Sitting placidly on her porch in Esquimalt, Alison Acker isn't the typical face of a protester. Taking in the light afternoon breeze, the 73-year-old talks calmly and thoughtfully about protesting the G-8 summit in Kananaskis, Alta.
"Governments need someone to chivvy them and poke at them and remind them the world isn't a marketplace," the retired journalist said.
Though perhaps not the common picture of a protester, she is in fact a Raging Granny, a group of seniors who, along with dozens of other Victorians, are in Calgary this week protesting the gathering of world leaders in the nearby mountain resort area.
A bus with local activists and students left Victoria on Friday for the 15-hour drive, in time for them to take part in Sunday's march through downtown Calgary.
About 2,000 protesters wove through the streets in the first of a series of week-long protests against the G-8 meeting. Sunday's event was billed by organizers as a family friendly march and protesters were urged to not use violence.
Calgary police, RCMP and officers borrowed from Waterloo, Ont., were out in force on horseback, motorcycle and foot patrols though there were no reports of arrests. Traffic was backed up throughout the 90 minute march.
It is that type of protest -- a peaceful, calm one -- that Victoria's activists say must happen to bring new attention to their anti-globalization message.
"The movement has to evolve," said Keith Preston, co-organizer of Victoria Mobilization for Global Justice, the group that arranged for a bus to carry about 60 people on the 15-hour drive.
Acker and three other Raging Grannies will be heading to Calgary this week on their own.
In Calgary, 110 kilometres east of the site where world leaders will meet Wednesday and Thursday, a week of workshops, information sessions and protest marches are planned.
Discussions and debates will be ongoing throughout the week, with hopes of drawing people off the street. In community centres, there's an emphasis on welcoming families with workshops on youth, sweatshops, unions and backgrounders on the topics being discussed by the leaders.
A memorial for Carlo Guiliani, a protester killed in last year's G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy, will also be held.
Films, lectures, music and entertainment -- all designed to motivate the activists and attract the public -- are also on tap.
It was as a passerby that Preston first got involved in protesting. His conversion to vocal dissenter started the day Gordon Campbell was sworn in as B.C.'s newest premier in May 2001 and protesters descended on the legislature.
"I walked around and looked at all the people there," he said, impressed by the diversity of the opponents including First Nations, labour unions and students.
What started out as provincial concerns soon grew to global ones. Preston links many of B.C.'s financial woes to the pressures of a growing international marketplace.
A year later, on a humid evening, Preston sits in a pizza shop in Fernwood. As a member of the group organizing the Calgary bus, the pressures of finalizing the last-minute details mean long hours and meetings.
"Being an activist is more of a full time job than my 8:30 to 5 job," said the 24-year-old, chewing on a slice of pizza after a mobilization meeting.
By day, Preston works as a manager at a financial institution in Victoria. He did not want to say which one since his night job as an ardent activist brings him occasional heat from his bosses.
The Chilliwack native studied business at the University of Victoria. He had planned to specialize in international business when he realized he didn't agree with what he was learning. After three years, he dropped out.
Calgary will be Preston's first anti-globalization protest.
Where Preston's new to the scene, Acker has been a voice against governments of all shapes and sizes for decades.
The London native moved to Canada in 1955. She retired to Esquimalt after working at the Vancouver Sun, the now-defunct Winnipeg Tribune and teaching at Ryerson University in Toronto for 19 years.
In fact, one of the reasons Acker moved to the Island was the Raging Grannies, which was formed in 1987 to protest visits by nuclear-armed ships to Victoria.
"(I) thought they were having so much fun," she said.
She was front and centre at the infamous Seattle protests in 1999. Like many activists, Acker points to Seattle as a turning point for them, a time when their message went mainstream on the evening news and in headlines, if only for the violence.
While the images of angry protesters squaring off against riot gear-clad police are now commonplace anytime world leaders gather, Victoria's activists say they are ready to spearhead the movement in another, calmer direction.
"We're getting the message out a lot more clearly through workshops (and) non-violence," said Preston.
Acker's antics, including the 150 songs in the Grannies' repertoire and a pink straw hat she'll wear to be spotted by her friends in a crowd, put a lighter spin on the protests. "I know my limits," she said.
The seniors usually provide a balance for the protests, one that can calm the angry, violent types.
"We're hoping to put a human face on things," Acker said. "Grannies can play a part."
But she's also aware of the risks of just being there -- risks she's willing to take.
Acker advises people to team up with a buddy system and make sure friends keep track of each other if someone gets arrested or injured.
Also, she said a bandana soaked in lemon juice can help cut the sting of tear gas and pepper spray.
Protesters said that security plans at the G-8 summit have deterred many from heading to Calgary. As a result, protests are planned in cities and towns across the country this week, though organizers weren't firm on any specific plans for Victoria.
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