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2010-02-13

Federal government's choice of G20 location prevails over City of Toronto's

Heather Scoffield, THE CANADIAN PRESS

The federal government went over the head of the City of Toronto in placing the G20 economic summit in the heart of the downtown core.

Toronto has been urging Ottawa to locate the huge summit at Exhibition Place, a few kilometres outside the core, since a downtown meeting implies major disruptions for business and traffic, as well as numerous security challenges.

Indeed, the big banks are already taking steps to curtail activity in the days leading up to the June 26-27 summit.

Bild: Graffiti

Planning is in full swing to hold the summit at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, right at the edge of the financial district and next to Union Station.

“We made no secret that we thought Exhibition Place would be a great venue,” said Stuart Green, spokesman for Mayor David Miller. “Those decisions were made by the federal government.”

The summit will draw thousands of delegates, media, support staff and protesters into the core of downtown on one of the busiest weekends of the year. Baseball games will likely have to be relocated, and the annual gay pride parade has been delayed a week.

The city is still in the thick of negotiations with Ottawa over how the costs of setting up and running such a huge summit will be covered, Green said.

The city hasn’t given up hope that Ottawa will change its mind and take Toronto up on its advice to keep the downtown core summit-free, Green added, noting that a formal announcement on the location has yet to be made.

But the city councillor whose ward contains the summit site is already chagrined.

The federal government selected the downtown location without public consultation, ignoring local concerns about cost and disruption, Coun. Adam Vaughan charges in a letter to residents sent Thursday.

“The recent announcement by the Prime Minister’s Office regarding the G20 Summit is going to have a dramatic and difficult impact on our neighbourhoods,” Vaughan says.

“The federal government has chosen to locate the event in Ward 20 without any prior consultation.”

While Ottawa has been quick to consult with the big banks that dominate the area, consultations with local residents and small business have been sparse, Vaughan said in an interview.

He’s worried that arrangements for the summit are going full speed ahead without Toronto knowing how the costs will be covered.

Security arrangements will probably upset plans by local businesses to have the Tall Ships gather in Toronto at the end of June, he added.

And since the summit is next to Union Station, and on top of underground shopping malls, the subway line and the GO commuter train hub, the security and traffic challenges are major, he said.

“The city is just playing catchup, trying to figure out how to host this,” Vaughan said. "The city is more than happy to host it.

“I think they’re right, we’ve got the infrastructure to do it, but there are a lot of questions. Not a lot of answers.”

A spokesman for the prime minister said more questions would be answered once a formal announcement is made, expected in a few weeks.

The big banks aren’t waiting for those details to start their preparations.

They’re taking steps to curtail their activity in the days leading up to the summit.

“Police suggest that businesses avoid scheduling large meetings between June 20-28, 2010, as travel in and around the city core is likely to be difficult,” says the property manager of the Toronto-Dominion Bank Tower in a note to tenants this week.

“The host country typically benefits from the events surrounding the G20 summit; however, due to the international focus of the event, the summit also provides a world stage for protests and activism.”

Several big banks have their headquarters within blocks of the planned summit site. Last year at the G20 summit in London, about 5000 people protested, many of them targeting banks.

A few bank branches had their windows smashed. One person died after being pushed to the ground.

In Canada, protesters have started to contemplate how best to make their voices heard at the G20 summit and at the G8 summit just before. The smaller summit will be held in Huntsville, Ont.

Source: http://www.kbsradio.ca/news/14/1069134