Albertans preparing for the ‘stress’ and ‘opportunity’ of hosting G7 summit

Removing international trade barriers, investing in clean energy, critical minerals and artificial intelligence, strengthening protections against cyber crime and better cooperation to address emerging global health threats — those are among the recommendations business leaders from the Group of Seven (G7)  countries have put forward as the their leaders prepare for their summit in Kananaskis, west of Calgary, in June.

The business leaders met in Ottawa this week, and next week federal Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne and Governor of the Bank of Canada Tiff Macklem will host their G7 counterparts for a meeting in Banff, in preparation for the leaders summit.

But the main event — the summit of G7 leaders from Canada, the U.S., France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United Kingdom — will take place in Kananaskis from June 15-17.

Security is the responsibility of the Integrated Safety and Security Group (ISSG), led by the RCMP with contributions from the Calgary Police Service, Alberta Sheriffs’ Branch, Alberta Forestry and Parks and the Canadian Armed Forces.

For the ISSG, working to secure the area around Kananaskis to protect the 70 official guests and 2,000 delegates is a massive task, especially with U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been the subject of at least one assassination attempt, expected to attend.

Kananaskis also hosted the G7 Summit in 2002.

Rob Huebert, director of the University of Calgary’s Centre for Military and Strategic Studies, said, “One of the reasons Kananaskis is so popular is you’ve got the ability to physically isolate the decision-makers and their entourage within a fairly secured area.”

A large area around Kananaskis village will be closed to the general public for more than a week during the summit. Closures and restrictions will be put in place for both air and ground traffic and dozens of trails in the area will be closed.

Full details on the areas affected are available online.

For now, demonstrators will be restricted to several designated demonstration zones (DDZs), in the city of Calgary, about an hour east of Kananaskis, including:

• Municipal Plaza at 800 Macleod Trail S.E.,
• Enoch/East Victoria Park at 1102 Macleod Trail S.E., and
• YYC – Edward H LaBorde viewing area at 15 Street and McKnight Boulevard N.E.

In a statement, Calgary police said, “These zones are designed to provide a safe and accessible space for individuals and groups to express their views while ensuring the security of summit activities and balancing the rights of residents, visitors and businesses in the local area.”

Trending Now

Police say the public can expect to see a large presence of officers and “any behaviour that is unlawful or jeopardizes public safety will be addressed in accordance with the law.”

For now, there is no official demonstration zone in nearby Banff — the most populous, and famous of Alberta’s mountain towns — residents are expecting to find that out next week.

Banff resident, and local conservationist, Marie Eve Marchand, has mixed feelings about the huge number of people expected to descend on the area — describing it as “stressful” and “a slight inconvenience” but conceding that “sometimes we also have to take our global responsibility in the world and host the conversations that need to happen.”

Chris Lowray, President of the Banff Centre, which will be hosting about 500 members of the media from around the world for the event describes it as a huge opportunity.

“To discuss big issues — while the leaders won’t be here on site — having that sort of connection to the world’s greatest leader being here to have these really important discussions — it’ll be just a wonderful gathering and sort of jumping off point for all the work they’re doing in Kananaskis.”

— with files from The Canadian Press.