A broad cross-section of protest groups sought to fiercely put Group of Seven (G7) leaders and delegates on notice, standing up for various worldwide causes with a public demonstration and march in downtown Calgary on June 15 that attracted hundreds of participants.

Some of the hordes who first gathered in Calgary’s Municipal Complex Plaza on Macleod Trail declared with incendiary chants and posters that the powerful world leaders participating in the G7 Summit in nearby Kananaskis are not welcome in Canada. Others among the multitude advocated for particular causes and initiatives to be added to the G7 agenda.

Groups were standing up for Palestine, Kashmir, the Philippines and the environment, and factions protesting against militarism, colonialism, unfair worldwide debt practices and the oil and gas industry.

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Each civil society group was allotted time to deliver a speech from a stage set up in the plaza.

Attendees — including many people of faith — of the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum from June 12-15 were represented at the lectern by Marybo Wahba, a climate change policy analyst with Citizens for Public Justice, an ecumenical organization focused on poverty reduction, ecological justice and refugee rights.

Wahba called out the G7 and the entire Global North for the “debt it owes the Global South for overconsumption, pollution and extractive industries.”

The crowd chanted “shame” in response to each one of Wahba’s grievances.

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In an interview with The Catholic Register leading up to the people’s forum centred on advocating for debt-ridden countries and ecological justice, Wahba said “we need to see a recognition from specifically the G7 countries of their historical responsibility to the climate crisis.” The University of British Columbia graduate specifically called out the emissions generated and the resources mined by wealthier countries.

Genevieve Gallant, the executive director of the Office of Religious Congregations for Integral Ecology, said the Jubilee 2025: Turn Debt into Hope campaign is calling on Canada to be at the forefront of a solution to tackle ecological debt. She also wants Canadian leaders to advocate for low-income countries to be liberated from their burdens.

“I would think that the most important thing is that Canada has an opportunity to continue being a leader in international development assistance,” said Gallant. “This is a way they can make a huge difference: to reduce the debt and set up a UN framework for negotiating a debt. That is not an expensive thing. It is just making a way for the debtors and creditors to come together and figure out what to do when there are crises.”

Gallant’s organization helped KAIROS Canada, Development and Peace – Caritas Canada and others spearhead the G7 Jubilee People’s Forum primarily hosted at Ambrose University. The last day was centred around participants sharing what they learned with the people of Calgary.

Forum activists carried signs in the plaza and throughout the march in the downtown corridor displaying messages such as “a better, more just world is possible” and “turn debt into hope.”

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When it was the Jubilee 2025: Turn Debt into Hope movement’s turn to take centre stage during the downtown march, multiple forum attendees performed a skit about the debt-lending policies powerful entities, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), carry out against low-income countries.

The performance was interrupted halfway through as the Calgary Police Service ordered the march to clear the streets and head back to the plaza, much to the indignation of many demonstrators. Once the protest returned to the plaza, the Jubilee group finished its presentation by inviting various marchers to break pinatas to symbolize the smashing of debt.