The last day before the G7 leaders meet in Kananaskis, Alta., Activists and community groups met in the center of Calgary on Saturday afternoon for a “popular forum” that pointed to the priorities of the leaders of the G7.
They also discussed the plans for a demonstration and march near the City Council in Calgary on Sunday. The organizers said the objective was to unify fragmented activist groups before the protest.
“The G7, is happening for a few days, but will end and leave,” said Yasmeen Khan of the International League of the People League (ILP), which describes himself as an anti -imperialist organization.
“But problems will still be there. So how, in Calgary and Alberta, in particular, do we build a movement of the people?”
A series of protests and marches is expected throughout the day in the center of Calgary on Sunday, representing a variety of different groups and priorities, including labor, youth, indigenous and environmental activists.
There are three “designated demonstration zones” established by officials who run through the summit: one in Banff and two in CalgaryBut the police have said that people have the right to meet outside the areas.
The ILP expects several hundred people in the City Council protest, with buses that arrive from Edmonton.
They also have plans for a march in conjunction with other community groups and activists, which can go beyond official protest areas.
“We are saying that it is a peaceful march. [Our] Police links will argue with the police. If there is an opportunity, then we will make the march, “Khan said.
Even so, there is a concern about how any potential confrontation with the police will be handled, especially if the numbers swell outside the range of what the organizers expect.
The officials promise answer ‘measure, provided’
The officials have referred to the G7 summit as the “largest national security operation” that a country can assume, with advanced technological threats that contribute to the main security concerns.
An important police presence will be held during the Summit, including RCMP officers, Calgary Police Service and other agencies.
As demonstrations are developed in Calgary, security officials say they are adopting a “measured and proportionate” approach with emphasis on dialogue and de -escale.
“We are still committed to transparency and responsibility in all our actions,” said David Hall, Alberta RCMP Superintendent and event security director for the G7 Integrated Security Group, in a statement.
He said they will take “application measures only when necessary to maintain public order or respond to criminal activity.”
‘You feel some hunger games’
The authorities have said that the images of the demonstration areas will be broadcast live to the restricted area so that the leaders watch them. There is also a demonstration zone at Calgary airport, but it is not being broadcast live.
Police have said that designated demonstration zones are intended to guarantee security while providing visibility. But some Saturday participants saw them differently.
“I feel that the live transmission of a protest zone to people in a complex feels some hunger games. It is a bit dystopian,” said Isa Carlin, a member of Migrante Alberta, an organization that advocates for the rights of migrants.
Other activist groups are also expected to join Sunday’s demonstrations.
The Grannies Raging Group of Calgary has said that it will be in the protest zone in the City Council, as well as the activists who will join for indigenous water rights and water safety.
Moninder Singh, spokesman for the Sikh Federation in Canada, said there will also be a series of protests against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was invited to G7 by Prime Minister Mark Carney.
“There has been a discussion issue to maintain the protest until he is up, until Mr. Modi’s wheels are awake from the country,” said Singh.
An important environmental group, Greenpeace Canada, has said that it will not send a great contingent to Alberta this year.
On Saturday, the City Council was the location of a concentration of members of the Ukrainian community of Calgary. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attends G7.
The summit itself is carried out west of Calgary in the wild complex of Kananaskis, surrounded by multiple layers of security and inaccessible to the public.
