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G-20 MAKES PROMISES, PROTESTERS MAKE NOISE
WebPosted Sun Nov 18 08:06:09 2001

OTTAWA--As police clashed with demonstrators down the street, finance
ministers and bank governors from the G-20 countries pledged Saturday to
fight poverty and terrorism.

Delegates released a communique promising to track down and cut off
terrorist financing around the world. With an already sluggish global
economy slowed even more since Sept. 11, they also agreed to promote
global financial stability, in part by assisting developing countries.

Paul Martin

Finance Minister Paul Martin, chair of the meetings, said the plan
includes reducing the debt and debt payments of poorer countries.

"The problems facing emerging markets must be at the top of the agenda
of the international community," he said. "Next, protecting our citizens
after Sept. 11 must not mean that our borders become the new non-tariff
barriers."

FROM NOV. 16, 2001: Security tight as G-20 meeting begins in Ottawa

Delegates agreed that benefits of globalization should be "widely
shared" to reduce poverty around the world, Martin said.

While the short-term prospects for the global economy remain uncertain,
all delegates are confident that the Sept. 11 attacks would not
undermine markets in the longer term, according to Martin.

Protesters push aside barricades

Even before the meetings began, police arrested at least a dozen people
from a group of protesters who said the meetings of the G-20,
International Monetary Fund and World Bank are designed to maximize
corporate profits, not to help poorer countries.

About 1,000 people marched through the city's downtown when police
suddenly surrounded the group on all four sides.

After police moved in, the march continued without incident.
Demonstrators, including some with placards that read "Spank the Bank"
and "Drop debt, not bombs," ended up outside the Supreme Court for a
series of speeches.

Protesters stalled at barricades

By the afternoon, a crowd of about 2,000 had gathered in Confederation
Square near the Conference Centre. They faced rows of police officers in
riot gear on the other side of two layers of steel barricades.

A man wearing a balaclava is arrested Saturday

Police doused some of them with water from a fire hose and fired at
least two canisters of tear gas when a few of the protesters tried to
breach the barricades.

Eight demonstrators were arrested Friday when a march by about 300
people turned violent. Four were charged with mischief after some
demonstrators broke shop windows and wrote anti-globalization slogans on
walls and sidewalks.

Police dogs attacked several people, including journalists covering the
protests. CBC Radio's Evan Dyer said an officer hit him even after he
had identified himself as a reporter. A police dog also bit Dyer.

Security forces overreacted, according to Maude Barlow of the Council of
Canadians. She said it was unnecessary to let dogs pounce on
demonstrators and bystanders.

Maude Barlow addresses crowd

At a rally near Ottawa's old train station where the G-20 delegates are
meeting, Barlow told the crowd that the finance ministers are trying to
fool the world into believing they're combating poverty.

"They think it's business as usual, and that their policies of
liberalization and free trade and promoting a corporate agenda around
the world are the answer for the poor of the world," Barlow said. "We
know that this is not possible."

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