Kananaskis prepares to host world leaders
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Duration 3:42
We talk to John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group at the University of Toronto, about Canada's role in hosting next month's G7 leaders' summit.
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CTV News
14 minutes ago
- CTV News
Protests at G7 summit in Alberta set to be largely peaceful, targeting Trump policies
Demonstrators hold a banner reading: "No war, No G7 " during a protest against the G7 summit in Fasano, southern Italy, Saturday, June 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) EDMONTON — Protests during the upcoming G7 leaders summit in Kananaskis, Alta., may be starkly different than demonstrations happening this week against immigration crackdowns in the United States. A University of Toronto research group that has been monitoring the meetings of world leaders since 1998 says its analysis shows Canadian protests are more peaceful and smaller. But similar to the recent demonstrations in Los Angeles, they're likely to be against the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump. 'The Los Angeles protests will add another (issue) the protesters going there already care about, but it won't do anything much more than that,' said John Kirton, director of the G7 Research Group. 'I don't think it'll bring more protesters, too. Nor will the L.A. protests delay Trump from coming here.' Prime Minister Mark Carney is hosting Trump and world leaders from France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy and the European Union for the three-day summit starting Sunday in the Rocky Mountains southwest of Calgary. Leaders of several non-member countries, including India, Ukraine and Mexico, are also set to attend. The summit comes as protests in the United States continue against Trump's immigration raids, particularly his government's detainment of migrants. Hundreds of marines have joined about 4,000 National Guard troops in Los Angeles. The protests have seen clashes with police, burned cars, rubber bullets shot at journalists and arrests. In Alberta, Kirton said protests during the G7 are not expected to be the same. '(The G7's) distinctive mission from the very beginning was to promote within its own members the values of open democracy,' he said. 'In democracies, people are supposed to protest. It's an integral part.' It's unlikely Canada's government would respond to any clashes like Trump, by calling in the military, Kirton added. The remote Kananaskis location will be closed off to the public. Visuals and audio of protesters at three demonstration zones designated by the RCMP — two in downtown Calgary and one in Banff — are to be shown to the leaders and other delegates at the summit on TV screens. Another zone at the Calgary airport won't be broadcast. Kirton said the distance between officials and protesters ensures the summit unfolds peacefully. 'Trump has been subjected to two assassination attempts, and one almost killed him. So you can see why (RCMP) have to be hypervigilant,' Kirton said. The Calgary Raging Grannies group plans to be at the protest zone at Calgary City Hall on Sunday afternoon. Mary Oxendale-Spensley, 74, said the grandmothers will be far from raging and clashing with police when they call out Trump's tariffs and his pitch to annex Canada. 'We do intend to sing,' said the retired teacher. One of their songs in the lineup: 'U.S.A., you have got a problem.' The song calls the U.S. president an 'orange blob' because of his tan, says he's 'way out of line,' and declares 'our sovereign nation will never be yours,' said Oxendale-Spensley. Ensuring Trump hears their message is vital, she said, even if it's on a screen. 'I'm a Canadian. I was Canadian when I was born. I intend to be a Canadian when I die.' It's hard to say how many grannies will be at the protest, she added. 'My big complaint about the grannies always is that we're grannies. People get sick, people break their ankle, that kind of thing.' Protests at the last G7 summit in Kananaskis in 2002 were peaceful, Kirton said, as demonstrators were also given designated zones. 'I do remember most vividly it was very hot,' Kirton said, and there were not many protesters. 'There were so few of them and it was so peaceful that we didn't even bother to estimate a number.' Aside from protests against Trump, some are expected to address other issues — like calling for an end to the Israel-Hamas war and Russia's war in Ukraine, Kirton said. Kirton said he also anticipates a presence from Canadians who want Alberta to separate from Canada, as well as those opposed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Tensions have been high between Canada and India since 2023, when former prime minister Justin Trudeau told the House of Commons that agents of the Indian government were linked to the killing of a Canadian activist for Sikh separatism outside a gurdwara in Surrey, B.C. The World Sikh Organization of Canada said inviting Modi to the G7 is unacceptable. The International League of Peoples' Struggles, an international alliance of grassroots organizations, is expecting about 200 people for a protest also at Calgary City Hall. Yasmeen Khan, vice-chair of the group's North America chapter, said protesters want to raise awareness about various issues, including Indigenous struggles, housing and climate change. 'We'll have banners. We'll be chanting,' she said. 'We will also have some cultural performances from some Indigenous artists and migrant youth.' Mounties said first responders are prepared for protests. 'While the number of participants may vary, we have strong situational awareness of anticipated demonstrations and are well positioned to respond accordingly,' said RCMP spokesman Fraser Logan. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 12, 2025. Fakiha Baig, The Canadian Press
