Police and many G-8 protest organizers hope to avert nasty clashes during the summit by discussing how to avoid potential conflicts.
The University of Calgary office for G-8 activities and the Students' Union hosted a forum yesterday to give students and security officials the opportunity to meet and talk.
"The university sees the G-8 as an extraordinary opportunity to promote a critical discussion on campus of major issues affecting Canada and the world," said Bill Warden, co-ordinator of the office for G-8 activities at the U of C.
"The discussion between police services and students forms part of the effort to promote a positive dialogue."
Calgary police Insp. John Middleton-Hope and Cochrane RCMP Sgt. Mike O'Rielly told the hundred or so people at the forum they want to work with protesters before the event to avoid violent clashes like those at the APEC conference in Vancouver in 1997.
"We want to have open discussions so protesters know police on a personal level," Middleton-Hope said. "Hopefully that will result in measured reactions on both sides."
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.