organizers' last choice to stage their political protest. It became the only option when sites closer to Kananaskis fell through in May.
City officials should stop pulling out the red tape and start looking for solutions.
The protesters want a public site where people can gather and hear speakers, attend workshops and be entertained by performers. They want the city's help in finding private land for campsites. In Genoa, protesters stayed in soccer stadiums. In Quebec City, the universities.
The city says it's against the law to sleep in the parks. But by refusing to help the protesters find an alternative, they are forcing them into a position where they will break the law. Why would the city create this extra policing problem? Police officers need to be ready to stop mob violence and rioting, not ticketing teens for bylaw infractions.
Some protest groups believe there are "co-ordinated efforts by various levels of the state" to frustrate their plans and undermine their rights. It's sure beginning to look like it.
The mayor should be thinking about what Calgarians will say when the protesters are gone. If the parks are filthy because protesters had no access to sanitary facilities or the city is trashed in violent confrontations, will the mayor be able to say he did everything he could to prevent it? At this point, no.
It's not city regulations that stand in the way, it's a lack of political will. The message city officials are sending to the world is political protests aren't permitted in Calgary. They should be ashamed of themselves.
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