
'Don't want to antagonize:' G7 protestors vow restraint, question if police will follow suit
Article content
Activists protesting the G7 gathering say they'll assemble peacefully but some doubted police will refrain from violently suppressing their right to demonstrate.
Article content
An organizer with an alliance of 25 activist groups across the country that's bringing some of its members to Calgary said they avoid provoking police backlash but might not confine their activities to three designated protest zones being set up for them in Calgary located near the airport, at Municipal Plaza and in Victoria Park.
Article content
Article content
Article content
'Depending on the security situation, we might do a march and we'll see what the implications of leaving the designated zones are but we don't want to put public safety at risk,' said Yasmeen Khan, North American vice-chair of the International League of Peoples' Struggle in Canada (ILPS).
Article content
Article content
'We should be able to bring a voice to the wider public but at the same time, we don't want to antagonize.'
Article content
Police have said they have no legal mandate to confine protestors to the assigned zones but add they won't tolerate law-outbreaking outside them.
Article content
Khan said she expects modest numbers from her alliance's groups to come to Calgary, maybe as few as 100 – mostly activists from around western Canada, though demonstrators from other groups as well as Calgary-based will add to those numbers.
Article content
They'll highlight a host of issues from Indigenous struggles, housing, migrant and national liberation struggles, wages, climate change and international support for Israel's onslaught on Gaza.
Article content
Article content
'I don't think we're expecting thousands of people but we're hoping to bring together a political consciousness in Calgary,' she said, adding there's a simmering desire to join that movement in conservative Calgary.
Article content
'There are people in the community who are waiting to come together, to be galvanized.'
Article content
Activists target the G7, said Khan, because they don't believe its leaders seek to address the problems facing regular people.
Article content
'It's a sham sense of democracy and decision-making,' said Khan.
Article content
Activists will hold demonstrations and a 'peoples' forum' at Municipal Plaza June 14-15,, she said, and there could be other protests in the days that follow during the G7, which runs from June 15 to 17 with leaders from Canada, the U.S., the UK, Germany, Italy and France, Japan and the European Union will be gathering at Kananaskis Village to come to consensus on peace and security, economic stability and the war in Ukraine.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Cision Canada
43 minutes ago
- Cision Canada
Biggest-ever aid cut by G7 members a death sentence for millions of people, says Oxfam
Aid cuts could cost millions of lives and leave girls, boys, women and men without access to enough food, water, education, health treatment G7 countries are making deliberate and deadly choices by cutting life-saving aid, enabling atrocities, and reneging on their international commitments Low and middle-income countries face reduced aid, rising debt, and trade barriers — a perfect storm that threatens development and recovery. OTTAWA, ON, June 10, 2025 /CNW/ - The Group of Seven (G7) countries, which together account for around three-quarters of all official development assistance, are set to slash their aid spending by 28 percent for 2026 compared to 2024 levels. It would be the biggest cut in aid since the G7 was established in 1975, and indeed in aid records going back to 1960, reveals a new analysis by Oxfam ahead of the G7 Summit in Kananaskis, Canada. "The G7's retreat from the world is unprecedented and couldn't come at a worse time, with hunger, poverty, and climate harm intensifying. The G7 cannot claim to build bridges on one hand while tearing them down with the other. It sends a shameful message to the Global South, that G7 ideals of collaboration mean nothing," said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar. 2026 will mark the third consecutive year of decline in G7 aid spending – a trend not seen since the 1990s. If these cuts go ahead, G7 aid levels in 2026 will crash by $44 billion to just $112 billion. The cuts are being driven primarily by the US (down $33 billion), Germany (down $3.5 billion), the UK (down $5 billion) and France (down $3 billion). "Rather than breaking from the Trump administration's cruel dismantling of USAID and other US foreign assistance, G7 countries like the UK, Germany, and France are instead following the same path, slashing aid with brutal measures that will cost millions of lives," said Behar. "These cuts will starve the hungry, deny medicine to the sick, and block education for a generation of girls and boys. This is a catastrophic betrayal of the world's most vulnerable and crippling to the G7's credibility," said Behar. Canada allocated $10.17 billion to official development assistance in 2023/2024. Although its foreign aid budgets have been declining for the past two years, Canada is one of the few G7 countries that as not announced its intention to cut ODA. Oxfam Canada is calling on the federal government to clearly affirm its commitment to combating global inequality by maintaining its