By Kevin Anderson BBC News Online Washington Correspondent

Patrick McCurdy is organising a 'Di-in' for Life, an update of the 1960s teach-in or sit-in, to protest at the G8 summit being held in the Canadian resort city of Kananaskis.

Participants will pretend to die in protest at poverty, lack of access to healthcare and what organisers say is a corporate culture that values profits over people.

As in previous years, protesters are focusing on issues such as debt in developing nations, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and environmental issues including global warming.

The protests are centred in Calgary but will also take place in other major cities across Canada including Toronto, Vancouver, Saskatoon and the Canadian capital Ottawa.

Protest tactics

Some activists will focus on the war on terrorism - since the attacks of 11 September there has been debate as to what tactics are appropriate.

Such debate has not been as pronounced among Canadian activists as in the US, but the issue does come up.

Someone wanted to make a banner with the slogan, Today's Empire, Tomorrow's Ashes, from a song by the punk group Propagandhi.

Protest organiser Yori Jamin said that protesters quickly decided that would not be appropriate after last autumn's attacks.

But some activists said that the war on terror is being used as an excuse to stifle dissent.

"The war on terrorism has not so much been the focus of protests as actually something that has really impeded our right to voice our concerns," Mr Jamin said.

Organisers added that fears of terrorism were also used to justify holding the summit at the isolated Canadian resort at Kananaskis, and terror concerns have made it more difficult for activists to cross the border from the US.

Environmental fears

Global warming is a special focus for a protest group called the Bike Brigade - organised by Mr Jamin.

Bicyclists from Vancouver, Saskatoon and Edmonton will converge on Calgary to call on Canada and the US to join the other G8 nations that are behind the Kyoto protocol.

President Bush was criticised by many G8 leaders last year for what were seen as his unilateralist moves, including backing out of the Kyoto protocol.

This year some officials from G8 nations have publicly expressed the worry that US concerns will dominate the agenda.

Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien wants to push for more aid to Africa, while this is not seen as a high priority for Mr Bush.

However, Mr Bush may have to cede some of the agenda to aid issues as he pursues a raft of security concerns including the Middle East crisis, tensions between India and Pakistan and the ongoing war on terrorism.