Opinion: The G7 is coming to the Bow Valley — and I'm leaving
Article content
With the G7 summit scheduled in Kananaskis in June, international attention is turning toward the Bow Valley. Leaders from around the world will gather to discuss climate, security and global co-operation.
Article content
Article content
It's a big moment for Canada, and a bigger disruption for the communities next door.
Article content
I live in Canmore. Normally, this time of year is for early-season rides on the Minnewanka Loop, peaceful trips to Castle Junction while the road is closed to cars, and hours on my mountain bike weaving through trails such as Highline and Cloudline. This June, all of that becomes far more difficult to access.
Article content
Article content
Those trails? Officially open in some cases, but practically out of reach.
Article content
Article content
The Minnewanka Loop? Technically there, but functionally locked down behind security perimeters. Castle Junction? Only accessible if you're willing to cycle through Banff during a summit-level lockdown. Even the Canmore Nordic Centre, while 'open,' is expected to be wrapped in just enough operational ambiguity to make a peaceful ride feel like trespassing — complete with the faint possibility someone in camo might ask if your hydration pack is a security risk.
And the Legacy Trail? That cheerful bike path beside the highway might now double as a surveillance corridor.
Article content
So, I've made a decision. I'm stepping away. Just briefly. Not because I don't belong here — I do — but because for those few days in June, it won't feel like the Canmore I know. And while I support the principles of the G7, I also support my sanity.
Article content
Article content
This isn't about protest or politics. It's about maintaining a sense of normalcy in a place that, for a few days in June, won't feel like home. I support the goals behind the G7, but I also value routine, familiarity and a sense of place. And this disruption isn't happening in a vacuum.
Article content
Canmore has changed. Over-tourism is our new normal. Trailheads are packed, garbage bins overflow and last August, during the Folk Festival, the sewage treatment plant did, too. The stench lingered as a reminder that this town is being pushed beyond its capacity.
Article content
Tourism bureaus have spent years marketing this valley as a dream destination and now residents are left managing the consequences. We're not just competing for parking spots — we're competing for the town's basic functionality.
Article content
The G7 simply supersizes it, with black SUVs, airspace restrictions, helicopters overhead and security fit for a Cold War thriller. It's no longer just about hosting a summit, it's about showcasing a sanitized version of the Rockies while real life is cordoned off behind perimeters.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
15 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Kananaskis: An explainer on Alberta's cherished park and G7 host location
CALGARY – For the next week, Derek Ryder will be temporarily divorced from his favourite mountain range and beloved trails in Kananaskis, Alta., so the world's most powerful people can safely gather for the G7 leaders summit. The spokesman for Friends of Kananaskis Country, an environmental stewardship group for the region, has been trekking in Kananaskis Country, informally known as K-Country, since 1976. 'I've been basically everywhere,' says Ryder, who added he's traversed more kilometres in Kananaskis than he can count. As the G7 leaders prepare for the annual meeting in Kananaskis, which first hosted the summit in 2002, the world's eyes will be on the region's dense forest and jagged alpine. What is Kananaskis? Comprising several provincial parks, Kananaskis was created by former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed in 1978. The Alberta Parks website says Lougheed was convinced to establish the park after a single helicopter ride over the jagged mountains. From above, the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge — chosen as the leaders' residence for the summit — is a mere pinprick surrounded by over 4,000 square kilometres of Rocky Mountain wilderness abutting Banff National Park. Unlike past summits in urban centres, the leaders are to be cordoned off from the outside world. Kananaskis has a small local population of 156, according to the most recent census. 'Block one road on two ends, and you pretty much have an isolated world in K-Country,' Ryder says. Who will be at the G7? Prime Minister Mark Carney will chair the summit. He is to be joined by: U.S. President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The presidents of the European Council and European Commission usually represent the European Union. A prominent group of invited non-G7 leaders are also to attend, including Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The late Pope Francis was at last year's G7, becoming the first pontiff to address the forum. There's been no public chatter about whether Pope Leo XIV might be in Kananaskis. The three-day summit starts Sunday. How do you get to Kananaskis Village? Kananaskis Village is roughly 75 kilometres southwest of Calgary. It has two entry points. The first is off the Trans-Canada Highway en route to Canmore and Banff. Drivers can otherwise enter through a rural road. Other sections of the park, mostly south of the village, are still set to be open during the summit. Is it similar to Banff? Though it shares a mountain range with Banff National Park, Ryder says the wilderness in Kananaskis has a unique feel that separates itself from the national parks. 'To me, it feels less like a museum,' he says. The area's popularity has increased over the past decade, adds Trevor Julian, executive director of Friends of Kananaskis. But its relatively quieter trails are alluring to some hikers, he says. Banff, meanwhile, attracts more than four million people every year. 'I find there's so many hidden pockets of Kananaskis where you can go for the day — or days — and not see people.' Julian says. Are bears a risk? Kananaskis is native bear territory, Ryder says, and the animals happily traverse through Kananaskis Village on any given day. Two layers of fences line the perimeter of the village. Ryder doesn't believe that will keep them out. 'Fences, unless they're electrified, don't stop bears from doing anything,' Ryder says. But bears are more interested in eating plants than wreaking havoc on talks between prime ministers and presidents, he says. During the 2002 summit in Kananaskis, a bear climbed a tree near the site and, as conservation officers tried to lure it down, the animal fell and died from its injuries. 'There's no magic in this,' Ryder says. 'There's only really good people doing the best job we can.' What else should I know about Kananaskis? In 2013, Kananaskis saw hundreds of kilometres of trails washed away by sudden flooding, which also forced out 110,000 people downstream in Calgary. The historic flood wiped out much of the picturesque 36-hole golf course at Kananaskis and took five years to rebuild. Darren Robinson, general manager of Kananaskis Country Golf Club, says a few employees stayed on during the closure. Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Ryder, who has written a book about the flood, says it 'massacred' trails and the road winding through Kananaskis. In some areas, the flood redirected water flows in such a way that former ponds are now dry pits. 'It was pretty traumatic,' he says. Ryder was among an army of volunteers who helped rebuild trails, bridges and boardwalks, though many trails have permanently disappeared. 'In restoring K-Country, I think in a lot of ways, we restored ourselves,' he says. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 11, 2025.
