Ottawa

Ottawa is Canada's capital city and seat of government. It is Canada's fourth largest city with a metro population of more than 1.1 million people. It was established as Bytown in 1850 but renamed Ottawa in 1855. The current mayor is Bob Chiarell. There is an election in November 2006 which could name a new mayor.

Ottawa has a large activist community. The activist community in Ottawa gained momentum through several large protests being held in the capital between 2001 and 2006. There are many groups in the capital representing various political philosophies.

G20 Protest

In September 2001, the meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) and annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank was scheduled to be held in Washington, DC. Citing security concerns after September 11th, the meeting could no longer be held in Washington. Ottawa was selected as the host after then Canadian finance minister Paul Martin made the offer.

Several thousand people showed up to demonstrate the meeting and protestors were met with the first examples of state repression after September 11th. Peaceful protestors were beaten by police and arrested without provocation. Many members of the media were also targetted by the police. As a result of the actions by police, the city created the Major Events Liason Team (MELT).

Take the Capital

Canada was chair and host for the year 2002 in the Group of Eight (G8). Before 2001, Ottawa had been considered a host city, but after the violence which erupted in Genoa in July 2001, the events of September 11th and the events of the G20 protests, Canadian officials decided to hold the summit in Kananaskis, Alberta.