Kanadyen ap bat chalbari dèyè Bush jodya.

Anti-war protesters to rally against Bush in T.O.
29/05/2009 11:12:27 AM

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Anti-war activists will be converging on downtown Toronto Friday afternoon to vent their anger at former U.S. president George Bush, who is making a joint speaking appearance with Bill Clinton at the Metro Convention Centre.


CTV.ca News Staff

Protestors share their views outside the Telus Convention centre in Calgary during from U.S. president Bush's trip there, Tuesday, March 17, 2009.
Hundreds of protesters are expected to join the demonstrations.

The "Toronto Coalition to Stop the War," which claims to represent more than 70 groups in the GTA, plans to erect a three-metre high image of Bush dressed as a prison inmate, at which protesters can throw shoes.

In his farewell trip to Iraq last December Bush was pelted with shoes thrown by an Iraqi journalist during a news conference.

The coalition calls Bush a "war criminal" and wants the Canadian government to treat him as such.

"It's an easy case to be made," Coalition organizer James Clark told CTV.ca, "because the war in Iraq was a war of aggression. It violated international law. That alone is merit to charge Bush with war crimes."

Clark says his group will "distribute spray painted red gloves to represent how Bush has blood on his hands."

While Bush is the main target of protesters, the group says "there's still anger at Clinton" because he "supported sanctions which led to the deaths of half a million Iraqi children."

The group also wants to pressure the Canadian government to pull its troops out of Afghanistan.

The former U.S. presidents, both 62, will spend 90 minutes discussing global and domestic challenges facing Canada and the U.S.

The event will be moderated by Frank McKenna, a former Canadian ambassador to the U.S.

Tickets ramge in price from $229 for general admission to $495 for VIP seats.

Some prices have been discounted, as ticket sales remain sluggish. As of late Thursday organizers said up to 500 tickets were still available from a total of 6,000.

The conversation is an offering from "Power Within," a company associated with self-help guru Tony Robbins.

CTV News Channel and CTV.ca will have reporters at the event, and will provide full coverage at the end of the day.