Several groups of protesters are gathering in Banff on a variety of issues Monday as world leaders meet in Kananaskis country for the G7 Leaders’ Summit. A designated protest zone is set up at The Fendlands Banff Recreation Centre where several groups are expected Monday afternoon. Earlier in the morning, two individual protesters with a shared sentiment on U.S. President Donald Trump were set up with posters for passing cars. “Just all the stuff going on in the states right now and having Trump being allowed into Canada kind of bothers me so I’m here to protest against that and also, free Palestine,” said Dominique Winters while holding up a ‘F-ck Trump’ sign and another that read ‘Free Palestine.’ Another woman who didn’t want to share her name had a poster that read ‘Stop Trump’ around her neck and also held up a sign calling for Premier Danielle Smith to shut down. “I don’t understand why some of the leaders are here because they are not acting on democratic principles in their own country,” she said. “We have a lot of leaders here right now who hopefully care and do the things for eight billion people and not just the wealthy seven.” In the afternoon, a few dozen advocacy groups and concerned residents gathered to protest on a range of issues, from human rights violations in China to the Hamas-Israel conflict and the ongoing war in Ukraine. “We are here to support our leader, who is coming to Canada, just to show there are Ukrainians that are standing beside him,” said Olha Kulybanych with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress Bow Valley Association. Some were from the region, such as a group of cyclists that convoyed in from Canmore, calling for better protection of parks. “We rode the Legacy Trail symbolically to ask the world leaders, ‘What is your legacy?’” said Leanne Allison from Bow Valley Engage. Allison said parks are among the biggest Canadian legacies, and her group wants to see them flourish, and see animals within them, such as grizzly bears, survive another 100 or 200 years. “I do think there is an irony to it with the wildfire smoke and coal mining in the Eastern Slopes that they are gathering here,” said Talynn English with Calgary Climate Hub. English said the group is asking the G7 leaders to take climate action due to the wildfire situation in Canada in addition to protecting Indigenous rights, immigrant rights and the watershed. The group is also behind a 95-foot poster on the grass outside the Confluence in Calgary in hopes it would be seen by dignitaries as they arrived by air. The message reads: ‘G7 Pick a Path’ with an arrow pointing to ‘Pipelines’ or ‘Climate Change.’ The poster was tampered with overnight Sunday. “I think that is just a reality of just organizing climate work here in Calgary and I think it’s actually really important for us to say we’ll be here doing this work,” said English. Banff’s mayor doesn’t plan to attend the protest but said she shares some of the protesters’ concerns. “Environmental stewardship is very important to us especially as we’re entering our wildfire season and is something certainly on the top of mindset for western Canadians and mountain town folks in particular. So, I hope they can have some meaningful and productive conversations when it comes to environment and climate change,” said Corrie DiManno. While there is increased security and helicopters at times seen circulating the popular tourist destination, the mayor said the town is accustomed to a high volume of visitors, with more than four million annually through Banff. “This time of year we’re staffed up and ready to welcome the world,” said DiManno.
