(Adds details of arrest made early Thursday in paragraphs 12 and 13.)
TORONTO -(Dow Jones)- Leaders of the world's biggest economies are expected to begin arriving in Toronto over the next few days. Those protesting their policies are already in the city.
A variety of groups have been holding rallies, marches, movie screenings and other events for most of June in a bid to call attention to the issues they say members of the G-20, who will be meeting in the city this weekend, routinely ignore. Indeed, there was a "People's Summit" last week at which organizations as diverse as Amnesty International and Bikes Not Bombs Toronto held meetings and seminars that ostensibly mimicked the G-20 discussions set to get underway Saturday.
"Themed Days of Resistance" have taken place in the week leading up to the leaders' summit, and protests to date have targeted G-20 policies on gender equality, climate change, indigenous peoples, poverty, maternal rights, the rights of homosexuals, transsexuals and others, and the rights of union workers among them.
"We just really wanted to make sure issues were covered really, really, clearly in advance," said Syed Hussan, spokesman for the Toronto Community Mobilization Network, which is helping coordinate the many protest groups. "Our intention was to build a convergence (in order to) bring together people who work on different issues in the same space."
So far, the protests have been relatively small and peaceful, but that is likely to change starting Friday as protesters gear up for two large, unified demonstrations. Organizers say they expect thousands of people to participate in Friday's Day of Action and Saturday's march through downtown Toronto.
The Friday event begins as a demonstration at a park to the northeast of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre where the G-20 summit is being held, then turns into a block party and then a tent city, says Dylan Penner, spokesman for the Council of Canadians. The COC will also be sponsoring a public forum late Friday at which leaders of international social justice organizations will be speaking.
The Saturday march, which begins at 1 p.m. at Queen's Park, the site of the Ontario Legislature and the area police have designated for protesters, proceeds down University Avenue to the perimeter fence surrounding the convention centre.
"We'll be getting as close as possible," Penner says, "to express people's outrage at the policies of the G-20."
He acknowledged the potential for conflict is there, given the heavy police presence in the city and the major security measures already taken. Routine activities such as kite-flying and passing out leaflets have already been banned, raising the hackles of many protesters.
Protesters' "rights are being inhibited by overkill security measures," Penner said. He noted many groups involved in organizing the anti-G-20 events are worried police could use sound and water cannons, rubber bullets and tear gas to control the crowds.
"There's a chill factor that's created when there's police on every corner," he said.
In fact, there have already been a handful of arrests. Around midday Thursday, police arrested a driver of a car laden with an "array of weapons," said police spokesman Sgt. Tim Burrows. News reports from the scene said the car contained five gas canisters, a chainsaw and a home-made crossbow. The car was detained a few blocks east of the security perimeter surrounding the convention center.
Additionally, a Toronto couple was arrested in their home and have been charged with crimes related to the G-20 meeting. The most serious of the charges they face is possession of an explosive device.
Const. Wendy Drummond, spokeswoman for the Integrated Security Unit which comprises a number of police forces led by the Toronto Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said charges laid against those who have participated in the marches and demonstrations to date have been "criminal code offences not relevant to the protests."
She said the police would "maintain and support any group wherever they want to protest, as long as they do it safely. When public safety is a concern, then it becomes a concern of ours."
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