Raymond Millette was standing there on the median on René Lévesque Blvd. in his dark business suit and his tie done up all the way under a hammering afternoon sun.
Around his neck he had strung a sign that asked when the World Trade Organization would bear fruit and, since he was about to be surrounded by about 500 anti-WTO protesters marching straight at him, it seemed that he was in the right place to be at the right time.
Things looked even better when Millette found himself surrounded by half a dozen reporters wanting to hear what he had to say, since the marchers' favourite chant vividly detailed how they felt about the cops and wouldn't make for good, G-rated tape for the suppertime broadcasts.
But no more than half a syllable had left Millette's gullet when a passing protester ducked in to the scrum to swear loudly at him, then keep marching.
Part of the problem may have been that many of those who attended yesterday's incredible shrinking march are out-of-town protesters who can't read or speak French, saw only a guy in suit wearing a sign and figured him for the opposition, which, in the normal course of things and in the apparent view of the marchers, is anyone who wears a suit.
But whatever the reason, Day 2 of the WTO's meetings in Montreal - at least that part of it that occurred on the streets of the city - simply had that kind of zigzagging, out-of-sync feel in the wake of more than 230 arrests that occurred a day earlier and after protesters smashed up stores on Ste. Catherine St.
The lack of extra bodies and the accompanying plywood seem to have contributed to a marcher turnout yesterday morning at Phillips Square that looked like a little under 1,000 and kept dwindling as the day wore on.
Matters weren't helped by the fact that a day after Montreal police essentially shadowed vandals who smashed the windows of three stores and an army recruitment office on Ste. Catherine St., the presence of blue uniforms in the downtown core - along with a score of suddenly visible private security guards outside shops and stores - also had a deadening effect on the course of the morning march, which meandered through the city centre for about an hour before breaking up by the Place des Arts métro station.
The timing was also a problem. While Monday's march collided with the morning rush hour, yesterday's protests occurred in the course of the working day, which meant that apart from the accompanying press, the only real audience the marchers had were tourists, smokers unable to light up indoors because of clean air rules and, inevitably, undercover police.
A second try at a march in the afternoon drew a smaller crowd, and while it left the Norman Bethune monument in high spirits, cheering like heroes as it passed the boarded-up windows of the Gap store and Burger King restaurant attacked the day before, by the time it reached the "dispersal point" at the Berri-UQÀM métro, there were no more than 300 marchers left, some of them milling about as if there should have been more to it all as march organizers reminded them about today's Carnival Against Capitalism.
Finally, a group of about 100 decided to set off on its own and, pretty well matched one for one by as many uniformed and riot squad police bringing up the rear, wandered west to wind up in front of the Sheraton Centre - the site of the WTO meetings.
While some sat down in front of the barricades guarded by Sûreté du Québec riot police, others planted themselves on the pavement at the intersection of Peel St. and René Lévesque Blvd., still chanting, but far more softly.
Organizers put a positive spin on the turnout, but not everyone shared their enthusiasm. "This isn't organized," muttered one disgruntled protester as he walked into the subway after the morning's march, "It's just young people. For something like this, you've got to have everyone - unions, social groups.
"It's good that it's young people. But it's not enough."
jmennie@thgazette.canwest.com
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