A protester surrounded by media throws a shoe at a drawing of George Bush outside the venue where the former president was speaking with Bill Clinton. (Dwight Friesen/CBC)

The perfect traffic storm in downtown Toronto did not materialize Friday as far fewer people than expected turned out to protest a speaking engagement featuring Bill Clinton and George Bush at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

A bicycle race and a major-league baseball game scheduled for the area at the same time, caused police to warn drivers to stay out of the area.

But traffic continued to move freely along Front Street and the roughly 400 demonstrators remained peaceful.

A few hundred protesters congregated around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto on Friday to protest former U.S. president George W. Bush, who was speaking inside. (CBC)

Nadine MacKinnon of the Toronto Coalition to Stop the War said the group had been organizing for weeks. They're angry the welcome mat has been rolled out for Bush, who, they charge, is a war criminal because of his role in the Iraq war.

In Simcoe Park, across the street from the convention centre, protesters gathered around a giant painting of Bush, wearing an orange jumpsuit similar to the ones worn by prisoners in the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Protesters took turns throwing shoes at the image of the ex-president, a reference to the incident in 2008 where Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi threw his shoe at the president.

Brett Winestock, 19, a Toronto resident and a University of Toronto student was at the protest. "I'm here to protest everything George Bush has done," he said.

"He's a symbol of everything that has gone wrong in the world. Why should he be allowed to speak? I guess we won't get George Bush's attention but it's important to let people know that we are opposed to having a war criminal here."

Winestock held a black sign that read: "War Resisters Welcome, War Criminals Not."

He stood at a steel fence along Front Street in front of a small gathering of police officers.

Protester Brett Winestock said George Bush is a symbol of everything that has gone wrong in the world. (Muriel Draaisma/CBC)

"I'm here to express my feelings about ex-president George Bush," marketer and Toronto resident Kerry Dworet, 33, said.

"Just because the man is no longer president doesn't excuse the fact that he is a war criminal. A lot of us won't forget what he did until some kind of justice is done."

A protest by Tamil supporters was also expected on Friday night.

Toronto police closed down some roads, restricting traffic on others, and had a large number of officers on patrol. They say anyone who wants to move around downtown on Friday evening should use public transit, a bicycle or their feet.

Also on Friday evening, the American League East-leading Boston Red Sox are in Toronto to play the Blue Jays. And the Toronto Criterium bicycle race is expected to draw a big crowd to the Front Street East and Jarvis Street neighbourhood.