KANANASKIS, Alberta - Legend says Kananaskis was named for a Cree Indian who survived an ax blow to the head.
A gathering of leaders of the world's industrial powers in late June could be another legendary headache for this isolated Rocky Mountain hiking and skiing haven renowned for exquisite vistas.
It will be the first meeting of the Group of Eight leaders — from the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia — since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
That means even tighter security than the initial plans for dealing with anti-globalization demonstrations like those that marred last year's G-8 summit in Genoa, Italy, where one protester died in clashes with police.
Preventing a terrorist attack, as well as fending off protesters, will mean disrupting some of the serenity and isolation of Kananaskis — pronounced kan-ann-AS-kiss — in southern Alberta.
Organizers and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police refuse to reveal many specifics, such as the security price tag expected to reach a few hundred million dollars. Their goal is to guarantee the safety of world leaders at a meeting insulated from the fuss of disruptive demonstrations, ceremonial duties and news media glare.
Even before Sept. 11, Prime Minister Jean Chretien had chosen Kananaskis — which is accessible by only one paved road — to restore the relaxed, private atmosphere of the original annual summits that began in 1975 in Rambouillet, France.
Robert Fowler, Chretien's personal representative for the meeting, noted it would be the ninth attended by his boss as prime minister, including one he was host to in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1995.
"He wanted a place where leaders could schmooze and meet ... and not spend lots of time going through ceremonial departures and arrivals and getting in corteges and parading through the streets," said Fowler, who also is Canada's ambassador to Italy. "He wanted a kind of intimate atmosphere where they could just get down to basics."
Major changes from recent summits include the remote setting and smaller delegations from each country. The Kananaskis hotels will be lodging 450 people, less than the size of one nation's delegation last summer in Genoa.
The gathering also will last only 30 hours instead of the usual three days, and media access will be limited. Journalists will stay in Calgary, an hour to the east, and coverage in Kananaskis will be limited to media pools brought to the resort.
"It's a different kind of summit," Fowler said in an interview in his Ottawa office. There won't be "legions of bureaucrats and advisers storming about."
Joking that even the participants rarely read the final communiques, Fowler said Chretien would issue a brief chairman's summary of six or seven paragraphs at the end. It will mention the three major agenda items — the global economy, terrorism and a new African development plan pushed by Chretien — along with any other significant issues that come up, he said.
The influence of the Sept. 11 attacks is evident. "Terrorism isn't new, but would terrorism be one of only three major items on the agenda without Sept. 11? I doubt it," Fowler said.
Security agents from the participating countries and the RCMP have brought unprecedented scrutiny to a resort area of less than 500 residents that didn't get its own postal code until 1987.
The skies above will be closed to air traffic and patrolled by jet fighters. On the ground, the RCMP, backed by military forces, will create a security zone 13 kilometers (almost eight miles) in diameter around the Kananaskis resort, with checkpoints along Highway 40, the lone paved road to the site. Residents and workers will be accredited to enter, but others will require a police escort, RCMP Cpl. Jamie Johnston said.
Services such as water supply are being checked for vulnerability to possible sabotage. A notice from the TransAlta power company posted at the small shopping center warns residents that low-flying helicopters will be checking power lines before the summit.
Even special food inspectors will examine the meals served the eight world leaders and freeze samples for testing in case anyone get sick, said Jeff O'Neill, the resort's executive chef.
Police also will keep watch on the mountain wilderness around the resort in case protesters try to sneak in across rugged terrain rife with grizzly bears, according to Johnston.
He and Fowler said there are no plans to allow any demonstrators — even a small delegation — to approach within miles (kilometers) of the meeting for any reason.
Fowler noted the organizing committees and governments officials had solicited public comments about topics on the summit's agenda, saying that was more inclusive than in the past. "The reality of our world is not everybody can participate directly in decision-making," he said.
Security concerns spawned rumors that Kananaskis would shut down for weeks because of the summit, something denied by Dale Dyck, general manager of the Delta Hotel.
"I remember when I read it, kind of going, `Oh dear,'" Dyck said.
But while the summit will mean limited movement for a few days, local services should generally be able to operate as normal, he said.
"The biggest thing for us is awareness and what we're hoping it will do as far as putting us on a world stage," Dyck said.
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