Mounties, drones, fences, and even children get deployed to keep world leaders safe as the G7 comes to the mountains

Hamilton Spectator

7 hours ago

KANANASKIS, ALTA — When the yellow school bus came to a halt this morning, Emily Marinelli, 12, wasn't convinced she was going to enjoy this.
But now she's in the swing of things. She adjusts her safety gloves and jams the shears that are half her height into the base of a bush, lopping off a buffalo berry branch with an authoritative thwack. 'We're cutting them down so that they don't have to euthanize or kill the bears,' she said, holding out a severed branch, her safety goggles perched on her pink-streaked hair.
Drawn in equal parts to forest and sunlight, the berry bushes often grow alongside road and trails, acting as the gateway snack that draws grizzlies and black bears out of the trees and into the path of humans. Sometimes even high-profile humans. 'We're in the area where the G7 is going to be,' she explains, waving at the mountains behind her.
This G7 legacy project deploys Grade 6 students to help cut down berry bushes that could attract bears.
The gathering was always going to be high stakes. It's set against the backdrop of a volatile American-driven trade war and high-profile conflicts in Europe and the Middle East. Leaders from the U.K., France, Germany, Japan, Italy will be in attendance, and of course, U.S. President Donald Trump. Host countries also have the right to invite others — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to attend, while Carney's government has also reached out to leaders whose invitations raised controversy, including India's Narendra Modi and Saudi Arabia's
Mohammad bin Salman
.
The Grade 6 students aren't the first line of defence against bears for the meeting. Their particular G7 project is largely educational: these bushes won't produce berries until fall, after the leaders are back home, and in any case, a newly constructed eight-foot fence now surrounds the hotel hosting the summit. But even having to consider bear intrusion plans is part of what makes hosting the G7 in Kananaskis — which will mean welcoming upwards of 5,000 people to a small wilderness refuge and surrounding areas — such a Herculean logistical task.
It's one of the biggest security jobs the RCMP has ever faced — one that includes guarding against everything from cybersecurity threats to protesters to lack of cell reception to yes, bears.
The RCMP says air restrictions will be in place in two main areas during the upcoming G7 Leaders' Summit in Alberta this June. Sgt. Mark Basanta from RCMP Protective Operations says the no-fly zones will include both the Calgary International Airport and Kananaskis, where the leaders will be. (May 30, 2025 / The Canadian Press)
'If we were doing this in Toronto, like the 2010 G20, that has its own challenges,' says RCMP Chief Supt. David Hall, the director of the interagency team that has been planning security measures for the meeting for almost a year. (The
gathering in Toronto
saw massive antiglobalization protests that, while largely peaceful, also saw storefronts smashed and police cars torched. Hundreds were arrested.)
G20 summit protesters clash with riot police in downtown Toronto on Saturday, June 26, 2010.
'If you talked to those planners they'd probably say, 'man, I wish I could do it in a remote area, maybe a little bit more secluded,' Hall said. 'You just manage the challenge you're faced with.'
Of course, isolation may be partially the point. This will be a repeat performance for Kananaskis, which hosted the then-G8 in 2002. (Russia is no longer in the group, rendering the G8 a G7.) There had been fiery protests at the summit in Italy the year prior and the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center had fed fears of terrorism. Then-prime minister Jean Chrétien switched the location from Ottawa to get back to basics but also because, as political scientist
John Kirton
wrote that year, Kananaskis was 'difficult for civil society protesters and terrorists to get to and easy for security forces to defend.'
Anyone who ventured closer, he added, 'are more likely to require search and rescue services from the Canadian Armed Forces standing guard than to inflict any other inconvenience on them.'
Covering a swath of hills and mountains between Calgary and Banff National Park, Kananaskis Country is roughly two-thirds the size of the Greater Toronto Area. The meetings themselves are being held in Kananaskis Village (though the word 'village' might be overstating the case, slightly) which includes a hotel, golf course and nordic spa. There are mountain ranges on all sides, little to no local services, and mostly neighbours of the four-legged variety.
If you're not looking to climb a mountain, the only access is to leave the Trans-Canada Highway and travel 20 minutes down a two-lane highway that caps speed at 90 km/hour, in part because of the erratic way the road curves and dips through the mountain valley, and in part because of the deer and bighorn sheep and bear that regularly wander into the road. In a boon to local hikers and canoe paddlers, cell reception has been installed on the road, which was previously largely a communications black hole.
