G7 summit to take place days after megaproject announcements rejected by Indigenous land defenders, new military spending
The G7 summit with leaders from Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union and Japan will take place in Kananaskis, Alberta this coming June 15 to 17.
On June 7, Canadian prime minister Mark Carney announced his government’s three priorities for the summit:
“Protecting our communities and the world – strengthening peace and security, countering foreign interference and transnational crime, and improving joint responses to wildfires.
Building energy security and accelerating the digital transition – fortifying critical mineral supply chains and using artificial intelligence and quantum to unleash economic growth.
Securing the partnerships of the future – catalyzing enormous private investment to build stronger infrastructure, create higher-paying jobs, and open dynamic markets where businesses can compete and succeed.”
“One Canadian Economy Act” and megaprojects
This G7 announcement comes a day after CBC News reported on the introduction of the One Canadian Economy Act that: “The prime minister said [would] speed up the approval process of major infrastructure projects, reducing approval times from five years to two by introducing a ‘one-project, one-review’ approach instead of having federal and provincial approval processes happen sequentially.”
That article further highlights: “Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler called the government’s rollout of the bill a “huge disappointment,” saying they received an invitation to be part of a briefing an hour before the government tabled the bill. ‘They’re not off to a great start,’ he said. ‘It’s just a failure from the onset to do their jobs, which is to reach out to First Nations.’ Nishnawbe Aski Nation represents 59 First Nations in Ontario in territory covering two-thirds of the province’s land mass.”
Photo: Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler.
“Infrastructure Projects Act” and PRGT fracked gas pipeline
It also comes about a week after the British Columbia government passed Bill 15, the Infrastructure Projects Act.
CBC News reports the bill “is aimed at fast-tracking public sector projects like schools and hospitals, as well as private projects, such as critical mineral mines, that are deemed provincially significant.”
It also comes just days after the Financial Post reported: “British Columbia has once again green-lit the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline, reaffirming an approval first issued under the former Christy Clark government for the line that will supply a major new liquefied natural gas export terminal proposed on the province’s northern coast. The decision by the head of B.C.’s Environmental Assessment Office (EAO) on Thursday [June 5] means that PRGT’s environmental assessment certificate will remain in effect for the life of the project, clearing a major regulatory hurdle for the 12-million-tonne-per-year (Mtpa) Ksi Lisims LNG project.”
Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, president of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs, says: “There are First Nations who have very loudly stated their opposition to this pipeline and they will continue to do so. The Declaration [on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples] Act and interim approach are being tossed out the window. This is not a government who believes in reconciliation and it could trigger a long, hot summer.”
Photo: Grand Chief Stewart Phillip.
“Unleashing Our Economy Act” and Ring of Fire mining
And it comes two days after another CBC News article reported on the passage of Bill 5, the Protecting Ontario by Unleashing Our Economy Act, that “empowers the government (among other things) to create special economic zones, where cabinet can exempt companies or projects from having to comply with any provincial law, provincial regulation or municipal bylaw.”
That article notes: “Ford wants Ontario’s first special economic zone to be the Ring of Fire mineral deposit, some 500 kilometres northeast of Thunder Bay, in the heart of Treaty 9 territory. The area is said to be full of so-called critical minerals, such as cobalt, lithium and nickel, in high demand for the tech industry.”
CBC News also highlights: “Ford put the Ring of Fire at the top of his list presented to Prime Minister Mark Carney [on Monday June 2] for consideration as a potential nation-building project. … The other items on Ford’s list are also projects that could be designated special economic zones: new nuclear power plants, a new deep-sea port on James Bay, Ford’s vision of a tunnel under Highway 401 through Toronto, and an expansion of the GO Transit network. … It’s now up to Carney to decide which projects merit federal backing, whether through fast-track approvals or funding.”
Video still: Protest inside the Legislature as Bill 5 is passed.
Militarization of territory
The Calgary Herald reports that security measures in Kananaskis include “the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry”, military helicopters, an “exclusion zone”, barricades, “olive green military trucks that are seemingly everywhere”, “a security perimeter of black fabric-clad metal fencing”, “surveillance cameras mounted on metal poles”, and now “overflights by CF-18 fighters preceded the military helicopters that have begun flying over the area 100 metres above the treetops.”
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has announced: “The ISSG, in collaboration with its safety and security partners has identified three official G7 Designated Demonstration Zones (DDZs): one in Banff and two in Calgary. These zones will be in accessible areas outside the Controlled Access Zone (CAZ) perimeter.”
Calgary is about 100 kilometres from the G7 meeting site, while Banff is about 80 kilometres from the summit venue.
CityNews notes the “designated protest sites” in Calgary, will be “Municipal Plaza, Victoria Park and the Edward H. LaBorde Viewing Area near Calgary International Airport.”
Counter-summit and rally planned
CBC News has reported: “Shivangi Misra, chair of the International League of Peoples’ Struggle (ILPS) in Canada, said a coalition of groups is planning a two-day counter-summit and rally. ‘There are a couple of programs that are being put together and this is mostly led by people in Alberta,’ Misra said. ‘It includes Indigenous groups, climate activists, people’s organizations, human rights organizations. [They are] coming together to say that [G7 leaders] are not welcome because the policies, the work, the effort, the agenda that the G7 countries are uniting on is not in the interest of the people.’ Misra said issues like the cost of living, the housing crisis and migrant justice — among other issues — should be at the top of the agenda for this year’s summit.”
Photo: Shivangi Misra.
That article further notes: “Misra with the ILPS added that many formal and informal groups are still finalizing their plans, with some choosing not to go public yet for safety or security reasons. But she questioned the use of designated zones, calling them a barrier to free expression. ‘We are exercising a constitutional right to protest. These protest zones fundamentally undermine … the civil and political rights that people have a right to exercise,’ she said.”
Image from ILPS on Instagram.
NATO summit, June 24-25, 5% of GDP on military spending
A week after the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Carney will be in The Hague from June 24-25 for NATO Summit 2025.
This follows the NATO Defence Ministers meeting on June 5 in Brussels where NATO says the ministers, including David McGuinty from Canada, agreed to “an ambitious new set of capability targets to build a stronger, fairer, more lethal Alliance, and ensure warfighting readiness for years to come.”
The NATO statement adds: “The targets are the basis for a new defence investment plan which is expected to be approved at the NATO Summit in The Hague. The proposal calls for Allies to invest 5% of GDP in defence, including 3.5% on core defence spending, as well as 1.5% of GDP per year on defence and security-related investment, including in infrastructure and resilience.”
Photo: Palestinian and Quaker activists hold a “No War, No Warming” banner outside the CANSEC arms show while Defence Minister David McGuinty speaks inside, May 28, 2025. Photo by Koozma J. Tarasoff.
We continue to follow this.
Additional reading: Canada intends to sign on to the ReArm Europe procurement pact by July 1 (PBI-Canada, May 31, 2025).
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