Protests are nothing new for Calgary, and neither will they be unexpected nor absent during the 51st G7 summit occurring later this year in June, said senior law enforcement officials.

RCMP Chief Superintendent David Hall, along with Calgary Police Service Superintendent Joe Brar provided an update to Calgary Police Commission on Feb. 26, which indicated that disruptions to regular life will be a fact of the meeting of world leaders.

Answering questions from commission on the potential for protests, C/Supt. Hall said that much of the protest activity is likely to happen in Calgary, and that there would be a variety of motivations for the actions.

“I think it’s fair to say we do anticipate that there will be people or groups who may want to protest against the G7 or against particular world leaders that are attending the G7 and then there may be groups that use the G7 as a vehicle to amplify other issues that they may be protesting about throughout the course of the year,” Hall said.

“When it comes to those groups or those issues, it is always the intention of the police to try to ensure that people have the right to express themselves, and we want to encourage that to occur in a lawful, non-criminal manner that is minimally impactful to the surrounding community.”

Supt. Brar said that geopolitical events happening worldwide are already having a local impact in Calgary, and so it was likely that many of the same protest groups that have led protests in Calgary will also do so during the G7.

“A majority of those demonstrations are lawful, peaceful and safe, and we expect anticipate the same at the same time. We are also aware that there may be disruptors and people that don’t want to demonstrate lawfully, so we have a robust public order plan that will deal with that,” Brar said.

“But our first approach, like C/Supt. Hall mentioned, would be to work with the community to ensure that those protests are lawful, peaceful and safe.”

Additional disruptions are likely to come from security precautions around protecting world leaders, and other international VIPs during the conference.

C/Supt. Hall said that they weren’t aware of any leader meetings scheduled in Calgary that would require extra security precautions, but that there would be limited access to the Calgary International Airport during set times for delegation arrivals.

Significant areas of Kananaskis will also be closed to the public, including a large stretch of Highway 40 going north and south leading to Kananaksis Village, along with numerous back-country trails popular with Calgary visitors.

“This is the zone where, during the summit, we’re not going to allow people into this area unless they’ve been properly accredited. What that means is it needs to be a person who lives in the area, or is required to work in the area to support the summit, or is part of the summit operation,” said C/Supt. Hall.

Calgary Police Service will remain police of jurisdiction for Calgary

The Calgary Police Service will remain the police of jurisdiction for Calgary-based events during the summit, which Supt. Brar clarified for commisioners meant that included any G7-related calls for service that take place within the city limits during the G7 summit.

“In addition to that, and most importantly, we’re responsible for continuing to provide effective and efficient police services to the city during the summit with the CPS, being member of the [Integrated Security and Safety Group] and working closely with our partners over at the City of Calgary, G7 corporate office,” he said.

“The interests of the city of Calgary are well represented in operational planning for this event.”

The RCMP, through federal legislation, will be acting as the primary law enforcement agency for all of the G7, which includes the mandate to secure the safety of the world leaders attending, but also the overall safety and security of events across the region.

“For the primary leader activity we will see occuring in the Kananaskis region, that’s where you will see the bulk of RCMP security operations. However, in the city, in Calgary as Superintendent Brar indicated, CPS is, of course, the police jurisdiction here,” said C/Supt. Hall.

“They have all the same responsibilities that they have on a day-to-day basis to police the city, however, that in addition to that, they are supporting the RCMP operations around the dignitaries… and while the RCMP will manage the security of the individuals, we are supported in that effort by the CPS.”

Supt. Brar said that the goal of CPS during the summit was to minimize the disruptions to the lives of everyday Calgarians, while ensuring the safety for G7 attendees.

“Our goal is to make those interruptions temporary and minimal, and then anything that we do know in advance, we will communicate directly through our social media channels and other news outlets to make sure that Calgarians stay well informed of any kind of interruptions and that to allow time to plan accordingly,” he said.

Among the outreach methods planned for the G7 include a website, toll-free 1-800 number and email, regular public sessions and updates, and collaboration with local media outlets.

The summit is also planning to open storefront locations for direct community engagement, but the locations of those storefronts has yet to be determined.

The G7 summit is expected to draw thousands of visitors to Calgary and southern Alberta, including 70 official guests representing the G7 nations, 2,000 delegates from G7 nations and non-G7 countries invited by the Government of Canada, over 1,400 journalists, and thousands of security personnel.

The summit itself runs from June 15 through 17, with policing operations beginning on June 1 and winding down starting on June 18.

Kananaskis previously hosted the 28th summit in 2002.