Forget the Armed Forces, send in the bears.
Prime Minister Jean Chretien has told Italian journalists that Kananaskis Country, site of the G-8 summit June 26 and 27, is well protected against terrorism.
While on tour in Europe, he was quoted in an Italian newspaper on the weekend as saying the recreation area is guarded "from the back by mountains, from the front by a river, from the south by an Indian village and from the north by 500 bears," The Canadian Press reported.
He was responding to a question about security in light of the riots at last year's summit in Genoa.
The newspaper described Kananaskis as "a difficult place to reach" in a translation of the interview released by the Prime Minister's Office in London on Tuesday.
The leader of the Opposition says the remarks are typical of Chretien.
"The prime minister has gotten away over the years with so many of these flippant comments on serious issues," said Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper.
"A lot of work has to be done to make it successful and secure. I hope he's not relying on the grizzly bears, but the way the government's operating lately, nothing would surprise me."
Chretien may also want to brush up on his geography of Kananaskis.
The Stoney Indian Reserve is almost directly north of the Kananaskis meeting site.
Chretien's comments are unwelcome among bear experts already angry the meeting is being held in the ecologically sensitive area.
"It's an off-the-cuff remark, but it's not the sort of thing we need to hear," said Dave Poulton, executive director of the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society's Calgary-Banff chapter.
"He's vastly overestimating the grizzly bear population in that area. There's only about 30 to 40 in Kananaskis and about 600 to 700 in all of Alberta.
"The activity the G-8's bringing is a risk to a vulnerable population. I think the prime minister's comments reveal a real insensitivity to that situation."
Bears are not likely to be a threat to humans because they generally avoid people, Poulton said. The real concern is for the welfare of the bears.
"That population can't and shouldn't be asked to sustain these types of stressors," said Jeff Gailus, co-ordinator for the Bow Valley Grizzly Bear Association.
The provincial government is considering listing the grizzly bear as a threatened species, he said. Those in the Kananaskis area are more at risk than any others in Alberta due to the effects of industrial and recreational activities on their habitat.
G-8 activist Yori Jamin says most protesters, in fact, may never come close to grizzly territory.
"I don't think you'll see many people trying to converge on the Kananaskis site. We don't think it's appropriate for thousands to enter the valley because of the environmental impact," said Jamin, regional co-ordinator for the Sierra Youth Coalition.
"I think we have a more genuine concern about the environment than Chretien."
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