In Calgary, the closest city to Kananaskis, more than 5,000 marched through the streets on Sunday the 23rd as part of a Solidarity March which included union workers and anarchists.

On the night of Tuesday the 25th anti-capitalists and others oppossed to the G8 met in Calgary for the "Showdown at the Hoedown", a demonstration against the $300,000 dinner for G8 summit delegates. A Black Bloc briefly attempted to dismantle a security fence there, but no major confrontation occurred.

June 26th, 2002, was the main day of action against the G8. More than 2,000 demonstrators snake-marched through the streets of Calgary for 4 and a half hours, starting at 6am, blocking traffic and causing economic disruption. The march was called by the Calgary Anti-Capitalist Collective and hundreds of union workers joined in. After this march ended, 200-300 anti-capitalists, including a Black Bloc, broke off and marched to a McDonalds where an attempted blockade or occupation took place. Police on bicycles blocked and locked the doorways of the store, while those eating inside were trapped. Police raised their bicycles as the Black Bloc linked arms and pushed forward, and scuffled briefly with the Black Bloc. According to reports, the Black Bloc decided to leave after the police escorted those eating inside the McDonalds out the back door, considering their action a success. Many corporate stores in Calgary had boarded up their windows long in advance of the summit. Later in the day a caravan of vehicles tried to make their way from Calgary to Kananaskis, but were stopped by police.

In Ottawa about 3,000 people snake-marched through the streets, hurling paint-bombs at banks, spray-painting anti-capitalist slogans on walls, smashing the window of a police car and spray-painting another, trashing a Global TV van, and rallying in front of the American embassy, where an American flag and an effigy of George W. Bush were burned. Several large corporations boarded up their windows or closed down for the day. Snake marchers eventually stormed the grounds at the Parliament buildings and rallied there. Afterwards a march and squatting action took place. The house is still occupied and the squatters intend to hold onto it. Canada Day celebrations were moved from Ottawa to Charlettown since police feared that anti-G8 demonstrators would trash anything with a Canadian flag on it.

In Vancouver about 200 people snake-marched through the financial district for several hours, starting at 8am, tying up traffic and causing disruption, and stopping at a Starbucks, as well as the American Embassy, where police blocked the doorways.

Demonstrations also took place in Edmonton and Montreal.

The second day of demonstrations in Ottawa, on June 27th, included a march of 4,000 people with the theme of "No one is Illegal - A Thousand Flags of Resistance", the continuing occupation of the squat, and a large Critical Mass bikeride.

The G8 summit in Kananskis, Alberta is the biggest peace-time military operation inside Canada ever. Securtity costs are estimated to be $300,000 million, and equipment included anti-aircraft tanks. 4,500 soldiers worked along side police from across Canada.

From an insurrectionary viewpoint, and contrary to media reports, the G8 demonstrations across Canada displayed a growing level of militancy, given the huge distance between Canadian cities and the difficulty of mobilizing and transporting people to Calgary and Kananaskis, the lockdown at the Canadian / American border, and simultaneous Black Block and anti-capitalist actions in several major Canadian cities. The G8 demonstrations showed an increase in localized agitation, economic disruption, and cross-country coordination of efforts. The momentum gained in Seattle, Quebec City and Genoa has not been lost!
While the G8 retreats, the people move forward!

from The Ottawa Citizen -
Friday, June 28, 2002

"Alex is "sick of the rich controlling the poor ... sick of the government." The fervent anti-capitalist protester was just one of approximately 4,000 that police say marched through Ottawa's streets for the second consecutive day yesterday, but he stood out nonetheless...

...Eric Schwartz, owner of Ottawa Leather Goods on Sparks Street, accused the city of giving protesters the "key to the city" while leaving businesses to deal with the fallout. He said his store made only $550 on Wednesday, compared to its usual $3,000 in sales.
"For small businesses, that's a substantial unrecoverable amount," Mr. Schwartz said.
Gerry LePage, executive director of the Bank Street Promenade Business Improvement Area, said downtown businesses lost "millions of dollars" during the protests."