Highway protests won't be tolerated during G7 summit in Kananaskis, head of security says

The head of security for the upcoming G7 leaders' summit in Kananaskis says his group is still working with the Town of Banff on the precise location of a "demonstration zone" for protesters to express their opinions, but it's already been determined where demonstrators won't be allowed — on highways.

"We're not going to be able to tolerate a protest on a highway," Alberta RCMP Chief Supt. David Hall told The Homestretch on Thursday.

"It's not safe for motorists; it's not safe for the protesters, themselves. And so that's something that we would look to quickly move off of a highway, in the event that a protest established on the highway."

In addition to his role as a Mountie, Hall is security director for the RCMP-led Integrated Safety and Security Group (ISSG) for the G7 event. The group includes personnel from numerous law-enforcement agencies as well as the military.

The Town of Banff has expressed concerns about the group's initial plan to set up a "demonstration zone" in Banff's Central Park, which is on the banks of the Bow River with a busy pedestrian bridge on one side and the Banff Avenue bridge on the other. 

"The Town of Banff commends the efforts to facilitate freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest, but we feel it would be more appropriate to allow demonstrators to congregate in places where the G7 leaders may be able to see and hear their message, while decreasing the impact on traffic," town manager Kelly Gibson told the Rocky Mountain Outlook in April.

He noted the G7's international media centre will be located at the Banff Centre on Tunnel Mountain, about a two-kilometre drive from Central Park.

"This will be a busy time for visitation, and people who are enticed to come here by a demonstration zone will face challenges with parking, accommodation, and they may never be seen by the leaders or media they want to reach," Gibson said at the time.

International journalists are expected to travel by bus daily between the Banff Centre and the summit site in Kananaskis, he noted, which is about an hour's drive away.

Hall said Thursday the RCMP-led security group still plans to put a demonstration zone in Banff but is working with the town to determine the exact location.

"It's a best practice to to work with organizers of protest and try to encourage them to use a space that allows them to have visibility in terms of delivering their message but is a space that the police are able to safely manage," he said.

"I'll acknowledge the Banff site is a real concern for local businesses and residents, and those are concerns we've heard, and we continue to work with the community in terms of identifying where that site will be."

The mayor of Banff declined an interview request Thursday, pending confirmation of where the demonstration zone will go.

"We are also waiting to hear when a public information session about G7 is to be scheduled, and the G7 organizers have been invited to present to Banff town council," the town's communications manager, Jason Darrah, told CBC News in an email.