international aid budget for the coming years. "The Canadian government's recently announced intention to increase Canada's military spending to meet the NATO target of 2% of GDP makes the announcement all the more necessary. International aid makes a crucial contribution to global stability by focusing on prevention and providing essential services that strengthen social cohesion," said Lauren Ravon, Executive Director of Oxfam Canada. Economic projections show that aid cuts will mean 5.7 million more people across Africa will fall below extreme poverty levels in the coming year, a number expected to rocket to 19 million by 2030. Cuts to aid are putting vital public services at risk in some of the world's poorest countries. In countries like Liberia, Haiti, Malawi, and South Sudan, US aid had made up over 40 percent of health and education budgets, leaving them especially exposed. Combined with a growing debt crisis, this is undermining governments' ability to care for their people. Global aid for nutrition will fall by 44 percent in 2025 compared to 2022: The end of just $128 million worth of US-funded child nutrition programs for a million children will result in an extra 163,500 child deaths a year. At the same time, 2.3 million children suffering from severe acute malnutrition – the most lethal form of undernutrition – are now at risk of losing their life-saving treatments. One in five dollars of aid to poor countries' health budgets are cut or under threat: WHO reports that in almost three-quarters of its country offices are seeing serious disruptions to health services, and in about a quarter of the countries where it operates some health facilities have already been forced to shut down completely. US aid cuts could lead to up to 3 million preventable deaths every year, with 95 million people losing access to healthcare. This includes children dying from vaccine-preventable diseases, pregnant women losing access to care, and rising deaths from malaria, TB, and HIV. G7 countries are not just reneging on commitments to global aid and solidarity, they are fuelling conflicts by allowing grave violations of international law, like in Gaza where people are facing starvation. Whether in Ukraine, the occupied Palestinian territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo or elsewhere, civilians must always be protected, and aid is often the first line of protection they get. G7 countries are illuminating a double standard that risks more global instability, conflict and atrocities. While G7 countries cut aid, their citizen billionaires continue to see their wealth surge. Since the beginning of 2025, the G7 ultra-rich have made $126 billion, almost the same amount as the group's 2025 aid commitment of $132 billion. At this pace, it would take the world's billionaires less than a month to generate the equivalent of the G7's 2025 aid budget. By taxing the super-rich, the G7 could easily meet their financial commitments to end poverty and climate breakdown, whilst also having billions in new revenue to fight inequality in their own countries. "The world is not short of money. The problem is that it is in the hands of the super-rich instead of the public. Rather than fairly taxing billionaires to feed the hungry, we see billionaires joining government to slash aid to the poorest in order to fund tax cuts for themselves," said Behar. Oxfam is calling on the G7 to urgently reverse aid cuts and restore funding to address today's global challenges. More than 50 years after the United Nations set the target of 0.7 percent for aid spending, most G7 countries remain well below this. Oxfam is also urging the G7 to support global efforts led by Brazil and Spain to raise taxes on the super-rich, and to back the call from the African Union and The Vatican for a new UN body to help manage countries' debt problems. NOTES TO EDITORS According to OECD Data Explorer, the combined annual aid expenditure of the G7 in 2024 was $156.694 billion. Canada spent $7.323 billion, the United States $61.821 billion, Japan $17.583 billion, France $15.047 billion, Germany $31.382 billion, Italy $6.534 billion, and the United Kingdom $17.005 billion. Donor Tracker estimates that the decline in combined annual aid spending of the G7 countries for the period 2024 to 2026 will be -$44,488 billion. In 2024, aid from G7 countries declined by 8 percent, and projections for 2025 point to a sharper drop of 19 percent. Modelling using finds that 5.7 million more Africans would fall below the US$2.15 extreme poverty income level in the next year if Trump's administration succeeds in its aid-reduction ambition. This assumes a 20 percent reduction of aid to Africa, considering that some US aid would be maintained as the US alone accounted for 26 percent of aid to Africa before the cuts. The dismantling of USAID and major aid reductions announced by Western donors threaten to undo decades of progress on malnutrition. A 44 percent drop in funding from 2022 levels could lead to widespread hardship and death. Up to 2.3 million children with severe acute malnutrition risk losing life-saving treatment, warns the Standing Together for Nutrition Consortium. There are 2,968 billionaires in the world, and 1,346 live in G7 countries (45 percent). For real-time updates, follow us on X and Bluesky, and join our WhatsApp channel tailored specifically for journalists and media professionals.