Toronto Star
2 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Inviting Narenda Modi to the G7 summit was the right move for Mark Carney
Stephen Harper was right about India. And Mark Carney was right to invite India's Narendra Modi to next week's G7 summit in Canada. As a former Canadian prime minister offering advice to the current PM, Harper argued persuasively this month that Canada needs to move on from the latest impasse with India. Carney did precisely that because the time was right. Many Sikh Canadians bristled over the decision. Human rights critics argued that Carney moved too fast. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW But the world of law and order is changing in the new world order. As a middle power caught between the big players, Canada doesn't have as many choices — or as many choice friends and allies — as it might have once imagined. Justin Trudeau liked to say, upon defeating Harper as prime minister a decade ago, that the world needs more Canada. But Canada has moved on from Trudeau — and the world has moved on, too. The world doesn't much need Canada anymore. Today, it wants India more than ever. Canada, too, needs India, the world's largest democracy and most populous nation. As this year's host for the summit of industrialized nations, Canada plays a special role convening all seven member countries — and inviting guest leaders, like Modi, to join them in Alberta next week. It's an exclusive club that operates by consensus, which means we can't just pick and choose who's invited, who's disinvited and who displeases us. In truth, we're in the club and it's our turn to convene, but it's not our club to reconfigure. Federal Politics Analysis Mark Carney prepares for G7 summit littered with potential landmines Tonda MacCharles As G7 host, we don't just invite who we like. We invite who matters. That's diplomacy. That's the compromise of politics and the reality of realpolitik. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW That's not to say Canada was wrong to call out allegations of Indian misconduct at the bilateral level in late 2023. But at the multilateral level in 2025, we need to pick our fights and choose our timing. It has been nearly two years since Canada publicized and protested 'credible allegations' linking agents of India to the killing of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar near Vancouver. India dismissed the allegations and bilateral ties plummeted. Of course, when the United States made related allegations of Indian misconduct on American soil, India's government had a more measured and co-operative response. But at the end of the day, the U.S. and India moved on — not because the indictment didn't matter, but because national interests also matter. America needs and wants India as a counterweight to China. Canada, too, needs counterweights — not just against China but America. In today's beggar-thy-neighbour world, beggars can't be choosy. Middle powers can't be fussy. Canada is still reeling from the rupture in relations with China, when Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor were held hostage over the Huawei affair pitting U.S. commercial and criminal interests against those of China. Today, Canada is once again talking to China and trying to rebuild relations despite the bad blood. ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW Canada has barely recovered from the disruption of relations with Saudi Arabia in 2018, when criticism of its human rights record led to commercial retaliation and the sudden withdrawal of its medical students from Canadian universities. Against that backdrop, Canada can't stay mad at so many countries for so long. Bilateral irritants are real and human rights matter, but international relations and commercial ruptures can have enormous fallout — as our farmers in Saskatchewan can attest after bearing the brunt of Chinese retaliation over exports from the prairies. Canada cannot hold out forever against two of the most populous countries on the planet (China and India) and one of its richest nations (Saudi Arabia). We cannot fight everyone else at once. That explains why Carney has belatedly reached out to Saudi Arabia's Prince Mohammed bin Salman to attend the summit. The crown prince was an outlaw and an outlier amid allegations that his intelligence services killed dissident Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul, but even America's then-president Joe Biden set aside his harsh rebukes to meet bin Salman in Saudi Arabia when the time came. India is a consequential country that matters in any global discussion about trade, climate change and health. It cannot be wished away or put on hold. Two decades ago, ahead of another such summit for the G8 (as it was then called, before a warmongering Russia was disinvited), I was assigned to write about India's challenges because its then-prime minister, Manmohan Singh, was invited to attend. Then as now, India was at the table with industrialized nations as a rising global power. Canada, like the G7, can't afford to exclude India — or Saudi Arabia or China or America. No truck or trade for their transgressions? That's a dead end given the obstacles facing Canada today. Politics Headlines Newsletter Get the latest news and unmatched insights in your inbox every evening Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. Please enter a valid email address. Sign Up Yes, I'd also like to receive customized content suggestions and promotional messages from the Star. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Politics Headlines Newsletter You're signed up! You'll start getting Politics Headlines in your inbox soon. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
G7 Leaders' Summit road and trail closures in place around Kananaskis
The G7 Leaders' Summit begins Sunday, and in preparation, some roads and trails are now closed in the Kananaskis area.
