The combined RCMP, Calgary Police Service, Alberta Sheriffs, Alberta Conservation Officers, Canadian Armed Forces, and other law enforcement agencies that make up the security planning for the upcoming G7 conference are confident.

Confident that world leaders will be able to travel to Calgary, enjoy themselves in the world-renowned beauty of Alberta’s Kananaskis region, and then return home safe.

“They’re going to benefit from seeing the area, and then they’re going to go home safe and secure. Then all of our people that are working on this, they also are going to go home safe and secure,” said Chief Superintendent David Hall with the RCMP, and Integrated Safety and Security Group (ISSG) Event Security Director.

“Those things that we can control we’ve planned for properly, and those things we can’t, and wildfire, we have contingency plans around those, and that’s going to be successful.”

Final details about the scope, but not the operations of the ISSG, were answered by the group on June 2, addressing concerns about safety and security of both summit participants and the public.

The key message from Supt. Hall, was that whether the threat consisted of natural disasters like wildfire, community-centric issues like demonstrations, to technological threats like drones and cyber warfare, Canada is ready.

“No matter what country hosted, it is the largest domestic security operation annually for whichever countries the host country,” he said.

In Calgary, Superintendent Joe Brar with the Calgary Police Service, said that over the period of the G7 would see many different police uniforms on the streets of Calgary, and all officers would have the same responsibilities and the same authority as members of CPS for the duration.

He said that one of the major goals for the service was to ensure that regular police service would remain available to Calgarians throughout the meetings.

“In addition to that, as a police and jurisdiction in Calgary, we are also responsible for policing any event related to the G7 Summit that includes protest management. This is a monumental task, and one that the Calgary police service cannot undertake on their own,” he said.

Safety for all the top priority for ISSG

Alongside providing for the safety of the three designated protest zones in Calgary, two of which will be live streamed to the G7 site in Kananaskis for world leaders to see, CPS was prepared to ensure that any disruptions to Calgarians were temporary, he said.

Brar said that of the groups they have spoken to, more than a dozen that plan to protest have said they will be peaceful and lawful, and CPS is prepared to deal with any unlawful behaviour.

“If we ended up in situation where there is a riot or mass demonstrations where there’s lots of unlawful behaviour, that we would implement a mass arrest plan—a mass arrest plan based on lessons learnt from previous experiences to make sure that police services [are provided] with duty of care and our obligation of the Charter,” Brar said.

As part of the G7, temporary no-fly zones will be instituted centring over the Calgary International Airport, which will cover most of Calgary, and a permanent no-fly zone will be in place over Kananaskis.

Drones will likewise not be permitted to be flown during the G7 in either of those zones for the duration of the conference.

Supt. Hall said that although specific technologies or techniques wouldn’t be revealed as to how drone flights would be prevented, the airspace would be protected against the use of drones in an offensive capacity.

That threat, largely amplified by the massively successful Ukranian Special Services drone attack that crippled over 30 per cent of the Russian Federation’s strategic bomber fleet, was just one one the types of threats identified by the RCMP.

“What we saw in 2002, when that summit was the first major international event to occur after September 11… that security footprint was very focused on, like Al Qaeda style or September 11 style attack. That’s not the environment we’re in now,” Hall said.

He said that in the first couple of weeks of planning, they saw an attempted assassination attempt on President Donald Trump, as well as multiple international conflicts that have led to other murders.

“Our planning is dictated on information that we’re receiving around risk and threats, and that information changes on sort of a daily basis,” Hall said.

“The biggest takeaway in terms of previous events is, is the degree of integration that you’re seeing here. So you know, as much as I’ve said that it’s the RCMP legislated mandate to protect the summit, we can’t we cannot do this alone.”

Brigadier General L.W. Rutland, Commander of Joint Task Force Cadence, said that the Canadian Armed Forces have been planning and practising for months to provide the specialized defence capabilities that are unique to the CAF.

He said that the armed forces would be providing patrols around Kananaskis, along with specialized services like ordnance disposal and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear materials threat defence.

NORAD would be providing aerospace warning and control, and it would be likely for Calgarians to see military aircraft during the duration of the G7.

“So, every incident, such as a CAF patrol encountering an unauthorized person, is designed to be communicated swiftly and efficiently across all partners, as autonomy and information saves precious time that is crucial in crisis,” he said.

More information about the security planning for the G7 is available at g7.canada.ca.