AFP

Ottawa, Mar 18: Canadians amassed shoes to throw in protest against George W Bush on Tuesday when he gives his first post-presidential speech in western Canada's oil patch.

The footwear was to be tossed at an effigy of the 43rd US president outside a Calgary conference center where Bush was to speak to some 1,500 people at a luncheon, said Colette Lemieux of the Canadian Peace Alliance.

Up to 200 protestors from across the country were expected for the demonstration against Bush's invasion of Iraq and rendition of terror suspects, she said.

"We had shoes sent in (to us) from across the country," said Lemieux, charging Bush is a "war criminal" who must be prosecuted for his former administration's policies in the US "war on terror."

"It doesn't matter that he is no longer president," she added. "A bank robber who stops holding up banks can and must still be prosecuted for his crimes." The same applies for Bush, she said.

The address, billed as "A Conversation with George W Bush," is the first of at least 10 speeches to be announced in Canada, Asia and Europe, a source familiar with his plans said.