G7 threat level ‘moderate’ in Quebec City region, police say
Officials move to ease growing anxiety among citizens and business owners
QUEBEC The threat level for the June G7 leaders’ summit in the Quebec City region remains “moderate,” but police say they are bracing for anything and everything.
Moving to ease growing anxiety among citizens and business owners who fear riots and vandalism from the summit in nearby La Malbaie could spill over here, organizers and police held a news conference Wednesday.
That was to be followed by a citizen town hall Wednesday evening.
The RCMP, Sûreté du Québec and municipal police — which are sharing the workload of protecting world leaders, citizens and property — said they have no plans to intensify measures in Quebec City for now.
“Right now, the threat level is moderate,” Quebec City police chief Robert Pigeon told reporters. “What we are seeing is what we normally see; that is to say, people who want to express themselves in public.
“However, we expect these groups to be infiltrated by people with ill-intentioned motivations.”
That means there are no plans to erect fences or close off roads in the city the two days the summit is taking place in La Malbaie, 150 kilometres northeast of Quebec City, Pigeon said. And it will only be the usual crowd-control fence that will be set up around the provincial parliament buildings.
Pigeon said they are not suggesting restaurant and shop owners barricade their windows as many did the last time such an event was dropped into their laps.
Some Old Quebec City shop owners have already covered over their windows with a protective film product, and some anti-G7 graffiti has appeared on buildings.
Various protest groups have said they are planning events on both days of the summit, June 8-9, but much of their plans remain hushhush, which has also increased tension. In fact, one of the main fears is that they clash among themselves.
But police stressed the 2018 G7 does not compare with the 2001 Summit of the Americas, where riot police and protesters tangled in the streets of the provincial capital in clouds of tear gas.
The magnet was the fence set up around the Centre des congrès.
It’s those memories that have Quebec City residents ill at ease.
“It’s two different events,” said SQ spokesperson Jason Allard.
“It’s two different events, two different times. Things have changed greatly since, so we’re adapting today to 2018.
“We’re policing in 2018 and we’re policing as a team, together. We’re ready.”
How ready?
Police now say between 8,000 and 9,000 soldiers and police officers will be on patrol at both locations.
Quebec City is expected to be a target because the Fairmont Le Manoir Richelieu in La Malbaie, where the summit is taking place, has been transformed into a fortress on a cliff.
A three-metre-tall security fence stretching more than 3.7 kilometres surrounds the hotel where leaders including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and President Donald Trump will meet.
It will be Trump’s first official visit to Canada. His presence alone is expected to attract droves of protesters from around the globe.
Another reason citizens here fear there will be protests is because Quebec City will be the site of the international media centre with about 2,000 journalists on hand to cover the event, which will be carried live via a media feed from La Malbaie.
Leaders will be landing at the airport at Bagotville and then taken by helicopter to the site.
HOTEL BOOKINGS
On the plus side, $8 million worth of hotel rooms in the region have been booked to house all those journalists and another 3,200 delegates, said summit management office spokesperson Louise Léger.
The Charlevoix region will also inherit a high-speed internet service being added to the region for the summit, while local beer brewers hope for a sales boom following their creation of a special ale for heads of state.
The total approved for the whole year of Canada’s presidency of the summit is $604.5 million.
Of that total, $395 million is being spent on security and $183 million on logistics.