Virginia Setshedi: she travelled from Soweto, Johannesburg, to speak out against the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) at the Group of Six Billion (G6B) People’s Summit; an active member of the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee, she is leading the fight against power privatization in South Africa

“One of the things I see in NEPAD is that it is continuously promoting the neoliberal agenda and the interests of the corporations while shelving the interests and needs of the poor and working class of all of Africa. It might be called new, but NEPAD is nothing new. It’s full of old tricks, old strategies and old processes that have failed and led us into a situation where we don’t have electricity, water, health facilities and where we have high rates of disease like HIV/AIDS. Instead of coming together with civil society to sit down and decide what’s best for the whole of the continent, our presidents are meeting behind closed doors and taking decisions on our behalf that are going to affect us for the rest of our lives. That’s why as part of civil society, especially in Africa, we say ’down with NEPAD, down!’”

Lorie Peacock: a member of the Canadian Auto Workers’ local 199 in St. Catharines, Ontario, she and other workers came to Calgary to bring the movement home

“We feel it’s important to take the information [we learn here] not only back to our membership but also back to our community. So we’re going to get a cross section of people who are here in Calgary representing labour, health, the environment and education and put on a forum back at our union hall in St. Catharines. That way people can see, first and foremost, that we’re not a bunch of radicals here to smash buildings, drink beer or cause destruction and trouble. We’re here for a reason. We believe that as workers and as communities, things can be better for us. And that those eight people who are making the decisions are not making the decisions on behalf of the six billion of us. They’re making decisions on behalf of corporations. There are many ways of participating [in this movement] that aren’t necessarily the big ones. Everyone can do their own little part and that’s just as important as being here in Calgary protesting the G8.”

Christina Stebanuk: a member of the Calgary Disability Action Hall, she brought her five-year-old son to the march; she’s here to show the link between the poverty that people with disabilities face and the G8 agenda

“We’re in solidarity with this march because we [people with disabilities] live in poverty as well. If they go ahead with the G8 agenda, we will continue to be in poverty. We’re here to support the march and to give our solidarity. One example is that the bus passes in Calgary are going up to $60 and we only have a limited income of $855 [a month]; so if they keep raising the bus passes we’re not going to be able to come out to events like this.”

Suzanne Quinsey: a nurse at a Toronto hospital, she also volunteers as a street nurse providing health care for the homeless

“The G8 and the control they have takes away from what a democracy should be. I want to protest this style of government where the average person isn’t in control. These issues come up in health care. Even if we wanted a better health care system, the government is so connected to the health care industryâe¦it’s disgusting what they are doing and how that’s changing our health care system. It’s deteriorated to such a degree that I basically don’t want to work at a hospital any more. To reduce costs, the hospital I work in has contracted out lab services and security. That deteriorates working conditions and increases workload.”