Ottawa Citizen
23 minutes ago
- Ottawa Citizen
WATCH: The 2025 G7 Leaders' Summit in Kananaskis, Spelled Out
Article content As world leaders gather in Alberta from June 15 to 17, this episode of Spelled Out breaks down what the G7 actually is, why it matters, and what to watch for this year. Reporter Bill Kaufmann sets the scene for the three days of meetings in Kananaskis, about one hour west of Calgary, looking at the impact of everything from the war in Ukraine to AI, climate change, and the return of Donald Trump. Article content Article content Article content What is the G7? Article content The G7 is a club of the world's richest democracies: the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada. The European Union also takes part. Article content It started in the 1970s, during a time of global economic chaos, as a way to figure out how to keep the global economy steady. Article content And for half a century, they've been meeting every year, discussing everything from trade to terrorism to tech. Article content The 2025 agenda is packed: economic recovery, climate change, AI, the digital transition, and of course, the war in Ukraine. Article content Article content But what makes this summit especially unpredictable is the return of U.S. President Donald Trump. He's known for challenging traditional alliances and for bringing plenty of drama to global forums. Article content Zelenskyy is pushing for tougher sanctions on Russia and more weapons and aid for Ukraine but that could rub Trump the wrong way, given his reluctance to escalate pressure on Moscow. Article content Article content While a lot of the action happens in front of the cameras, much of the work can take place on the sidelines. Article content At summits like this, leaders break off into smaller, private meetings — sometimes one-on-one. These quiet moments are often where real deals and negotiations happen. Article content Most of the area around the summit site in Kananaskis is closed to the public. Designated protest zones are set up in Calgary and Banff, where over 1,400 journalists will be reporting from an international media centre. Article content
Canada Standard
35 minutes ago
- Canada Standard
Wildfires Push Climate Onto the Agenda as G7 Leaders Meet in Alberta
With the G7 leaders' summit due to descend on Kananaskis, Alberta June 15-17, questions are swirling about what Canada can accomplish with this year's G7 presidency and how agreement is possible with Donald Trump in the room-while swirling smoke from a devastating Prairie wildfire season helps bring climate change back onto the leaders' agenda. Now in its 50th year, the G7 brings together the leaders of seven of the world's biggest economies plus the European Union in what is described as a "forum for co-operation, stability, and shared prosperity." The leaders' summit each year is meant to end with a consensus statement of all the countries. But community voices on everything from climate change to international finance and justice have rarely been satisfied with the outcome. Much of the news analysis leading up to this year's event has cast the G7 as a diminished institution, reduced to handshakes, photo ops, and carefully-worded generalities that are the most the countries can agree to. Coming into this year's summit, the G7's "legitimacy is hanging by a thread. Its promises have fallen flat, its unity is strained, and its moral voice is fading fast," retired civil servant Bhagwant Sandhu writes for The Hill Times. "Originally conceived as a multilateral pact among Western democracies to steward global economic control, the G7 was never intended to serve the desires of its most powerful-and now unpredictable and illiberal-member: the United States," he adds. "The group's initial goals have been obscured by authoritarianism, unilateral action, and creeping militarization." That leaves Prime Minister Mark Carney with a choice, Sandhu says. "Canada can, of course, preside over the usual choreography of communiques and handshakes-or try something more ambitious: restore the G7 to its founding mission." Carney's office kicked off that discussion June 7 with a list of the three "core missions" the PM will pursue in his role as G7 president, all "anchored in building stronger economies"-the same priority, CBC points out, that he has brought to the domestic scene in Canada. The list includes: "Protecting our communities and the world" by "strengthening peace and security, countering foreign interference and transnational crime, and improving joint responses to wildfires"; View our latest digests Building energy security and speeding up the "digital transition" by fortifying critical mineral supply chains and using technologies like artificial intelligence to spur economic growth; Investing in stronger infrastructure, creating higher-paying jobs, and fostering "dynamic", competitive markets for business. But much of the attention so far has been on the chaos Trump will bring to the table, just as he