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Leftist at large Protest
In Calgary for the G8 Summit protest, the former editor of Concordia’s student paper the Link takes a look at the state of the country. The sixth in a series of dispatches ... Last week, Kananaskis looked pretty quiet. I drove out there with some friends to do some hiking in the stunning eastern Rockies and to check out the scene. Even Kananaskis Village, the mountain resort where G8 leaders are meeting, was unguarded and still swarming with tourists. But when we accidentally drove down the wrong road, we ended up in an area where we were obviously not supposed to be. A roadblock, cautious-looking soldiers, missile launchers, trucks and other military hardware barred our way. Since then, the real military buildup has occurred. Now it is nearly impossible to get anywhere near Kananaskis Village. Meanwhile, in Calgary, the week of protest has begun. Soo Koelbli, who’s also come up from Montreal, and I do a bunch of interviews for TV and radio (“There go the media darlings,” a union leader jokes as he sees us go by). One of the interviewers is Judy Aldous, a former resident of Montreal West, now living in Calgary and working for CBC radio. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll just make people angry?” she repeatedly asks about the protest. We tell her that street marches may inconvenience a few commuters, but G8 policies have done a lot more harm. Sometimes causing a little inconvenience is the only way to get people to pay attention. Plus, streets and parks are public space—they belong to everyone, including activists. On another occasion, while preparing to be interviewed by the local Global news crew, I ask them what they think of their corporate masters. The Asper family, who own a near-media-monopoly over many parts of Canada (including our beloved Gazoo), have been accused of attacking the freedom of the press. The cameraman says, “We can’t answer that right now.” I tell him that sounds more like something coming from a PR guy than a journalist. He doesn’t disagree. Sunday’s family march goes well. It’s a safe event that was planned long in advance, and sees over 2,500 people take to the streets of Calgary. It includes unions, church groups, Raging Grannies and families with kids—many of the folks unwilling or unable to come out to the more confrontational events. They march toward Olympic Plaza in colourful costumes with banners, signs and other decorations. Appropriate for World Cup time, some come dressed as referees, pretending to hand yellow and red cards to G8 leaders. The family march wins praise from Calgary’s corporate press for its peacefulness. Papers like the Calgary Herald have followed the lead of police, choosing to categorize protesters as “good” and “bad” based on their tactics. Wednesday morning’s Take Back the Streets march, organized without a permit and aiming to disrupt the city’s economy using a “diversity of tactics,” is a prime example of what is “bad.” As I write this on Tuesday, the march is back on track, having survived a derailment attempt by moderate activists. Soo and I will both be participating in it. On Monday,
we run into some street kids who have just arrived in town to protest.
They tell us they’ve come in a group of 100 from all corners of
the country. One of the older guys amongst them says he was arrested
two years ago in Montreal for carrying a steel baseball bat to a protest.
He adds that he’s heard that some people may be hijacking a Greyhound
bus to get to the protest. Another tells me a story about meeting a
cop with a secret anarchy tattoo on his arm, heading to Calgary to join
the protest. I don’t know if these stories are true. By the time
this article appears in the Mirror, most of the protests will be over.
But as I write, it seems like just about anything is possible. : Contact: biberstein@wildmail.com |
