Hundreds of protesters gather in downtown Calgary on first day of G7 in Alberta

Andrew Jeffrey · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 15, 2025 4:32 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 hours ago

Hundreds of demonstrators arrived astatine Calgary's Municipal Plaza connected Sunday to bring attraction to the galore concerns they consciousness satellite leaders request to grapple with erstwhile they conscionable successful Kananaskis, Alta., over the adjacent 3 days.

Calgary constabulary said determination were astir 500 radical extracurricular metropolis hall as of 1 p.m. connected Sunday. 

Protesters sported signs and waved flags successful a bid to enactment a spotlight on issues affecting Kashmiri, Ethiopian, Palestinian and Ukrainian people, arsenic good arsenic to enactment Canadian sovereignty, h2o information and Indigenous rights, among different concerns.

The G7 summit, which runs from Sunday done Tuesday, brings together Prime Minister Mark Carney, U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders from France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Other leaders similar Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were besides invited to be the event.

• As G7 kicks disconnected contiguous successful Kananaskis, here's however it's expected to interaction the Calgary region

Security officials telephone the acme the "largest home information operation" a state tin instrumentality on.

The RCMP and Calgary constabulary established "designated objection zones" up of the lawsuit successful 3 locations astir Calgary, arsenic good arsenic successful Banff astatine the Fenlands Banff Recreation Centre. RCMP said the zones are acceptable up to guarantee minimal disruption to captious infrastructure, arsenic good arsenic for the information of demonstrators, the nationalist and instrumentality enforcement. Some protestation groups person pushed backmost against the thought of these zones.

As of 1 p.m. connected Sunday, police said nary protesters were contiguous astatine the different 2 section objection zones astatine East Victoria Park and adjacent the Calgary airport. Demonstrations are expected to statesman successful the portion successful Banff connected Monday.

Later successful the afternoon, protesters marched done Calgary's downtown. The march traveled down Macleod Trail, moving its mode to Stephen Avenue, earlier returning to metropolis hall.

A ample information of protesters past acceptable retired again from metropolis hall, travelling down Stephen Avenue.

Another radical of protesters took to the streets for a driving protestation connected Sunday while flying banners successful enactment of Khalistan, a projected autarkic Sikh homeland successful bluish India. 

Dozens of vehicles acceptable retired from the Dashmesh Culture Centre successful Martindale. The demonstrators were expected to instrumentality to the centre aft driving astir neighbouring northeast communities.

Calgary constabulary said the lanes adjacent to the Fairmont Palliser Hotel successful downtown Calgary volition beryllium closed starting Sunday until the extremity of the time connected Tuesday. The closure includes the Fairmont parking lane, and the close postulation lane eastbound connected 9th Avenue S.W. and the close lane northbound connected 1st Street S.W.

Many of the activists and assemblage groups who met successful Calgary connected Saturday for a "people's forum" also attended Sunday's downtown protests.

Yasmeen Khan of the International League of Peoples' Struggle said she was blessed to spot the turnout to Sunday's protest, adding attendees were looking guardant to the day's march.

"Everybody's clamouring to spell connected the streets peacefully, but they conscionable privation to march and marque it disposable that radical care — people successful Calgary really attraction that determination is simply a G7 acme happening that does not see the people," Khan said. 

Khan besides criticized the designated objection zones being acceptable up alternatively of much nonstop connection betwixt protesters and acme attendees.

"Why can't we person a nonstop speech with our alleged leaders alternatively of being enclosed successful 1 spot and past it being transmitted implicit to Kananaskis? I deliberation that is different crushed we privation to beryllium connected the streets," Khan said.

"If we are not allowed into these halls, into these corridors of privilege, past we volition instrumentality the streets."

Mary Oxendale-Spensley is simply a subordinate of the Calgary Raging Grannies radical that besides attended the protestation connected Sunday.

She said her radical is pushing back against Trump's comments astir making Canada the 51st state, to support Canada's h2o security, and successful enactment of Palestinian, African and Ukrainian demonstrators.

Isa Carlin from Migrante Alberta attended the demonstration to advocator for the rights of Filipino migrant workers successful the province. The operation of groups protesting unneurotic is simply a motion of solidarity, Carlin said.

"We truly privation to amusement our voice, and accidental that we're agreed with different people, with migrants from different backgrounds, with Canadian moving people, with Indigenous people, with radical passionate astir clime and biology issues," Carlin said. 

"We're agreed with each of them successful saying the G7 acme doesn't correspond america and we request a strategy that does."

One protester, Ashley Lacombe, arrived with a motion saying "Canada Strong Free and United."

Lacombe, who says she works successful lipid and state successful Alberta, said she wanted to nonstop a connection that amid talks of a referendum connected Alberta separatism, that not each Albertans are successful favour of leaving Canada.

"A batch of Canadians don't consciousness that we privation to beryllium portion of the U.S., but determination is immoderate sympathies wrong Alberta," Lacombe said.

"There is speech astir a separatist question and I conscionable wanted it to beryllium wide that not everyone successful Alberta peculiarly feels that way. I decidedly judge successful a unified Canada."