Calgarians are divided on whether June's G-8 summit will be a boom or bust situation for southern Alberta's economy.
In an exclusive Calgary Sun poll, 300 Calgarians were asked: "Do you agree or disagree with the following statement; hosting the G-8 summit will benefit the southern Alberta economy" -- 55% of them agreed while 43% did not.
The poll, conducted by Calgary's Insight Research & Consulting Corporation, also found younger respondents to be more optimistic about the summit's rippling economic benefits.
"Perhaps those younger respondents who are more open to the idea are thinking 'Well, there are going to be some leaders coming here and there will be a lot of economic activity that will benefit us' -- which is a little bit surprising coming from people as young as 18 to 24 years old," said Marc Tremblay, managing director of Insight Research.
He also said while people are spilt in their opinions on the subject, they are "cautiously optimistic.
"They're just not quite sure which way things are going to fall," Tremblay said.
But Calgary Downtown Association executive director Richard White said the economic benefits of hosting the G-8 are limitless -- whether it's through money spent at hotels and restaurants, on security, on city transportation or on the employees needed for cleanup of potential damage created by violent protesters.
"Absolutely it will be an economic benefit," he said. "Obviously, we don't know what's going to happen as far as protesting and damage, but even that will lead to jobs."
Calgary Mayor Dave Bronconnier said yesterday the federal government plans use June's summit to measure, for the first time, the economic impact of such an event.
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