Ottawa - Police say about 4,000 protesters made their way peacefully through downtown Ottawa Thursday afternoon.
It was the second day of protest in Ottawa against the G8 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.
The demonstrators started their protest at Majors Hill Park, marched down past the Department of National Defence, headed west on Albert Street, and ended up on Parliament Hill.
Ottawa police laid four charges Thursday against the Montreal man they arrested during Wednesday's protests. Bertrand Loiselle, 39, is charged with three counts of assaulting a police officer and one of causing bodily harm. He's to appear in court Thursday.
Police say they also are looking for a second man in connection with a separate incident. That case involves breach of a court order.
One group of protesters remains in an empty house on Gilmour Street, which it occupied Wednesday afternoon.
One of the protesters said police told them they would be left alone as long as they "didn't destroy the house." The building has apparently been empty for seven years.
Activists say they are sending a message to city politicians that there needs to be more affordable housing in Ottawa.
The house is owned by Richard Davis, who stood by and watched Wednesday as protestors spray-painted the word "squat" on the building. "Their euphemism for rebeautification," Davis said, "an excuse for vandalism. I won't accept it at all. They've lost the message completely."
Davis wasn't getting any sympathy from the squatters. An Ottawa activist, Shannon Wilmott, said: "Landlords have been given increasing rights from the government, and to have a building sitting in Ottawa for seven years empty is — honestly I find it disgusting. There are people on the streets and shelters are full."
Wilmott said protestors don't want to damage the house. Instead, she says, they've started cleaning it up to show the city they're serious about turning it into affordable housing.
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