HALIFAX - Halifax police arrested a local official with the Canadian Union of Postal Workers during a demonstration on Monday ahead of a meeting of G8 development ministers, but the union says the arrest was unnecessary.
Const. Brian Palmeter said the woman will be charged with assault and resisting arrest after an incident on the road that leads to Pier 21 on the Halifax waterfront, where the ministers are scheduled to meet on Tuesday.
He said the incident occurred as police attempted to clear demonstrators from a roadway, where he said they were unlawfully assembling and blocking traffic.
"An officer approached one individual, asking her to move out of the roadway. She responded by striking him, resulting in her arrest," said Palmeter.
While police did not release the name of the woman, the director of the postal union's Atlantic office identified her as Toni MacAfee, the union's regional education officer.
Jeff Callaghan said the union objects to the arrest, arguing the police were being provocative before the incident.
"They reached into the crowd and grabbed her and pulled her out," he said.
"Ms. MacAfee has participated in a number of events similar to this all around the world without incident and it's kind of a black eye on Halifax that the police would act in this manner this morning.
"It's totally uncalled for."
The ministerial meeting will address maternal and child health care issues, and lay the foundation for proposals that will be discussed at the G8 summit in Huntsville, Ont., in late June, which will be followed by a meeting of the G20 in Toronto.
Canada plans to advance an initiative aimed at improving the quality of life in the world's poorest regions.
International Co-operation Minister Bev Oda has said she hopes the meeting will help achieve humanitarian goals, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is estimated that 350,000 to 500,000 women die in childbirth each year, while another nine million children never live to see their 5th birthday.
Caroline Riseboro, a spokeswoman for World Vision, an international aid agency that has been given media status for the Halifax event, said it is important for non-government organizations to be at the meeting.
"We're asking the Canadian government to take the lead in addressing maternal and child health issues," Riseboro said on Sunday.
"We've heard the voices of many mothers in many countries around the world who are losing their children under the age of five from entirely preventable diseases."
Riseboro said World Vision is awaiting details from the prime minister on the resources Canada will commit to the problem.
"We're definitely hoping for new money because we know the Canadian government is going to be increasing the amount of overseas development by eight per cent," she said.
Several development agencies and key allies like the United States and the United Kingdom have been critical of Canada after a series of conflicting statements that seemed to suggest Ottawa wouldn't fund any health project that put money toward family planning, particularly abortion. That approach would have flown in the face of previous G8 commitments on the issue.
After tempers flared over the abortion issue earlier this year, the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it won't close the door on any options that will save the lives of mothers and children, including contraception."
But ministers also said they will not reopen the abortion debate.
The government hasn't explained exactly what the implications of that statement are yet, but Liberal development critic Keith Martin has said he believes it means Canada won't fund any initiative linked to access to abortions.
