The spokes council meeting of the CLAC and CASA organizations brought together a variety of groups on the eve of their ‘carnival against capitalism’ – a carnival which has prompted the largest police mobilization in Canadian history in Quebec City.

As a whole, these groups are planning to march on Friday from Laval University to the security fence which surrounds the Summit delegates, at which point different affinity groups will participate in various actions.

Delegates stepped forward from a very creative array of affinity groups to announce their actions, and to ask for assistance from others.

The “Bikesheviks Revolutionaires” cycled all the way from Montreal to participate in this action, and intend to continue riding their bikes. A group from Vancouver plans to ‘Dance Away the FTAA’, and also plan to dress as contraceptives (and distribute them). One group is planning FUNK street theatre (which aside from being funky, are ‘Fighting Unequal Not-fair Korporations’). Another group is planning to blockade a corporate radio station, until they broadcast a prepared text.

The International Action Centre is here from the U.S. (90 people from California alone). They are planning a yellow action to spread the word about Mumia Abu-Jamal, a political prisoner from the U.S. who has been on death row for many years. They are organizing for an encampment for Mumia, which will happen in Philadelphia on May 11-13. They also oppose the Cuba blockade, and racism and imperialism in general.

Three colours of zones have been set up for these actions. Green zones are reserved for safe, legal actions, where the risk of arrest is very small. ‘Soft’ Yellow zones are reserved for actions which involve non-violent civil disobedience, in the tradition of Gandhi or Martin Luther King – actions in which some people will risk arrest, but which will be safe, non-violent, and generally predictable (i.e. it will generally be clear who is going to jail). ‘Hard’ Yellow zones are more confrontational, but in that same spirit. Red actions are those which are neither legal nor within the tradition of non-violent civil disobedience. These actions may involve heated confrontation, property damage, and self-defence from any police action.

One group came equipped with pink tanks, covered with happy faces and flowers. Although they are not using them, they offered them to anyone wanting to wade through police lines in a hard yellow action.

Some groups have a mixture of zones in their actions. The ‘pagan cluster’ are planning a ‘blue action’ – a living river, in which people will dress in blue, and flow throughout the city in order to give a declaration of ‘free water’ to the delegates. This action will be green, but may turn yellow if they ‘flow’ through the perimeter.

On Saturday, they are also planning to march as a group in the organized labour march, and then branch off to do their own march at some point. They are expecting that others will join them.

Many months of planning have gone into these protests, and tomorrow will be the big day for bringing them to life – living rivers, and all.