Protesters demonstrate outside the International Economic Forum of the Americas in Montreal, Monday, June 11, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
June 11, 2012 - 11:04 AM
MONTREAL - Montreal's protest movement has found its next target: an international economic conference featuring Stephen Harper.
Student and anti-capitalist groups are staging demonstrations today outside a downtown hotel that is hosting the International Economic Forum of the Americas.
Riot police and protesters have already assembled outside the hotel — where Harper and Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney are scheduled to address the conference today.
The protests follow Montreal's tumultuous Grand Prix weekend which saw vandalism, arrests and clashes between riot police and anti-capitalist demonstrators.
A conference speech scheduled for Wednesday by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan is also expected to draw the ire of protesters.
An anti-capitalist group blames Greenspan as being largely responsible for the global economic crisis.
Delegates at the four-day economic conference include political, economic and regulatory officials from around the world.
Montreal's student protests, which have lasted four months, have swelled to include various causes — including opposition to capitalism.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012