CTV.ca reporter Geoff Nixon is covering the G8/G20 summits and will be filing reports hourly in this notebook column. Check back on the website for updates as the summit gets underway.

Protests, aid commitments covered from a far


While a more eager brand of protester showed their face on the streets of Toronto on Friday evening, reporters found themselves engaged in business as usual in the early hours of the two-day-long G8. (See photo above.)

In the morning, Prime Minister Stephen Harper greeted incoming leaders to the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ont., where leaders later got down to work during a 90-minute working lunch that stretched into the afternoon.

Canada later announced it would put nearly $3 billion over the next five years – or $1.1 billion of new funding from Ottawa -- towards a child-and-maternal health initiative that is supposed to be a signature of this G8 summit.

At a press conference on Friday evening, Harper said that including the contributions of other countries and outside organizations, the amount of money being put forward for the Muskoka initiative was roughly $7.3 billion.

Inside the International Broadcast Centre in Toronto, hundreds of reporters worked through the day -- watching feeds of what was happening in Huntsville, filing live reports from the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition about a summit that was more than two hours away.

More reporters could be seen typing on their laptops and BlackBerrys on Friday than were present the day before, as the real summit business got underway. Fewer people were watching soccer, though at least a few were keeping an eye on what was happening in South Africa.

But most of the action seemed to be happening outside the area where the media had securely been placed.

A group of cheeky protesters brought a $12.99-version of the fake lake to the gates of the CNE grounds, which consisted of a lawn chair and a small children's wading pool. It was a direct mockery of the $57,000 so-called "fake lake" that was constructed for the enjoyment of the world's media who were gathered inside the International Broadcast Centre.

In Toronto, the public learned that police had quietly been given additional powers to question and arrest people present within the G20 security zone.

By the end of the day, police had closed the gates of the G20 summit security zone, a move they said was "the direct result of specific security concerns." Though thousands of protesters could be seen on the streets of downtown Toronto in the late evening, they were turned away before reaching their destination.


Photo of the photo-op



Reporters at  International Broadcast Centre in Toronto, watching events at G8 in Muskoka


‘Fake lake' a popular photo spot

For all the hullaballoo about the fake lake at the media centre, it's drawing a fair amount of looks from visitors.

One crew member from China Central Television was keeping an eye out for people who might walk into the shot -- including at least one guy who tried to take a picture of the fake lake on his phone while the CCTV crew was filming.

Other people have been lounging in the Muskoka chairs taking souvenir photos, too.

Greg Weston, the Sun Media journalist who broke the story about the fake lake's existence, says he has seen numerous journalists making a point of checking it out.

"It's going to be a moniker that will stay with this summit and fake lake for a long time," Weston told CTV's Power Play on Thursday afternoon.

Soccer still on the agenda for journalists

For people wanting to know what’s available in the “Experience Canada” area of the International Broadcast Centre, they can check the chart seen above.

There’s a Muskoka artist working alongside the fake lake, with another artist coming by in the afternoon and some food tastings scheduled periodically throughout the day.

But soccer is one of the most important items on the agenda.

In fact, World Cup soccer games are listed twice -- a 10:00 a.m. game between Portugal and Brazil, and an afternoon game between Chile and Spain.

The morning game -- a 0-0 tie that Associated Press reporter Simon Haydon described as being a “sterile” soccer match -- didn’t bring the same cheers coming from the reporters inside the building, as Japan’s 3-1 win over Denmark drew yesterday.

It will be interesting to see how many people are watching soccer once the afternoon game gets going at the same time that the G8 summit is in full swing.

Japan tight-lipped on bank tax

Japan is keeping tight-lipped on its position on the contentious bank tax proposal that Prime Minister Stephen Harper has railed against on the international stage.

At a press conference in Toronto on Friday morning, a press secretary for Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, would not say whether Japan was neither opposed, nor in favour of a bank tax.

Kazuo Kodama said he was "not authorized to make any comment" on the government's position on the matter.

Osamu Sakashita, a spokesperson for the Japanese prime minister's office, also declined to offer comment on the bank tax issue.

Harper has argued that an international bank tax would unfairly penalize Canadian financial institutions that did not require a bail out during the financial crisis.

Building bridges

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is on a mission to build bridges with his new colleagues during his inaugural trip to Canada as his country's leader.

Kan had a brief bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper in Huntsville, Ont., the site of the G8 meeting, which starts today. Harper previously spoke with Kan by telephone on June 15, a week after the Japanese leader took on his new role.

Kazuo Kodama, press secretary with Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said Kan will also have a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday morning.

As Kan attends the G8 and later the G20 Toronto, he will also have one-on-one meetings with Chinese President Hu Jintao, South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The goal in all of these meetings is for Kan to "establish his personal relationship of trust" with each leader.

Kan previously served as Japan's finance minister before former leader Yukio Hatoyama resigned his position after spending less than a year in office.

Kodama told CTV.ca that Kan is an experienced politician with a lot of experience in domestic matters. He has been to Canada at least once before -- when he attended the G7 finance minister's meeting held in Nunavut earlier this year.

New Aussie PM to skip G20 summit

The new Australian prime minister will be skipping the G20 meeting in Toronto.

Julia Gillard has telephoned Prime Minister Stephen Harper to let him know that she will not be attending the weekend summit.

Harper wished the new prime minister good luck with her transition into her new role.

Gillard wrestled control of Australia's ruling Labor party away from Kevin Rudd, who had served as prime minister for the past three years, by winning a leadership challenge on Thursday.

She will send her deputy, Wayne Swan, in her place.

Gillard is the first woman to serve as Australian prime minister.