He may be dogged by leadership questions and scandal, but Prime Minister Jean Chretien deserves credit for choosing the best possible post-Sept. 11 site for G-8, the summit's air force commander said yesterday.
As dozens of the Canadian military's CH-146 Griffon helicopters descended on Springbank Airport, Col. Mike McLean said safety factors, logistical ease and mountain remoteness make Kananaskis a dream venue for world leaders.
"I think the prime minister picked a great place for this from both a beauty and security point of view," said McLean.
"If you wanted a place to hold a summit after September 11, this would be ideal."
Key to ensuring security of world leaders attending the summit will be the Griffon helicopters and the CF-18 fighter aircraft, the latter of which will maintain a 24-hour air umbrella over the summit area next week.
They'll be guided by AWACS surveillance aircraft flying out of Tinker, Okla., and manned by NORAD Canadian and U.S. airmen who will also be aloft around-the-clock.
The Cold Lake-based CF-18s are armed with AIM-7 and 9 air-to-air missiles and fully prepared to blast any threatening airborne intruder from the sky.
"It doesn't take much imagination to think back to September 11, so we'll do what we have to do to protect the summit ... it will be defended fiercely," he said.
"This would be a really bad place to fly for those three or four days. "
If "the unthinkable" occurred and a hostile aircraft was downed by the military, the lightly populated nature of the Rockies' eastern slopes will be a safety advantage, said McLean.
The six-year-old Griffons are capable of reaching the Kananaskis Village summit site in 25 minutes from their Springbank base -- ferrying troops, supplies and wounded, if need be, said military officials.
"(The Griffons) have come from all over Canada to support the mission," said McLean, adding the Springbank Airport is also ideally situated for the task.
The airport has become an armed camp with a sizeable, khaki-coloured tent city housing Canadian soldiers guarded by a double cordon of security.
The airport will be shut down to civilian flights beginning June 25, when a no-fly zone of a 130-km radius from Kananaskis Village takes effect.
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