Anti-G-8 summit activists will march through the streets of downtown Calgary next weekend, with the blessing of city officials and the police.
Mayor Dave Bronconnier signed off Friday on a special-event permit that will allow activists to parade from Eau Claire Market through downtown streets to Olympic Plaza on June 23, three days prior to the gathering of world leaders in Kananaskis.
While anti-G-8 activists applauded the approval, they rejected the suggestion by Bronconnier that the parade permit addresses the request for a so-called Solidarity Village, where activists had wanted to gather for a four-day festival.
"What the folks at Solidarity Village were trying to do was a totally different event," said Gordon Christie of the Calgary and District Labour Council, which made the permit application in February.
"Solidarity Village was a totally different concept and there has been nothing but roadblocks (on that). If the mayor or anybody else thinks that by approving the family march they have satisfied all the people coming to Calgary, that is not fair comment."
Bronconnier said the parade was approved after all the necessary information on the event was submitted to the city -- something the mayor has previously maintained was not done in applications for use of public space such as Shaw Millennium Park.
"The key here is that the same organizers who were involved in the tent village -- either directly or indirectly with this application -- have met all requirements that we asked of each group to meet. It works for Calgary Police Service from the security aspect and logistically from our transportation department," he said.
"It provides what we have been saying all along. We are quite prepared to accommodate groups that meet the basic requirements that we ask every citizen to fulfil."
Bronconnier has previously said the city turned down requests for the use of public park space because activists failed to meet even the most basic information, such as how many people would participate in Solidarity Village.
He and other city officials have said the request was also rejected because camping is prohibited in public parks.
A copy of the application for the use of Shaw Millennium Park, however, shows the paperwork was fully completed, and included the number of participants expected at Solidarity Village. And it makes no reference or request for the park's use as a campsite.
"The applications were submitted properly, all the required information was provided and we did everything we could to work with the city . . . and approving one march three days before the big event is only right," said Sarah Kerr, a Solidarity Village organizer. "(But) it doesn't address the other applications.
"It's frustrating. It's clear the mayor doesn't want to provide the opportunity for democratic conversation and he's going to prevent it any way he can. As Calgarians, we should be outraged."
Meanwhile, about 80 people, including representatives from more than 15 activist groups, met at the University of Calgary Friday night to discuss the progress of plans for G-8 activists' events.
"It's a chance for people to find out what's really happening instead of what they hear is happening," said Lauri Vandeschoot, the moderator of the event and a volunteer with the G-8 legal collective.
Participants discussed their objections to the G-8 agenda and noted ways in which activists will be supported. Limited information was given on the potentially troubled Solidarity Village.
"We've taken the component of Solidarity Village and brought it into Calgary. We've secured a number of subtle sites," said Calgary activist Steve McDonald, adding that a calendar of events would be released next week.
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