Leaders start arriving in Toronto for G8, G20

TORONTO, Ont. – The leaders of the eight most powerful countries have started to arrive in Toronto for the G8 and G20 summits.

South African President Jacob Zuma was among the first to arrive, followed by Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, one of several leaders from non-G8/G20 countries invited to participate.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, who is taking part in a state visit in Ottawa, is also among those who will attend the G20 summit in Toronto on Saturday and Sunday.

Prior to the G20, the members of the G8 — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the U.K., the U.S. and Russia — are gathering in Huntsville, Ont.

They’re expected to discuss peace, security, and maternal health, with an emphasis on proving how well they can keep their promises.

The official welcome from Prime Minister Stephen Harper will take place just before noon Friday at the posh Deerhurst Resort.

Hunstville-area residents are feeling the impact of the G8.

680News promotions manager Stephanie Shaughnessy, who has a cottage on Peninsula Lake — the body of water that surrounds the Deerhurst Resort — needed to have special clearance to be in their family place this weekend. She arrived Wednesday night.

“We have two security checkpoints here coming out to the cottage. There’s one that’s on the road just off Highway 60 and then you turn down another shorter road to get here, and on that shorter road is a great big RCMP/OPP command post. So they checked us first at the smaller one and then one thorough check at the second one […]. So it was interesting, it’s a bit spooky, you feel well-guarded, let me tell you that,” Shaughnessy said.

Once back in Toronto, the larger G20 gathering will wrestle with weighty economic issues like how to control ballooning deficits, stabilize banks and open up the wallets of Asian consumers, with Harper pushing for tighter spending for the next 10 years.

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