'It's a lot of geography to secure, an we have plans that enable us to do that, and we've invested in a lot of different technology that will help secure that space and give us that situational awareness,' Hall says.
A black bear roams the Rocky Mountains in Alberta.
In the days before this year's G7, the patio tables were tarped over and the spa pools at the hotel sat empty, the tranquility of a pond between buildings interrupted only by two men in reflective vests debating where to place the sections of fence stacked on the back of their pickup. Staffers in G7 lanyards perused the plaid sweaters at the still-open gift shop. As the summit approaches, an escalating series of security measures have been put in place, with a local ski area, nearby hiking trails and even a few benches with a scenic view of the river blocked off by yellow tape. The
Royal Canadian Air Force
has been flying helicopters over the trees at night.
The pine trees around the hotel are now dotted with security cameras mounted with shiny new screws and hikers in the area have reported venturing into the forest only to run into the military.
'The remoteness affects accommodations, so all the security personnel need somewhere to sleep and eat,' Hall says. 'We've had to take measures around supplying food and water to our folks, and then factoring in the time if they're commuting from hotels and other communities, what does that do to their shifts and how long they're working? And that affects the number of people we need.'
Airplane enthusiasts are setting up at the Calgary International Airport in hopes of seeing some exciting aircraft land for the start of the G7 leaders' summit in nearby Kananaskis, Alta. A group gathered at an airport viewing area in hopes of seeing Air Force 1 carrying U.S. President Donald Trump. (June 15, 2025 / The Canadian Press)
One hotel isn't enough to house everyone, so many participants will be staying in Calgary and the town of Banff, which is an hour away. (If one wonders about the ability of a single hotel to cater to almost a dozen of the most influential people on earth, all presumably accustomed to presidential accommodations, Hall says they will not be commenting on where, exactly, everyone will be sleeping.) But when it comes to getting staff out to Kananaskis, Hall says they've had to stock up on food and water for staff and factor in the travel time from Calgary or Banff when planning out shifts.
It's also a challenging location for those looking to express dissent. Protesters won't be able to get to the actual summit location. Designated protest zones have been set up in Calgary and Banff, though the RCMP says the protesters' message will be '
broadcast
' to the G7 leaders. Some activist leaders have said that they have no desire to antagonize police but may not remain inside the zones — something they're not legally required to do.
Law enforcement officials overseeing security at the upcoming G7 leaders summit in Alberta are expecting large-scale protests but plan to make sure they are peaceful and those taking part will be heard. That includes livestreaming some of the sites to Kananaskis, where the leaders from Canada, the United States, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Italy, as well as the European Union will be meeting from June 15 to 17. (June 2, 2025 / The Canadian Press)
Less than a week before the summit, a
controlled access zone
is in place that will include a 14-kilometre stretch of road and the surrounding mountain ranges, restricting anyone from getting within several kilometres of the village, in a car or on foot. The day before meetings get underway, a no-fly zone will drop around both Kananaskis Village and the Calgary airport, inside of which unauthorized aircraft or drones risk
interception
by a Canadian Armed Forces F-18.
None of which matters much to the animals that are already there. Both black bears and grizzlies are plentiful in the area where the G7 is being held. (They're particularly fond of the dandelions and other greenery around the golf course, bear experts say.) Among the security forces that will be on hand are conservation officers who be ready to deal with any rogue wildlife. The danger is not non-existent or exclusive to humans. The last time Kananaskis hosted, a bear got too close to the venue and, when officials tried to shoo it away, it fell out of a tree and was injured badly enough that it had to be euthanized.
In addition to the fences, the locations of some local bears are monitored and wildlife officers will be standing by to 'haze' any problem bears out of the area by scaring them or ushering them along.
'If you just watch a bear do its normal thing, it's actually really nice,' says Miles Mackinnon, another Grade 6 student who has just used his clippers to make quick work of several buffalo berry bushes growing among the trees next to a parking lot near the G7 site. 'They're really graceful, and they walk really smoothly.'
He's glad to be helping remove the berry bushes that risk drawing bears into contact with humans, which he hopes will allow the bears to live their lives peacefully without interference from people.
The area makes sense for a serious meeting like this, because it's peaceful, he adds.
At least until the motorcades arrive.