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Protest staged in Toronto on G20 summit eve

By Li Xing and Ding Qingfen (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-06-26 15:04
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Protest staged in Toronto on G20 summit eve

A protestor calls attention to the loss of jobs in the US in downtown Toronto, June 25, 2010. [Photo/Ding Qi]

Toronto – More than 2,000 protestors marched in downtown Toronto on Friday to the deafening Samba drums and songs. A few hundred protestors still lingered in Allen Garden late at night.

They held various posters, from condemning Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper's policies, calling for environment protection and women's rights, to saving the seals in the wild.

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More than 100 police marched in front of and behind them or on their two sides, temporarily blocking the traffic to allow the protestors to proceed without interruption.

"This is the largest protest I've ever seen," Wayne O'Neil, a semi-retired professional from Etobicoke, Canada, told China Daily.

He said that many of these people came from around the world as the leaders of the Group of 20 gather today and tomorrow to discuss a range of world issues from global economic growth to reforms in international financial institutions.

Malissa Goldstein, a communication expert for profit sectors, also joined the protest for the "infringement to our civil liberties," she said.

She was especially against a series of government budget cuts that "weaken our efforts to protect the environment, deal with climate change and challenge women’s rights," she said.

These budget cuts do not square with the CA$30 million ($31.6 million) that the Canadian government is spending on the G8 and G20 summit. "One has to wonder where the government's priorities are," she said.

According to Toronto Star, security personnel number more than 19,000, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police and local police forces from across Canada.

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