A deluge of anti-globalization protesters began rolling into Ottawa last night as the leaders of the world's most powerful nations arrived in Calgary for the Group of Eight summit.
Buses filled with protesters began arriving at Carleton University last night and more protesters were reported camping out near Dow's Lake.
Earlier in the day, travellers on the busy section of Highway 401 between Belleville and Gananoque had a slower trip after 12 vehicles carrying G8 protesters staged a caravan blockade, slowing at times to a 25-kilometre-an-hour crawl and blocking both the eastbound and westbound lanes.
On Parliament Hill, crews prepared for the protests by dismantling a giant oval tent that is used as a visitor information centre for tourists. Crews had earlier snuffed out and sealed the Centennial Flame in a protective cover of concrete and steel, and took down wrought-iron light standards that decorate the Hill.
Public tours have been shut down for three days, the doors into the Parliament Buildings will be closely guarded. The changing-the-guard ceremony, normally a daily spectacle for tourists, was cancelled for the entire week.
Staff Sgt. Dennis St. Louis of the Ottawa police central division said last night that police were busy making final preparations in the "lull before the storm."
Last night, at the final police outreach meeting before the "Take the Capital!" march today, about 30 residents showed up to question police.
Business owners said they were concerned about rioting while downtown residents said they were frustrated by the lack of a firm route for today's "snake march."
But police officials, including some from the Ottawa police, the RCMP and OPP, assured residents they were prepared for violence, but would not begin the day with an aggressive police presence.
Rector Garth Bulmer, of the downtown St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church came to the meeting to prepare his parish for a possible repeat of the G20 protests. During those protests, he said, riot police and protesters clashed just outside the church, at Elgin and Somerset Streets. "We were right in the middle of it," said Mr. Bulmer.
Last night, police said officers will be ready and waiting in buses, but will not be out in force unless violence breaks out. Uniformed officers will line the route. "At the end of the day, our plan is for a peaceful march," said Insp. Rick Murphy.
As many as 3,000 people protested at the G20 conference in Ottawa last fall. Police said they expect at least that many in the city this weekend, but would not give a crowd estimate.
"We have no real handle on the numbers. It's hard to predict," said Insp. Murphy.
Take the Capital organizers were not present at the meeting. They announced before the third of four such meetings they would refuse to tell police of their plans, for fear of surveillance. Questioned by reporters earlier in the day, protesters yesterday refused to condemn damage to "corporate" property.
Organizer Brenda Inouye promised "decentralized, autonomous actions," against political and economic headquarters. "Our opposition to the G8 will be as varied and as vast as the institutions that... implement the global capitalist agenda in Ottawa every day," she said.
Corporations are responsible for the death and destruction of thousands around the world, insisted Amanda Dorter, an organizer of umbrella protest group Take the Capital who said spray-painting buildings is not a big deal in relation to the damage inflicted by large multi-national companies.
"We think of (spray painting) as the beautification of space ... as public art," said Ms. Dorter. "Violence takes on many forms."
She said organizers will not attempt to control the behaviour of certain violence-prone protesters. People should be free to display frustration with capitalism in their own way, she said.
If protesters are provoked by police they have a right to defend themselves, she says.
When asked why the protesters refused to converge at LeBreton Flats, as Mayor Bob Chiarelli had suggested, Ms. Dorter said protesters are, "reclaiming public space and are taking the park away from the police."
But there were also signs that the protests may fizzle. The rolling blockade ended after police laid charges on three of the drivers for driving too slow.
Only 1,000 protesters are expected for the Take the Capital demonstrations, happening today and tomorrow throughout the city, far less than originally predicted.
The "snake march" will start at 1:00 p.m. from Dundonald Park, located at Somerset Street and Lyon. Organizers say the aim is to head downtown to the corridors of power.
Originally, two marches were planned. Organizers said one large march was decided on rather than several smaller marches because, "there is strength in numbers."
Some groups, including church and labour organizations and Global Democracy Ottawa, have refused to participate in the demonstrations because Take the Capital organizers refuse to condemn the use of violence.
James Pratt, of the Canadian Federation of Students, says violence can be necessary in self-defence, but Take the Capital has refused to acknowledge an important aspect of the activist movement. "They're so caught up in the dogma of diverse tactics, that they're ignoring the gains that can be made through the system," he said.
Mr. Pratt said that Take the Capital's denouncement of lobby groups has alienated groups such as the Canadian Legal Council and Canadian Auto Workers, both of whom have gathered in Calgary, near the Kananaskis resort where the G8 leaders are meeting.
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