Up to 90 protesters, some looking oil-stained after smearing themselves with cornstarch and cocoa, led the media and ever-present police on what they called the Toxic Tour of Toronto.

"I'm dressed up like this because of the Gulf oil spill, to demonstrate what is happening out there," said marcher Lavanya Julanina on Wednesday.

"The vibrant part is what we're going to see today, and that's what we think -- in terms of pictures -- will be the liveliest part of all," said Russian television journalist Sergey Morozoe, in Toronto for the G8 and G20 Summits.

Wednesday's march, one in a series leading up to the summits, promised to "expose the institutions most responsible for the environmental and social impacts of Canada's extractive industries both at home and abroad," according to the Facebook page of the Toronto Community Mobilization Network.

The group claims that Canada is home to about three-quarters of the world's mining and exploration companies.

"Canada's place within the G8 nations is largely due to the exploitation of Indigenous peoples, their lands and rural poor for mining, tar sands and oil/gas exploitation," it said.

The group said the rapid development of the tar sands is to blame for the worsening climate crisis.

The group provided the following ideas for costumes on their Facebook page:

  • executives with blood on their hands (fake blood provided)
  • corporate zombies
  •  people covered in tar sands bitumen (mud provided)

The group set out from Alexandra Park, located at Bathurst Street and Dundas Street West, at about 11 a.m. CTV Toronto's John Musselman said they were to work their way up to College Street, west to University Avenue and south to the U.S. Consulate.

The group estimated the protest would be over by 3 p.m.

Musselman said police were monitoring the protesters. It had been largely peaceful, although some demonstrators yelled at police early on.

However, any tensions were quickly diffused, he said.

With a report from CTV Toronto's John Musselman