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CTV News
3 days ago
- Business
- CTV News
Kananaskis golf course getting ready for G7, possible Trump visit
Darren Robinson, general manager of the Kananaskis Country Golf Course, has his hands full preparing the facility for the upcoming G7 Leaders meeting in Kananaskis, Alta., Monday, June 2, CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh KANANASKIS — Darren Robinson had some very important news to tell U.S. president George Bush and José María Aznar, the prime minister of Spain. The pro shop was open. Aznar had told Robinson, general manager of the Kananaskis Country Golf Club in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, that he wanted to visit the shop. True to his word, Robinson walked over to the two world leaders on a patio and interrupted their conversation. 'What was probably only 10 seconds felt like 10 minutes,' Robinson recalled of the G8 leaders' summit in 2002 in Kananaskis. He said the pair paused their discussion, and Bush waved over British prime minister Tony Blair. The four then talked about golf, running, the mountains, as the other leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, chatted ahead of a dinner at the golf club. 'I'm like, somebody pinch me. It's really happening,' Robinson said. Twenty-three years later, Robinson is again teeing up to possibly host some of the world's most powerful people for the G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis set for June 15-17. The golf club is included in the tightly controlled perimeter that will be closed to public access during the summit and is one of two primary locations the leaders could use. The summit is being hosted by the Pomeroy Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, a short drive from the course. There's speculation U.S. President Donald Trump, with his known affection for golf, could tee off on the scenic course that sits at the foot of Mount Kidd. Trump even owns Kananaskis Country Golf Club merchandise. Prime Minister Mark Carney gifted the president a hat and gear from the club during his first White House visit in early May. Requests for comment to the White House and the Prime Minister's Office about whether Trump or Carney would get in a golf game at the summit were not returned. The summit's itinerary hasn't been shared publicly. And if history informs Robinson's expectations, any activities involving leaders at the course would be spontaneous. Robinson remembers one afternoon in 2002, when he mentioned to Jean Chrétien, touring the club before an upcoming dinner, that it was a shame the prime minister didn't have time to play. '(Chrétien) says, 'Who says I don't have time?' And he starts taking off his tie and jacket,' said Robinson, mimicking Chrétien's French accent. Chrétien hit two clean shots on his way to the putting green, said Robinson. But on the third shot, a short chip to get on the green, the prime minister accidentally nicked a divot out of the grass before making contact with the ball. 'Before the ball even stops rolling, he reaches into his pocket, drops another one, hits that nicely onto the green,' Robinson said. 'And then he looks at me and says, 'I call that a Clinton.'' Chrétien, after dropping the reference to former U.S. president Bill Clinton, played three more holes before getting back to work, said Robinson. He added that several interactions he had with Bush were personal highlights of the summit. It was a year after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. U.S. staffers asked Robinson to draw up a five-kilometre loop the president could run the next morning. When Bush arrived early the next day in his sneakers, he asked if a woman at the club dressed in athletic gear would jog with him, said Robinson. 'Now I'm filming the two of them walking up. And president Bush says to me, 'You set me up with an Olympic runner.'' Months later, Robinson received a manila envelope in the mail from the White House with a letter signed by Bush thanking him for the stay and a photo of the two of them talking on the club patio. This year, Robinson said he'll be on the course waiting to help, but isn't expecting a 2002 repeat. 'You hope that there's any opportunity to have some similar and memorable experiences,' he said while standing at a tee box overlooking the 16th hole on the course. 'If they happen, great. That would be wonderful. And if they don't, they don't.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 6, 2025. Matthew Scace, The Canadian Press
Local Spain
01-04-2025
- Business
- Local Spain
Spaniards no better off than 25 years ago despite economic growth
Newly published data from the European Statistics Office places Spain eight points below the EU's average income level, the same rate as 25 years ago, proof that macroeconomics isn't necessarily a reflection of the average wealth of a country's population. There has been no change to the Gross Domestic Product per capita in terms of purchasing power of the Spanish population over the past quarter of a century, which according to Eurostat stood at €27,770 in 2024. Eurostat does estimate that Spain's widely reported economic growth has helped Spaniards be wealthier in real terms, but not by much - only one point higher than in 2023 and still trailing at 92 percent of the EU average. By contrast, Cypriots and Maltese have become wealthier than Spaniards over the past 25 years, and the citizens of other nations such as the Czech Republic and Slovenia and Lithuania have caught up to Spaniards and are now on a similar wealth scale, whereas in 1999 they were far behind. If it's any consolation, the purchasing power of Italians, French, Finnish, Swedish and Austrians has also dropped since 1999, even though their wealth in real terms is still higher than that of Spaniards. Overall, Spaniards are the 12th wealthiest people in the EU, with Luxembourgers, Danes and Belgians at the top of the table. Spaniards' average purchasing power has experienced ups and downs over the past 25 years. It came close to the EU average in the final years of José María Aznar in the early 2000s, and even surpassed it in the first years of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. However, this was somewhat of a mirage. Eurostat's data reflects how the Spanish economy manages to grow faster than others when it's smooth sailing, but when crises hit, it holds up much less well (cue the 2008 financial crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic). The result is that Spain has returned to square one and Spaniards are no better off than they were 25 years ago. Former Bank of Spain head Pablo Hernández de Cos already warned in 2024 that "Spain has stopped converging with Europe in a sustained manner since the 2007 financial crisis, and the main reasons are low productivity and low employment rates." According to Hernández de Cos, other factors which have prevented Spain from being on a par with the EU include the small size of Spanish companies, increasing regulatory hurdles, the low level of worker training and innovation, a loss of efficiency in the country's administrations and the ageing of Spain's population. Eastern European countries have fared better as have other large economies, such as France and Italy, which continue to outperform Spain even though they also have seen the purchasing power of their citizens fall in recent years.
