Next week Ontario hosts the G8 and G20 Summits, by all accounts, the most expensive G8 and G20 Summits ever. While I can understand the importance of security for these types of gatherings, one billion dollars plus is outrageous. Maybe it's time for world leaders to start using video conferencing. As an informed citizen, I follow these summits as much as I can. One of my frustrations is that once the meetings are over and the pronouncements, announcements and photo opps are finished the media go on to the next thing, the next crises. It's very difficult to ascertain whether any of the promises made at the summits are kept. Many years ago Canada pledged over five hundred million dollars of aid to Africa. Did we deliver? I don't know.
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Some politicians say that the eyes of the world will be focused on Muskoka and Toronto and that this will benefit tourism. What? It may benefit some tourism businesses (mainly hotels) during the week the summits are held, but if you read or watch media when the G8 and the G20 meet you will see that the coverage is about politics, the economy and the protests, not about the tourism attractions of the host cities. Toronto's downtown core around the Entertainment District is starting to look like a concrete fortress. And don't get me started about the fake lake in Muskoka! Simon Houpts article in the Globe and Mail and CTV, "Will tis really sell Toronto" makes the point abundantly clear. So let's not kid ourselves, the G8 and G20 summits are not the best way to promote destinations.
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On the other hand, the coming Pan American Games in Toronto in 2015 are a great opportunity to showcase Ontario to a market of over 900 million people...
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