I should like to remind everyone that this particular ‘agreement’ is being brought about in a most
undemocratic fashion. The trade summit held in
Quebec City, April 20-22, is off limits to the public. The proposed FTAA text has not been released to the public. There has been, and will be, no consultation of the public. The people that democratic governments are supposed to represent have been blinded, deafened, and muted, by those governments.
As for protesting this affront to democratic tradition, 5000 police have been brought in to bolster the ranks, and 500 prisoners have been relocated from local jails. By-laws have been passed making it “illegal for anyone in a crowd to wear a mask, scarf or otherwise cover any part of their face, and this in a city where sub-freezing temperatures are a common occurrence in late April” (http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/mar2001/queb-m02.shtml), and two or more persons handing out anti-summit materials are considered to be an unlawful assembly.
Adendum the draft text of the FTAA is now going to be released, but not until after the summit.