When opportunity knocks, you answer.
But what if it comes saddled with company - in the form of thousands of protesters and the very real possibility of violence? Do you open the door, or slam shut the dead bolt?
The G-8 summit in Kananaskis is fast approaching.
Whether it is an economic windfall, or a financial disaster, hinges greatly on breaking the cycle of violence that's marred other summits in recent years.
What's certain is this: come June, thousands of delegates, journalists and protesters will flood the city.
Calgarians have a difficult, yet crucial choice: Embrace the summit, and possibly reap the benefits, or shy away, and prove the doom-and-gloom pundits right.
"You can't live in a bunker mentality," says Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier. "(The G-8 summit) is not doom and gloom. It's a chance to showcase Calgary to the world - and it's an opportunity we can't miss."
The best case scenario for Calgary is a trouble-free summit that pumps millions of dollars into the economy, while netting priceless international exposure for the city.
Many are hoping for a repeat of the World Petroleum Congress experience of 2000. Calgary spent $2.2-million to secure the meeting, yet reaped an estimated $15 to $20 million in direct economic benefits.
Given the rising levels of summit violence - and the increased threat of terror attack since Sept. 11 - some say it's difficult to see any benefit to hosting these events.
At first glance, the track record for some recent summits isn't pretty:
Some firsthand witnesses of summit violence say the meetings should be shelved altogether.
Carol Landry-Casault, operator of a horse-and-carriage service in Quebec City, says he "could barely walk the streets because of the . . . tear gas" at the Summit of the Americas.
"This isn't a tourist event. You see violence, with people throwing bricks and evacuating their homes," he said recently while tending his horse 'Nike' in Old Quebec.
"I would rather not have (summits) here and I wouldn't wish it on Calgary."
Rumours abound that security for the June 26-27 summit in Kananaskis will exceed $300 million - money some critics say would be better spent elsewhere.
Others argue the economic boost that summits provide their hosts makes the events worthwhile.
A Laval University economic impact study on the Summit of the Americas estimated a $133-million injection into the Canadian economy, with $123 million going directly to Quebec.
Calgary civic leaders and the business community would love to see those kind of figures repeated here in June.
City Hall and Calgary business have commissioned a similar study for the G-8.
"This will be very useful," says Ardith Finnegan, spokeswoman for Tourism Calgary. "This will tell you exactly what this thing is worth."
That, of course, is the crucial question: What is the true value of hosting world summits?
Is it measured in dollars and cents sales, or is the value more intangible, more long-term?
Believe it or not, G7/G-8 summits once held festival-like atmospheres.
At the 1995 G7 plus Russia in Halifax, Haligonians sat in streetside bistros, sipping lattes and listening to buskers, as world leaders gladhanded with throngs of onlookers along the waterfront.
The cost of the Halifax summit was $28-million. The event pumped about $14.1 million into the local economy.
The Seattle business community certainly saw hosting the WTO meetings as a wonderful chance to showcase the city to the world.
Sam Kaplan, a spokesman for the Trade Alliance of Greater Seattle, says no one even considered widespread violent protest would break out.
"It was sold to merchants as something that was going to make (them) a mint," Kaplan says.
When the WTO summit erupted in street brawls between police and protesters, it seemed the city's dream of an economic windfall had disappeared under a pall of tear gas and pepper spray.
Of greater concern was the potential damage done to Seattle's reputation as a business-friendly gateway to Asia-Pacific markets.
The spectre of Seattle loomed large in the minds of Quebeckers in the months leading to the Summit of the Americas in 2001.
Their fears were amplified when security forces decided to wall off the summit site with a 3.8-kilometre steel fence.
In the end, skirmishes did break out between police and protesters, costing businesses about $7 million.
Quebec City business officials say the losses weren't necessarily the result of on-the-ground protests. They say the blame lies with "fearmongering" by local and national media.
Paul Christian-Nolin, a Quebec City Chamber of Commerce official, says media reports in advance of the summit focused almost entirely on the likelihood of violence. This, he says, created a climate of fear in the city and a mass exodus of shoppers during the summit.
"Because of the media, people were scared," Christian-Nolin says. "There was lots of lost business, because everyone wanted to get out of the city."
A similar story unfolded in Ottawa during last November's G-20 meetings.
Merchants are still demanding compensation for "significant" losses resulting from the summit.
The event was switched to Ottawa last minute after New Delhi balked as host.
The change of venue came as merchants were gearing up for their Christmas season, a make or break time for many because the window of sales opportunity is short, while the stakes are high.
Given less than two weeks to prepare, some merchants closed, while others stayed open in the hope of capitalizing on the hordes of anticipated delegates, police and protesters.
While, the summit was relatively violence-free, some merchants still claim to have suffered.
As in Quebec City, it seems violence-fearing Ottawans stayed away in droves.
"It was the beginning of our peak season . . . (and) it was just completely desolate down here," says Peggy Ducharme, spokeswoman for the Downtown Rideau Business Association. "Business was down by half at least. We're still trying to analyze the impact."
The lesson for Calgary? Sometimes the fear of summit violence can do more harm than the streetfights themselves.
G-8 security officials admit the media hold great sway over public perception.
Calgary RCMP Corp. Patrick Webb, a G-8 security spokesman, says the majority of protesters are peaceful - and the media owe it to the public to reflect that.
"You have to get past what you see on the TV screen," he says. "We trust the media to present a balanced view."
A recent survey suggested 71 per cent of Calgarians see the G-8 as a potential economic boon for the city.
Jim Chrisman, a management professor at the University of Calgary, says their optimism is well founded.
Delegates, police and protesters all need to eat. They need places to sleep. Summits can pump a great deal of money into hotels, restaurants and other service industries.
Even the enormous security costs can, in some ways, be considered a benefit.
Calgary's police service has budgeted $40 million for security, much of which will cover new equipment and overtime for officers.
The trickle down effect of thousands of police officers receiving huge paycheques for overtime, and money spent on catering and other summit-related services "can be a huge revenue injection," Chrisman says.
Of greater benefit, however, is the worldwide publicity summits garner for host cities.
"Certainly, there is an element of risk," Chrisman says. "(However,) it would take a lot of money to . . . get that kind of publicity. That (has) . . . a strong, positive impact for a long period of time."
Kaplan, of the Seattle Trade Alliance, says the WTO violence at first soured the business community on hosting future summits.
Time and hindsight, however, have since softened that view. He says the "Battle of Seattle" vaulted the city onto the world stage.
Today, Seattle businesses are parlaying that exposure into new economic opportunity, both at home and abroad.
"The good thing is people know where Seattle is now," Kaplan says.
Business leaders in Quebec City are singing the same tune.
They say the Summit of the Americas earned Quebec City its 15 minutes of international fame - and local businesses are reaping the benefits.
"Even with all the negative aspects, it still kept us on the map," says Chamber of Commerce official Robert McGoldrick. "Now, people think it was a good thing."
As for the protesters themselves, they see the hand-wringing over the economic risks of summits as typical capitalistic ignorance of the real issues surrounding such meetings.
"I find it incredible they're worried about a few broken windows (during summit protests), when corporations are inflicting horrors on the Third World as we speak," says Seattle-based activist organizer Dustin Washington.
Certainly, there are some Calgarians who hold a not-in-my-backyard attitude toward the G-8.
Others, however, refuse to shy away.
"You can conjure up any disaster scenario one might think of, but I don't see a lot of value in that," says John Webb, chairman of the Calgary Chamber of Commerce.
"I think we should all be focused on moving the community forward."
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