CALGARY—Four people were arrested in downtown Calgary on March 17, 2009, during a protest outside the building where former U.S. President George W. Bush was making his first official speech since leaving office.

Two men were charged with obstructing a peace officer and resisting arrest. Another man was charged with breaching the peace, while the fourth was issued a ticket for violating a public behavior bylaw, said Duty Insp. Rob Williams of Calgary police.

Bush addressed an invitation-only crowd of about 1,500 at the Telus Convention Centre in his first speech since leaving office. Tickets were reported to cost $400 per person. Media were not allowed inside.

About 200 protesters crowded around the entrance of the convention center in the morning, heckling ticket holders and chanting "go home." Critics of Bush’s visit held small demonstrations leading up to his speech, calling for his arrest as a war criminal for his alleged sanctioning of torture at U.S. military prisons in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Protesters threw shoes at a billboard image of George W. Bush outside the convention centre where the former U.S. president was speaking.The protesters included a person dressed as a Guantanamo Bay prisoner who tried to use a jury-rigged cannon device to fire shoes in front of the convention center, but police moved her further away down Stephen Avenue Mall.