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Kananaskis
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| G-8
protesters to set up camp
Banff Crag & Canyon 20JAN2002 Protesters are looking for a site to set up a peaceful protest camp for the summer’s G-8 Summit in Kananaskis. A few sites are being considered for the tent city, but organizers are looking at a site near the junction of the TransCanada Highway and Highway 40, about 25 km north of the June 26-28 summit location, said activist Alan Keane. The camp will be a place where up to 20,000 protesters can meet and register their descent without harming the environment, he said. The camp, to be called Solidarity Village, will include about 15 tents with different uses: an emergency kitchen, first aid, a protest art tent, a women’s tent and a music tent. "People can go there to learn some skills," Keane said. "The location we have now is good, but it's not ideal," said Keane, a founder of Co-Motion Collective, a B.C.-based organization that teaches protesters how to deal with riot police and how to set up blockades. Some groups will be teaching non-violent forms of demonstration. Organizers have asked governments for access to campgrounds to accommodate demonstrators. Keane and other organizers have asked the G-8 Summit manager for recommendations on sites. "None of us want to disturb a pristine area," Keane said. Keane hopes the camp will be respected by police and be a fun, safe place for people to be and to register their dissent. Keane is not aware of large demonstrations for the Environment Ministers meeting in Banff in April. "People are focusing on the major meeting," Keane said. "We have full-time jobs, we can’t drop everything for every meeting." The camp will set up on the summer solstice on June 21 and run for eight days. Police responsible for summit security think the camp is a great idea. "If it helps the activists get a place where they can actually get their Charter of Rights guaranteed, in other words, to get their meetings done and their voice heard and they are happy with that, then we are happy as well," said RCMP Cpl. Patrick Webb. Activists plan to spend the week training on non-violent action. |
Massive
tent city planned in K-Country for activists attending G-8 summit
Calgary (CP) - G-8 summit activists plan to erect a huge tent city for 20,000 people protesting the June meeting of world leaders in Kananaskis. Organizers of the proposed eight-day camp west of Calgary say they hope to create a festival-like atmosphere with several large tents for first aid, information, security and food, as well as a main stage for music and theatre. They say they are looking at sites near the junction of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 40, about 25 kilometres north of the June 26-27 summit in Kananaskis Country. "It's best to have 10,000 to 20,000 people in an area where we can network together, plan together, have workshops and teach-ins and confront the G-8 in a big way," said activist Alan Keane. "It's all about solidarity-building, teaching and skill-sharing," said Keane. There are also plans for special tents for culture, information, media and a radio station. Buses will shuttle activists to and from Calgary, a 40-minute drive away. Police responsible for summit security think the camp is a great idea. "If it helps the activists get a place where they can actually get their Charter of Rights guaranteed, in other words, to get their meetings done and their voice heard and they are happy with that, then we are happy as well," said RCMP Cpl. Patrick Webb. But police also said the plan is still very tentative as far as they're concerned. "This is just an idea the protesters have," Webb said. "We haven't seen any proposals in writing about where it will be or what they will be doing there." Federal government summit organizers also said they have not received a written proposal for the tent city. "We won't be discussing the details of proposals that are received," G-8 spokesman Mike O'Shaughnessy said from Ottawa. Calgary's G-8 office director Bev Longstaff said she is also unaware of the plan. David Robbins, a trade campaigner for the Council of Canadians, said it will be an important gathering. "I think the vision of the tent city, a democratic vibrant space, is a great idea," Robbins said from Ottawa. Several unions and non-governmental organizations are also involved in the planning, which began last November. "We're just in the process of figuring out all the details," said Les Steel of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "I look at it like a folk festival with thousands of people." "The location we have now is good, but it's not ideal," said Keane, a founder of Co-Motion Collective, a British-Columbia-based organization that teaches protesters how to deal with riot police and how to set up blockades. The activists said they have approached G-8 summit organizers for money and permission to use a provincial campground outside the area where the summit is being held. "Sure, it's a radical idea -- them supplying space for protesters," Keane said. "If we can all create a space that's fun and safe for all of us, then I think it is in the best interest for all of us." The plan is to open the camp on the summer solstice, June 21, and spend the week training on non-violent action. If people want to hold a sit-in protest on the highway leading to the G-8 location, organizers say they will show them how to do it and provide legal advice. There will also be discussions about the environment and aboriginal culture and debates about the role of G-8 countries in the world. On the final day, June 28, campers will clean up the site and hold debriefing sessions. RCMP have said peaceful protests are acceptable, but they will arrest anyone doing anything illegal. Organizers said they have had hundreds of inquiries and offers of assistance from Canadians and Americans. "People are wondering how to plug in," Keane said. "They are offering wilderness first aid, workshops and to set up a waste-water treatment system." Musicians have also volunteered their talents, he said. Organizers are also planning for wet weather as the area
is often drenched by rainstorms in June.
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| Tue, 5 Feb 2002
The House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) will be examing the issue of the G-8 Summit in `Kananaskis over the coming weeks and months. The Committee, which is composed of members from all federal parties represented in the House of Commons, will be examining the agenda for the Summit, and Canada's involvement and positions at the Summit. The Committee will be hearing from a wide range of experts during its examination of the issue, and will also be travelling across Canada to hear the views of experts in different regions. Ultimately, the Committee will produce and table a report of its findings in the House of Commons, making recommendations to the Government on the topic of the G-8 Summit. The Committee will be travelling in two groups to Eastern Canada to
hold hearings between February 25 and 28:
The Committee will be travelling in two groups to Western Canada to
hold hearings between April 8 and 11:
The Committee offers a unique opportunity for those opposed to the G-8 Summit and its agenda and policies to have their views heard by concerned Parliamentarians. It is important that the Committee hear the views of those opposed to the G-8 Summit and the policies it espouses, rather than just those who support corporate globalization. The SCFAIT website can be found at: http://www.parl.gc.ca (Click on Committee Business, then on the left in green, click on Committee list, find the Foreign Affairs and International Trade link, and click on it ... http://www.parl.gc.ca/InfoCom/CommitteeMain.asp?Language=E&CommitteeID=143&Joint=0) Dan Fredrick
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please be in touch! WillowBear aka hfx_ben