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Is G20 more than Toronto can handle?
Jesse McLean staff reporter
With the federal government musing about relocating next June’s Group of 20 summit to Toronto from Muskoka, downtown could be flooded with road closures, protests and security barriers.
“Wherever they’re going to do this in the city, things are going to grind to a halt,” said Darren Marshall, director of operations at Toronto security firm Nexus Protective Services.
“You start to add all the closures and security, the motorcades … Expect headaches.”
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Wednesday the government is considering the move to Toronto from Muskoka, though the Prime Minister’s Office says there has been no decision yet.
One option could be the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, home to the 1988 G7 summit.
Another likely candidate is the new Allstream Centre.
Tucked away in Exhibition Place, the 160,000-square-foot convention centre was created from the shell of the classic Automotive Building.
An island in the city, it would allow security personnel to set up a perimeter without shutting down city thoroughfares for the two-day event.
At the 1988 G7 summit, police erected a four-metre-high steel and concrete fence around the grounds to keep the public out. Military helicopters whirred overhead as sharpshooters kept an eye on anti-summit demonstrators who rallied around a makeshift bonfire on University Ave.
In April this year, normal life in London was suspended for days when thousands of diplomats, media, officials, police and protesters converged for the G20 summit on the world economic crisis.
A security plan for next year’s summit has been in the works for more than a year and involves thousands of officers from multiple jurisdictions, police said.
The Allstream Centre, built with green technology, including a system that harvests rainwater to be used in toilets, is also close to the island airport.
Long-standing preparations for the G8 summit at Muskoka’s Deerhurst Resort went askew in September when world leaders decided to expand it to leaders from the full G20 group, including those from emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil.
Each country will bring hundreds of delegates, and in the case of the U.S., more than a thousand.
At the time, Canada said the larger meeting would still be held in Huntsville.
But it might be difficult to hold it in rural Ontario, given space demands and the number of hotel rooms needed.
When Pittsburgh hosted a G20 summit in September, delegates filled more than 4,000 rooms.
Deerhurst has just 400 rooms, some of which are privately owned.
Huntsville Mayor Claude Doughty said he hasn’t heard any confirmation the G20 is leaving his picturesque town, but acknowledged organizers had been mulling over relocating.
The G8 summit, set for June 25-27, is expected to stay in cottage country, and the G20 gathering is expected to be held immediately before or after it.
“They need big enough meeting rooms and the accommodations to do it, so obviously, I guess that’s their challenge,” Doughty said.
“I know they’ve been reconsidering” the location.
The government is expected to announce its decision about the G20 summit location in December, after the Prime Minister visits event co-chair South Korea.
With files from Vanessa Lu and Les Whittington
Source: http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/727856--is-g20-more-than-toronto-can-handle