D.C. The briefing was covered on several television stations, including TV5, On TV, and CFCF Television. Canadian newspapers, The Gazette,The Ottawa Citizen, and La Presse, noted the scientists declaration and letter. First Impressions Frigid weather, icy winds, and slippery sidewalks confine much of the action in Montreal relating to the Biosafety Protocol behind closed and preferably double doors. To go between the conference center and near-by hotels, Montreal's extensive system of underground passageways offers the less hardy of the delegates a welcome alternative to facing the bracing outdoor air. At the registration desk for NGOs before the week-end, action is slow, with only an occasional person appearing.
Procedures are simple.
Those groups that had pre-registered simply ask for their badges, provide no identification, and initial their names. Confrontational politics as was practiced by protesters against the World Trade Organization in Seattle is absent in Montreal, due to several factors. First, protesters in Montreal are supporters of the Biosafety Protocol - they want unscientifically based restrictions on the transport and use of crops and foods produced by means of biotechnology. So, they are not interested in stopping the talks - they are happy with the extreme approach in the draft Protocol. Second, biotechnology is the one issue at issue in Montreal, while protesters brought up a myriad of issues in Seattle - many having nothing at all to do with trade.