Busloads of protesters from across Canada, joined by US, Central and South American activists, are making their way to Quebec City to open the People’s Summit yesterday, ahead of the April 20-22 Summit of the Americas where the future of the Free Trade Area of the Americas will be plotted.

While police expect the majority of Summit demonstrators to be peaceful, the 6,000-strong force will be clad in riot gear and equipped with pepper spray and rubber bullet-launching weapons.

One of the staging areas in the US is Burlington Vermont. The City Council in this progressive city unanimously passed a resolution against the FTAA. It states that the Free Trade Area of the Americas ’would further threaten the sovereignty of local and state governments, which are already under attack from NAFTA and encourage an environmental and public health race to the bottom.

Guests:

• Peter Clavelle, Mayor of Burlington, Vermont
• Greg Guma, Editor, 'Toward Freedom'