Leftist at large

A protest
deflated

by RENÉ BIBERSTEIN

In Calgary for the G8 Summit and protest, the former editor of Concordia's student paper the Link files the last in a series of dispatches.

"What if they had a war and nobody came?" goes the old '60s slogan. Well, what if they had a revolution and it was poorly attended? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed by the low turnout at the Calgary anti-G8 protest—about 1,000 people showed up on June 26. I'd also be lying if I said I was happy with the response by Calgary's media and public. But then again, the anti-globalization movement is still young here in cowboy country.

An anti-Gap protest, organized by a group from California, took place on Tuesday. The clothing store uses sweatshop labour and its owners are also involved in clear-cutting forests on the U.S. West Coast. In front of thousands of ogling business people and shoppers, several hundred activists gathered to hear speeches, chant and sing. About 20 of them stripped naked to show anti-Gap slogans written on their skin. ("Were the girls naked too?" asks a bug-eyed teenage boy I talk to later that day).

That evening, people gathered for a street party dubbed "Showdown at the Hoedown." G8 delegates were celebrating in the nearby Stampede grounds, soaking up supposed Alberta culture and watching a mini rodeo put on by the city. Playing an impromptu concert to a restless crowd of several hundred, a local garage band was clearly having the time of their lives. But most of the protesters weren't—the delegates were too far away to see, the event seemed disorganized, and it became clear that no showdown was actually going to happen.

The next day was the big snake march. The unions, who had previously been refusing to participate, suddenly announced that they would be joining. They quickly took over. Gord Christie, a local labour leader who was described to me by a Calgary activist as having "all the charisma of a baked potato," grabbed a megaphone and started leading the group. While labour added numbers and clout to the march, a lot of activists later complained bitterly about their presence. The unions chose to negotiate with police blocking some streets, they hung their flags over our banners and in one case ushered the marchers back to let cars pass (even though the stated purpose of the march was to block traffic).

Police acted with surprising restraint as the march moved through downtown Calgary. As it turns out, despite months of fear and preparation by activists, not a single canister of tear gas was fired. Although I wish things would have been less timid, I was happy to see that not a single person walked away hurt.

After a while, union members peeled off of the march to picnic in the park and listen to Bruce Cockburn sing. Several hundred activists kept going, many dressing the part of the infamous Black Bloc. They blocked traffic for a while, playing soccer in the intersections.

"What are you protesting about today?" complained a woman who'd come down from her office to watch. "We want to abolish government," responded a protester. "If we didn't have government, you wouldn't have these roads to protest on," the woman snapped back. But I wonder, was it government who built and paid for the roads, or was it people?

When the crowd arrived at a McDonald's guarded by the police, it looked like things might get going. We link arms, but before anything can happen, other activists begin screaming, "Don't give the media what they're looking for!" and "Don't use violence!" This despite clear announcements beforehand that the march would accept a diversity of tactics. I don't know what would have happened, but frustrated Black Blockers and squeegee kids, sensing a lack of support from the crowd behind them, gave up and headed away. The march quickly fell apart, not even making it to the heavily barricaded convention centre where delegates were staying.

What happened? Did the protest really challenge anything? In meetings afterwards, people reacted differently to the protest. Most who were coming out for the first time saw it as a big success. Others who had been amongst the 40,000 on the streets of Quebec City last year protesting the Summit of the Americas were disappointed. While the statement made by Quebec City's protests will likely be remembered for a long time, it seems likely that, outside of Calgary and Ottawa, the anti-G8 protests will soon be forgotten.

The cruelest irony of the protest came from the local media. Moderate activists had urged others from the beginning to do everything possible to get positive coverage and avoid confrontation. But newspaper articles condemned the protest as "clownish," "pint-sized" and "ineffective." Other columnists patronizingly called it "a throwback to the '60s," a modern "love-in" and "a new level of maturity" for activists. The general view seemed to be relief that voices of criticism had been softened, and praise was given to our "democratic" system and our leaders, who had allowed such a show of dissent to occur.

As one black-clad woman in the crowd shouted, "We're not here to mildly inconvenience Calgary, we're here to shut it down!" Let's hope that the protest at least did some good for Calgary activism and that it won't inconvenience the anti-globalization movement.:

Contact: biberstein@wildmail.com