More bad press for the G8/G20 summits

The U.S. has issued a travel advisory warning Americans to avoid Toronto

Criticisms about spending and management around this year’s G20/G8 summits continue to grab headlines in this country and beyond. The US has issued a travel alert for Americans, advising them not to visit Toronto during the G20 summit as protests could quickly turn violent. “Even demonstrations that are meant to be peaceful can become violent and unpredictable,” the advisory reads. “You should avoid them if at all possible.” Bloomberg News weighed in saying this summit has allowed Canada’s opposition to attack the Prime Minister’s economic credibility, damaging a the message Harper wanted to impress on colleagues and voters: that this country was the last in the G7 to enter the global recession and the first to recover. The Conservatives have fallen to their lowest level of popularity—30.5 per cent—since forming government in 2006, an EKOS poll released yesterday showed. New Democratic Party Leader Jack Layton said yesterday, “People just shake their heads at the kind of expenditures that are going on. They talk about that fake lake—it really bothers them.”

Winnipeg Free Press

Bloomberg

tags:summit