did in 2018 when Canada last hosted the G7 in Charlevoix, Quebec. Then, as now, U.S. tariffs were at the centre of the discussion, and Trump issued two angry tweets pulling the U.S. out of the leaders' final communique, just hours after countries had signed off on the text. "A show of unity on big geopolitical problems that holds longer than a few hours after President Donald Trump's participation will be seen as success after the American president in 2018 blew up a fragile consensus even before he left the last Canada-hosted G7 in Charlevoix, Que., later angrily insulting then-prime minister and G7 host Justin Trudeau," writes Toronto Star Ottawa bureau chief Tonda McCharles. This time around, "a key performance indicator for the summit will [be] getting something down that all leaders can agree upon that will also include the U.S.-and that will be a challenge," Deanna Horton, a diplomat who served twice in the Canadian embassy in Washington, told The Hill Times. On June 11, McCharles reported that organizers of this year's summit are not looking for a final communique that represents a consensus of all G7 members. "Instead, G7 host Carney is expected to issue a G7 chair's statement and the closed-door high-stakes sessions that could nevertheless produce some heated discussions will be summarized in documents likely to be so whitewashed of the juicy bits, that they could almost be written in advance." The Star has details on how the Summit agenda is likely to play out. Carney has also stirred controversy with the list of "middle power" countries he's invited to the summit. In addition to the leaders of Ukraine, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa, Australia, and South Korea, the list includes Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has been linked to acts of murder and extortion on Canadian soil, and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been connected to human rights crackdowns, mistreatment of migrants, and the 2018 murder and dismemberment of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Meanwhile, Carney's plan for the summit makes scant direct reference to past G7 commitments in areas like power sector decarbonization, methane controls, forest and land degradation, and elimination of fossil fuel subsidies-a promise the countries made in 2016 and were supposed to deliver on by this year. "Its climate commitments remain stalled, and the vaunted $600-billion infrastructure pledge to the Global South-first announced in 2021 as the 'Build Back Better World' initiative-has been more frequently rebranded and re-announced than realized," Sandhu writes for The Hill Times. Moreover, "the G7 has yet to fulfill its decades-old promise to allocate 0.7% of each member's gross national income to humanitarian aid. At the start of the 2023 Hiroshima summit, it was still short by a staggering US$4.49-trillion. More troubling still, members like the United Kingdom have diverted aid funds from humanitarian crises to finance NATO expansions, raising serious questions about the group's priorities." In a release this week, Oxfam warned the G7 is in the midst of its biggest-ever foreign aid cut. The member countries, which account for three-quarters of the world's official development assistance, are on track to cut their aid budgets 28% in 2026 compared to 2024 levels, the organization said. "Rather than breaking from the Trump administration's cruel dismantling of USAID and other U.S. foreign assistance, G7 countries like the UK, Germany, and France are instead following the same path, slashing aid with brutal measures that will cost millions of lives," said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar. "The G7's retreat from the world is unprecedented and couldn't come at a worse time, with hunger, poverty, and climate harm intensifying. The G7 cannot claim to build bridges on one hand while tearing them down with the other." Meanwhile, in a G7 agenda stripped bare of any language that could rile up a volatile U.S. president, author Arno Kopecky says the massive wildfires covering swaths of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia are playing into Canadian officials' plan for keeping climate change in the conversation. When officials first began planning the meeting last year, "Canada's Liberal government wanted the G7 to discuss climate change (the host nation sets the summit agenda), but what if Donald Trump was there as President?" Kopecky writes for the Globe and Mail. "This was no abstract worry either: the day before Jasper caught fire, Joe Biden had dropped out of the presidential race, and the Democrats' prospects looked dismal." Officials "knew that if they start with the standard stuff on climate change, Donald Trump and his people would get out their red pens and just say 'no way,'" John Kirton, founding director of the G7 Research Group, told Kopecky. "So then, what is your strategy? And wildfires was the answer." The difference, Kopecky writes, is that while Trump refuses to listen to climate science, he's seen a rash of wildfires since he returned to the White House in January, and his country is now receiving smoke from the blazes in Canada. "So Donald Trump's got a reason to be seen to be doing something about it," Kirton said. It also "speaks volumes" that the energy security section of the G7 agenda talks about artificial intelligence, but makes no reference to oil and gas, Kopecky writes. Source: The Energy Mix
