Calgary police and Mounties are preparing for chemical weapons, terrorism and even nuclear attack as they train for a worst-case scenario during June's G-8 summit.
Calgary's 1,400 front-line officers are training for any imaginable incident -- a preparedness level heightened by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Police are also being reminded of their powers of arrest and detention, and their responsibilities in dealing with protesters. The training includes refresher courses on riot gear, pepper spray, gas masks and multiple arrests.
More alarming are the sections on the threat of terrorism, chemical and biological weapons and even a nuclear attack.
"We hope the G-8 will amount to peaceful protest, but we are preparing for everything that could happen, any situations," said Sgt. Howard Burns, the officer in charge of training Calgary police for the two-day summit, to be held in Kananaskis on June 26 and 27.
"We make our people aware all of those things are possibilities. Anything that has happened anywhere else in the world could happen in Calgary."
The city's force is working with the Canadian military and the RCMP, who are going through their own training in advance of the summit.
Cpl. Patrick Webb, of the RCMP's G-8 attachment, said Mounties are also working on the premise of a "worst-case scenario," including biological and chemical weapons.
"It would be remiss of the RCMP and the city police to say, 'OK, there's a possibility of biological attack, there's the possibility of someone using chemicals, but we're not going to talk about it,' " he said.
The heightened level of security is due in part to the increased violence seen at other summits.
A state of civil emergency was declared during the World Trade Organization ministers' meeting in Seattle 21/2 years ago. Since then, violence has become synonymous with such events.
Anti-globalization protesters and environmental activists from around the world are already planning to converge on Calgary and Kananaskis Country for the summit.
Burns said the force has studied events at other summits, including the Summit of the Americas in Quebec City.
"We saw what happened at the Summit of Americas, so I guess we can expect that something like that could happen in Calgary," he said.
"We saw what occurred in the United States, and I'm not comparing the United States to Canada, but we saw what occurred on Sept. 11, so it would be a prudent thing for us to prepare."
Insp. Al Redford, a member of the joint G-8 security team, said Calgary police underwent similar training for the World Petroleum Congress in summer 2000.
He said G-8 provides an opportunity to update officers' policing skills.
"It provides our officers with a refresher about their responsibilities and their authorities in situations where large crowds might gather," Redford said.
Sarah Kerr, a Calgary activist, said police are "fear mongering" by talking publicly about the risk of terrorism and nuclear attack. She said such talk threatens to overshadow the issues most activists want highlighted during the summit.
About 25 officers spent Tuesday at downtown police headquarters, listening to Crown prosecutor Mac Vomberg discuss G-8 issues.
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