Soldiers go in-Country
    Kananaskis like war zone as G-8 nears
    By NOVA PIERSON and MELISSA RIDGEN -- Calgary Sun
    June 23, 2002

    KANANASKIS VILLAGE -- Trees shake and dust flies as an American CH-53 helicopter lands just metres away from the Delta Lodge, where world leaders meet this week.

    Tourists like the Molenaar family from Lethbridge watch the display, but, if they aren't already, visitors will soon be outnumbered by the thousands of Canadian Forces and RCMP personnel stationed in the woods around the secure zone.

    "Mommy you're missing one," Tori-Ann Molenaar said yesterday, as one of two DH-60 choppers -- which could become Marine One if it carries U.S. President George Bush -- practised its landing.

    An air defence anti-tank system perches on the hill by the hotel where G-8 leaders will meet, and two more of the rocket launchers are visible from Hwy. 40, but officials aren't saying how many are hidden in the bushes.

    Maj. Dan Brister, watching the helicopters land, said he is confident in the security planning for the summit.

    "It's a fairly simple operation from the military's side," Brister said. "We've put a great deal of time into preparing the plan and training the soldiers to execute the plan."

    Already yesterday barricade fences in the dozens spotted Hwy. 40 and the road leading into the village, guarded by RCMP cars from across the country while soldiers marched through the trees, their guns in hand.

    The Kananaskis security area at Hwy. 40, between the northern park boundary at Canoe Meadows and the Hwy. 742 intersection, is effective at 8 a.m. today until Friday evening. Vehicles will travel in convoys under escort and travellers should expect security searches.

    Then on Tuesday, a two-block radius around the Telus Convention Centre in the city's downtown will be deemed a controlled-access area, cordoned off by a one-metre high fence.

    To eliminate hiding spots for bombs, mailboxes have been removed from the downtown core and at the University of Calgary campus.

    As well, the grates surrounding the bases of trees have been tamper-proofed by being welded in place in preparation for the expected protests.

    "We welcome the people who come to visit and to be heard and seen and demonstrate peacefully," said Staff Sgt. Mike Gaudet, G-8 security spokesman.

    But protesters who become violent or destructive "will be dealt with accordingly" -- the same as police handle everyone who engages in such criminal behaviour, Gaudet said.

    Insp. Al Redford with the Calgary Police Service's G-8 security office said Calgarians and visitors can expect to see stepped-up police presence as the actual summit nears.

    "Security will look much the same as it did for the World Petroleum Congress," which was held in Calgary in 2000.

    "We know historically the vast majority of protesters will be peaceful, and we know there's a minority that come for less-than-peaceful purposes, and we will be ready for that," Redford said.

    -- with files from CP

    FAST FACTS

    Some numbers on the June 26-27 G-8 summit:

    • $300 million: estimated cost of summit
    • $225 million: cost of last year's summit in Italy
    • $25 million: cost of last G-8 summit hosted by Canada, in Halifax in 1995
    • 500: number of bears Prime Minister Jean Chretien says will be roaming around Kananaskis to make infiltrators think twice
    • 7: number of grizzlies that frequent the Kananaskis region, according to summit officials
    • 5,000-7,000: estimates on number of police and soldiers in Calgary and Kananaskis for security

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