As the G7 leaders’ summit kicked off in the serene mountains of Kananaskis, tensions flared on the streets of Calgary. Protesters from all walks of life—grandmothers, students, Indigenous activists, environmentalists, and political groups—gathered at designated protest zones to voice their anger, particularly toward U.S. President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Among them was Lesley Boyer, a Calgary grandmother in a wheelchair, who held up a blunt sign targeting Trump’s recent remarks about Canada potentially becoming “America’s 51st state.”
“I’ve been waving my sign at the cameras hoping he’ll see it. Go away, Trump. We don’t want you here,” she said defiantly outside Calgary City Hall, one of three official protest zones set up in Calgary and Banff.
Trump landed in Calgary late Sunday and was flown via helicopter to the summit site, where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Mark Carney on Monday morning.
Hundreds joined Boyer’s protest, carrying placards reading:
“Yankee Go Home”, “Elbows Up”, and “True North Strong and Peeved.”
“I had a once-in-a-lifetime chance to be on the right side of history,” Boyer added. “Despite mobility issues, I felt it was important to show up and speak out.”
Protests were also directed at the G7 itself. Eva Clark, spokesperson for the Revolutionary Communist Party, criticized the summit as a forum for global elites to “extract profits” rather than address real global crises like climate change.
“It’s not about solving the climate crisis or global inequality,” Clark said. “It’s about preserving their capitalist power. Our protests are not for the leaders — they’re for the people watching around the world.”
Adding to the controversy, PM Carney’s invitation to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked protests in Ottawa, following ongoing allegations by the RCMP of Modi’s government involvement in “widespread violence” in Canada.
G7 leaders from France, the UK, Germany, Japan, Italy, and the European Union are attending the summit, with discussions set to cover global security, economic stability, and climate commitments.
Meanwhile, outside the summit’s fortified mountain setting, Canadian protesters are making sure their voices are heard—broadcast live to the summit site’s media centre as a reminder that democracy still echoes beyond closed doors.