Bay native on top of summit security
RCMP Chief Supt. Alphonse MacNeil, a native of Glace Bay, is head of security for the G8/G20 summits. Submitted by the RCMP
Published on June 24th, 2010
Published on June 24th, 2010
Sharon Montgomery-Dupe
GLACE BAY — You never know when a Cape Bretoner will turn up — or make history.
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The security surrounding the G8/G20 summits — kicking off in Toronto today — is believed to be the largest security detail ever planned in Canada, and a Glace Bay man is at the helm.
RCMP Chief Supt. Alphonse MacNeil is head of security for the summits, which involves 20,000 officers and security officials.
“I have had fantastic jobs in the RCMP that I am proud of, but this one is the largest, most exciting, complicated tasks I’ve ever had,” he said.
“It is the largest deployment of security personnel for a major event in Canadian history.”
He said today is especially exciting.
“We worked on this a year and a half and todaywe finally see the G8 happen, then on Saturday is the G20, an even bigger event,” he said.
“We are confident we will be successful, the meetings will go ahead without any problems.”
MacNeil, born in Glace Bay in 1956, graduated from St. Mike’s High School and attended St. FX University before joining the RCMP.
He lives in Ottawa but has been stationed in Barrie, Ont. since August 2008 to plan for the summit.
That included trips to Italy and Germany to look at how security was set up when those countries hosted the G8.
MacNeil said five major agencies were involved in security planning: RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police, the Toronto Police Service, Peel Regional Police and the Canadian Armed Forces.
The planning team began with 300 officers then doubled to 600. As well, a nationwide search had to be conducted to end up with a security team of 20,000 men and women.
“You have to build an integrated security unit and bring all these securities and armed forces together, plus private security companies, to build a team. That takes time, building relationships, making sure everyone knows their roles and responsibilities.”
MacNeil said they can monitor aspect of the summit from the command centre.
“We have the ability through our video feed to see everything that is going on,” he said.
“We can watch any motorcade or a certain plane land. We can see everything going on.”
He said there are even helicopters and planes providing video feed.
“We can see them from the air, we can see them from the ground, if there is anyone trying to interfere, we would see that.”
Anyone wanting to access the innermost security zone during the G20 weekend has a three-metre high fence and five levels of security screening to contend with.
So far MacNeil said everything has gone smoothly and that the few protests held were peaceful.
“We expect to see more volume of protesters over the next few days, which makes for a few more complications, but right now I have no specific concerns.”
MacNeil returns home a couple times a year to visit family, including sister Nancy MacAulay and brother Angus, both in Glace Bay, and brother Malcolm in Sydney.
“My family is what I always miss the most, but I also miss the people, the scenery and environment.”
RCMP Assistant Commissioner Mike McDonell said MacNeil is the operational commander for this event, which to his knowledge is the biggest security operation ever launched in Canada.
“We are responding with a large integrated unit, Alphonse is responsible for leading that unit and he has done a remarkable job,” McDonell said.
“He is an amazing leader. I can’t do justice to his leadership capabilities, but I can take a tremendous amount of confidence from him.”
Thirteen members of the CBRPS public safety unit are also part of the security detail.
smontgomery@cbpost.com
(Now if only some of those media types on CTV and CBC would tone it down a bit and show some support – GTF)
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