Calgarians believe police will be able to maintain law and order during the G-8 summit in Kananaskis next month, an exclusive Sunday Sun poll shows.
But those planning to protest the summit say they aren't so confident the authorities won't be the ones starting the problems.
Just 10% of the respondents to an Insight Research poll conducted for the Calgary Sun said they weren't confident that law enforcement authorities would be able to maintain law and order during the G-8 summit.
Two-thirds of them were confident in the authorities' abilities, while the rest weren't sure, with men tending to be more confident than women.
That doesn't make Alan Keane feel safe.
A member of Co-Motion Collective, a group that organizes and educates people about such protests, Keane said Canadian history shows protesters are far more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators.
"If you look at the last few demonstrations in Canada, the police were the ones creating conflict," he said.
Keane noted criticisms that police were too hard on protesters at last year's G-20 meeting in Ottawa, the 2000 Summit of Americas in Quebec City and 1997's APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation) meeting in Vancouver.
But RCMP G-8 security spokesman Cpl. Jamie Johnston said police officers' response will be "measured."
And Johnston said it's their duty to make sure not only the world leaders and average citizens are protected, but that the protesters have a safe place to exercise their constitutional right to expression.
"That's not to say we're not prepared for any eventuality and are planning for every eventuality," Johnston said.
While peaceful demonstrations are acceptable to police, Johnston said officers will immediately step in when any activity threatens individuals or property.
"Smashing public property, throwing rocks, these sort of activities that threaten people and property will not be tolerated," he said.
Calgarians should feel protected, Calgary Police Service Insp. Al Redford said, explaining much planning and learning has been done to prepare.
"But we don't do this alone," he said.
"We didn't do the World Petroleum Congress alone. The police and the community worked together; we relied on the community during the WPC and we're relying on them again."
That 2000 conference in Calgary saw little trouble. And police forces will be bolstered during this summit.
The Calgary Police Service is drawing on mutual aid officers from 25 other agencies across the country to help keep people safe both around the summit and any protests, and to do regular city policing during that time.
And the RCMP as well will be depending on officers from around the country to aid in the protection of summit officials, protesters and the average citizen, said Johnston.
A majority of Calgarians believed the Kananaskis site was chosen to prevent demonstrations, according to the Sun-Insight poll.
Despite its natural beauty, 59% said they thought the site was chosen because of its limited access.
Just 19% thought it was selected for its natural beauty.
And while 90% of those surveyed believe there will be protests, most don't think they will have too much impact on the ordinary citizen.
Three-quarters of Calgarians didn't believe they'd be inconvenienced personally by the summit, while 25% expected some sort of personal inconvenience.
The survey was conducted May 13-15 through phone interviews -- half male, half female. Its error rate is within 5.7%, 19 times out of 20.
Poll results are available at ircc.com, Insight's website.
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