[LINK] "G20 Toronto location to bump baseball, gay pride activities in late June"

[rfmcdonald]

On the one hand, it's nice that Toronto will be hosting the upcoming G20 summit in June. But the timing and the location could be more convenient for Torontonians.

The federal government will hold its G20 summit in the heart of Toronto's financial district over the last weekend of June, The Canadian Press has learned.

The decision will bring tens of thousands of visitors into the downtown core but it will also sideline baseball fans and the gay community as it kicks off a week of Pride activities.

An official announcement is not expected for a few weeks, but sources tell The Canadian Press the Metro Toronto Convention Centre next to the CN Tower has been selected over locations outside the downtown core.

Ottawa has already hosted a G8 summit and other international meetings in the building. Plus, it gives the federal government a chance to put the spotlight on its stable financial district at a time when G20 leaders are looking for good role models.

[. . .]

But the G20 summit will displace far more people than it draws in.

The Toronto Blue Jays are scheduled to play against the Philadelphia Phillies on both June 26 and June 27, in Toronto.

But the Rogers Centre, where the games are normally held, is virtually next door to the Convention Centre, and would likely be encompassed in the security zone that is always set up to protect world leaders at summits.

So discussions are underway to move at least one of the games, sources said.

The Gay Pride Parade, which usually draws over a million visitors from around the world, has already been pushed back a week.

Normally, the parade is held on the last weekend in June, after a week of festivities. The parade is meant to commemorate New York City's Stonewall Riots of June 28, 1969.

Organizers have postponed everything by a week in anticipation of summit activities. Still, Gay Pride activities will start just before the summit, on June 25, and build up to a parade a week after the summit, on July 4.

I can't wait?