Federal prisons won’t be used to house inmates displaced by the G7 summit in Alberta in June. The province says it doesn’t plan to manage its prison populations the same way it did the last time world leaders met in Kananaskis, Alta.
In 2002, the Calgary Correctional Centre was cleared out in the weeks leading up to the G8 summit, so that it could serve as a holding centre for detained protesters. Inmates were sent to the medium-security federal prison in Drumheller, which had recently been rebuilt after a riot.
Dave Bronconnier, then-mayor of Calgary, warned protesters about repeating the violent confrontations in Italy the year prior, cautioning that they could spend the summit at the Spyhill jail.
The street protests in Calgary ended up being largely peaceful.
This time around, Correctional Service Canada says it hasn’t been contacted by any external agencies to make arrangements to house people arrested during the upcoming summit.
“There are no discussions or plans underway for Correctional Service Canada to accommodate current inmates of Calgary Correctional Centre or people arrested during the G7 Summit in CSC facilities,” the federal agency said in a statement to CBC News.
Alberta’s correctional facilities will continue to operate business as usual, and there are no plans to create additional capacity or empty Calgary facilities.
A spokesperson with Alberta’s Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Services said the province would “implement appropriate operational responses should services be disrupted due to public demonstrations.”
She added the ministry, including the Alberta Sheriffs, is working closely with federal and municipal law enforcement agencies to support safety and security planning.
“Inmate population management is part of daily and strategic planning for Alberta Correctional Services, and operations across all provincial correctional facilities will continue uninterrupted for the duration of the G7,” director of communications Sheena Campbell wrote in an emailed statement.
“For security reasons, we are unable to provide further details about operations and planning.”
Virtual bail courts, same arrest processing facility
The province said individuals arrested during G7 protests in Calgary would be taken to the Calgary Police Service’s arrest processing facilities at Spyhill, as is standard procedure.
Court appearances would be held virtually through Alberta’s provincial hearing office, either by video or phone, and additional bail courtrooms will be added “as required” to address G7 arrests.
Doug King, a criminal justice professor at Mount Royal University in Calgary, noted that the last time the G8 was held in Kananaskis, it was in the wake of terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001.
“I think a lot of what happened in 2002 was in response to that. And it may have been warranted, or it may have been just overprotection that was taking place. We don’t see that now,” he said.
Today, there may be less concern about large-scale demonstrations, particularly because the summit is being held in a remote location, King said.
“They better be cautious, though, because remember the G20 in Toronto … there were huge protests,” King said, adding that the Calgary Remand Centre is “absolutely packed” right now.
He added that police are now utilizing more sophisticated security and intelligence gathering techniques compared to 2002.
“There must have been a calculation … that they just didn’t need to empty out prison facilities to hold protesters. They must have made that calculation. It wouldn’t have been an oversight,” King said.
Leaders from the United States, France, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, Italy and Canada, as well as the European Union, will attend this year’s summit, which is scheduled from June 15 to 17.
The last time Kananaskis hosted the summit, its price tag was estimated at $300 million. When Canada last hosted the summit in 2018, in La Malbaie, Que., it budgeted $600 million.
