OTTAWA (CP) - Activists warned that violence is entirely possible as thousands of protesters descend on Ottawa to demonstrate against meetings this week of the world's most powerful leaders.
If demonstrators marching against the G-8 summit are provoked by police, they have the right to defend themselves however they can, said Amanda Dorter, an organizer with Take the Capital, an activist umbrella group. "If somebody is protecting themselves against police, I'm not going to condemn them," she said Tuesday at a news conference in a downtown park.
Dorter also believes property damage is an excusable byproduct of the demonstrations, which are planned for Wednesday and Thursday to coincide with the meetings of the Group of Eight leaders in Kananaskis, Alta.
"Spraying painting (property) isn't a big deal," she said.
Both the RCMP and Ottawa city police carefully watched Tuesday's news conference by Take the Capital.
Police are planning a major counter-offensive against the demonstrators, who are expected to number in the thousands.
Take the Capital, which says it represents a few dozen groups, says it has already billeted more than 1,000 out-of-town demonstrators.
It claimed victory Tuesday when the Export Development Corporation - a key target for these protests - announced it plans to close its downtown Ottawa tower during the demonstrations.
Protest organizers say it shows they're being taken seriously.
The development agency, an arm of the federal government, finances Canadian business deals abroad, many in the Third World. Its staff will work from home on Wednesday and Thursday, said the agency.
Protesters claim that EDC exploits developing markets, making it "one of the prime symbols of the G-8's extreme violence," against weaker countries, said Dorter, of Guelph, Ont.
Take the Capital organizers said they're not urging violence or vandalism, but they won't stop it either.
"We are also asking people to be aware of the police - the very defenders and enforcers of state violence, war and colonialism - and the potential for provocation from them," said organizer Brenda Inouye of Ottawa.
As authorities prepare for possible violent demonstrators, mailboxes are being removed in downtown Ottawa, street lamps with glass shades have been removed from Parliament Hill and the Centennial Flame has been covered and barricaded.
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