The buildup to this year's G8 summit, in Evian, France, must look very familiar to any Calgarian who's paying attention.
We see the same threats of violence and mayhem, and an immense buildup of troops and military hardware, to the point where the soldiers outnumber the population of Evian.
Here, Springbank Airport was the base for attack helicopters, a no-fly zone was enforced over the city and to the west, and thousands of troops were at the ready.
Most of the public debate was over violent protest, but for organizers and the military, the real fear was deadly international terrorism.
Transport Canada stated that any plane entering the no-fly zone would be shot down. That was a rare moment indeed in Canada -- and the French are now saying they'll bring down any intruding aircraft for the first time since the Second World War.
Our summit, held in Kananaskis Country, June 26 and 27, passed without terrorist incident -- or, at least, without any we were told about.
The face of the G8 became protests, mostly in downtown Calgary. The very thought created dread we'd see the kind of violence that had plagued Halifax only a week earlier, during the preliminary meeting of G-7 finance ministers, and had flared for two years at meetings in Seattle, Washington, Genoa and Quebec City.
But once the protests and marches actually began, we found out that most protesters didn't want violence, and that the small minority who do could be thwarted with smart tactics.
Already it seems that Evian isn't so lucky. The trouble is already flaring, probably because there are many more hard-core radicals at this summit than came to ours.
Most protesters in Calgary were sincere and idealistic young people (and some not so young) who wanted to change policies regarding international aid and Africa.
They were often naive, but somehow all the more admirable for that.
I remember the scrawny youth in the ladybug costume who sported a sign reading, "G8 don't squish me." Then there were Chico and Garth, the "agitators," whose communications were intercepted at city hall as they led the biggest march through the downtown.
Chico and Garth lost touch for a time because one of them was off finding a washroom. They spent a lot of their time trying to find "the street with no cars on it" (Stephen Avenue) and the Trans-Canada to Kananaskis ("that's, like, west, right?").
It was obvious the protesters were no threat, except perhaps to their own health. City officials, as they listened in, actually worried about whether these people had enough food and water.
The few knots of serious troublemakers were frustrated by the organizers' refusal to offer any targets or fixed installations that could be used to stir up feelings against the "oppressors."
In the funniest moment I heard about, a group of radicals tried to storm a barricade on Stephen Avenue. The police saw them coming and momentarily moved the fence aside, letting them through.
The protesters, extremely put out, actually considered storming it again from the other side. Anything to create an incident.
A week's close contact with the G8 taught me the risk at these summits isn't always as dire as the inevitable media barrage leads us to believe.
For Calgary, the lack of violence became a credit to the city. Evian may prove that we were lucky as well as smart.
dbraid@nucleus.com
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