Globe and Mail
an hour ago
- Globe and Mail
Canada invites Saudi Crown Prince to G7 summit
Canada has invited Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the Group of Seven summit in Alberta this month, an extension of hospitality to a kingdom Ottawa once shunned after the 2018 murder of a dissident journalist who criticized its rulers. A source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the invitation and said there had been no response so far on whether Mr. bin Salman will attend the June 15-17 meeting in Kananaskis. The Globe and Mail is not identifying the source, as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Mr. bin Salman is not the only leader Canada is inviting in spite of a strained bilateral relationship. Prime Minister Mark Carney is welcoming Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi even though Ottawa has publicly accused his government of playing a role in the 2023 murder of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The G7 summit is being held just outside Calgary. Here's who will be there and what these meetings achieve Saudi Arabia and India are not members of the G7 but hosts of gatherings of this annual political and economic forum for top industrialized countries often invite other national leaders to join. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is also attending the summit in Alberta, as is Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. In 2018, Ottawa followed the United States in imposing sanctions on 17 Saudis for the slaying of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi. He was murdered in the kingdom's Istanbul consulate in October of that year when he entered to procure documents certifying a divorce. U.S. media, including the Washington Post, later reported that the CIA believes the Crown Prince ordered Mr. Khashoggi's killing – contradicting Riyadh's assertion that he was not involved in the murder. Canada's sanctions remain in place today. Canada and Saudi Arabia also suffered a major diplomatic rift for nearly five years starting in 2018 when Riyadh expelled Canada's ambassador after the department of Global Affairs and Chrystia Freeland, who was minister of foreign affairs at the time, publicly called for the immediate release of several imprisoned political activists in the kingdom. Riyadh also recalled its envoy, decrying what it said was 'blatant interference' in its internal affairs, and it froze new trade and investment with Canada. The Saudi embassy in Ottawa did not immediately return a request for comment on the invitation.


Winnipeg Free Press
an hour ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Man accused of plotting shooting at New York Jewish centre extradited to U.S.
OTTAWA – The U.S. Justice Department says a Pakistani citizen who was living in Canada has been extradited to New York, where he's accused of plotting to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish centre. The RCMP arrested Muhammad Shahzeb Khan in Quebec last September. The Mounties said at the time he was in the process of planning a deadly attack targeting Jewish people in the U.S. and was facing charges in Canada. He is now charged in the U.S. with attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and attempting to commit terrorism that transcends national boundaries. The 20-year-old is set to appear in a New York court on Wednesday. The U.S. Justice Department says Khan was planning an 'ISIS-inspired mass shooting' around the one-year anniversary of the Hamas attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2024. Jay Clayton, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement that Khan planned to 'use automatic weapons to kill as many members of our Jewish community as possible, all in support of ISIS.' The statement said Khan started posting on social media and communicating with people on encrypted messaging apps about his support for ISIS around November 2023. After he shared ISIS propaganda online, he started communicating with undercover law enforcement officers. He told them he and an American associate, who is not named in the statement, were planning an attack. The Justice Department statement said Khan told the undercover officers to buy AR-style assault rifles, ammunition and other materials, and he gave them details about how he planned to cross the border. Last August, he changed his planned target and told the undercover officers he had decided to carry out a mass shooting at a Jewish centre in Brooklyn on or around Oct. 7, 2024. 'During one communication, Khan noted that 'if we succeed with our plan this would be the largest attack on U.S. soil since 9/11,'' the statement said. Khan tried to reach the U.S. border on Sept. 4, 2024. The Justice Department said he used three separate cars to travel through Canada toward the border and was stopped by Canadian authorities near Ormstown, Que., about 20 km from the border. The allegations have not been proven in court. If convicted, Khan faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 10, 2025.