Even so, 2,000 Mounties formed a human chain around the hotel where Pierre Trudeau, Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and other leaders met for the July 1981 G7 summit. OPP officers patrolled the opposite bank of the Ottawa River. More than 100 Quebec officers kept watch over area roads; cars couldn't park alongside Hwy. 148 for five kilometres on either side of town.

Rooftop snipers on land and police boats and military scuba divers in the water also guarded the hotel, which was booked entirely by the federal government for $350,000.

More than 20 Canadian Forces helicopters ferried the leaders back and forth from Ottawa, except Mr. Reagan, who used a U.S. marine chopper.

Protesters aghast at the spectre of continental integration can expect even tighter security this time when Prime Minister Stephen Harper, U.S. President George W. Bush, and Mexican President Felipe Calderón arrive here Monday for the North American Leaders' Summit.

They've been told to expect two protest areas to the immediate east and west of the hotel property that will hold 2,000 people. Plenty of trees and fencing will separate them from the proceedings, though a live video feed will allow the leaders to see and hear the protests -- if they want.

Striking a balance between the right to protest near a meeting site and the realities of a post-9/11 world remains thorny for police and security officials in western societies.

Recent international summits in Canada have been serene compared to the violent anti-globalization protests of Vancouver, Seattle, Genoa and Quebec City between 1997 and 2001. Those infernos of Molotov cocktails, pepper spray, and balaclavas are all too recent for those charged with keeping the SPP summit orderly.

In fact, protest policing has relied more on technology and community engagement over the past decade instead of simple brute strength, experts say.

Police "want complete control or else the job is considered a failure," said Willem de Lint, a University of Windsor sociology professor who studies protest policing. "They want all the contingencies to be accounted for. And that's how they're evaluated." The Canadian government once again booked the entire 211-room resort for four days, according to general manager Werner Sapp. Only a few pre-registered guests had to be rescheduled.

"For us, it's an event like any other," Mr. Sapp said nonchalantly last month, seated on a plush sofa in the rotunda.

Protesters initially expected a 25-kilometre security perimeter around the village, with checkpoints turning away vehicles with more than five passengers. A communal camp is in place on an organic farm near Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix, 20 kilometres north of Montebello.

No such perimeter plans are in place, said RCMP Cpl. Sylvain L'Heureux. A second, temporary reinforced fence is being installed near the permanent barrier surrounding Château Montebello.

This fencing is itself the main RCMP bulwark guarding the dignitaries, while the Sûreté du Québec plans to enforce a 2.1-kilometre zone around the hotel.

Still, government officials say they want to ensure dissidents are seen and heard by summit participants without endangering security.

A four-year inquiry by Saskatchewan judge Ted Hughes into police behaviour at the raucous 1997 Asia-Pacific summit in Vancouver concluded that the RCMP must ensure demonstrators can "see and be seen" by decision-makers.

As was dona at the G8 summit in Kananaskis, Alta., in 2002, an audio/video feed showing protesters will be streamed into the summit.

"If you want to play the bongos for 12 hours, play the bongos for 12 hours," Cpl. L'Heureux said. "But you need to protect the structures, the buildings, and the people." Police have themselves tried to be seen through a series of public meetings and information sessions about summit security measures that provided tips for residents and business owners. Ottawa police and the RCMP have joined with the Gatineau police, Sûreté du Québec, and Ontario Provincial Police to form an "integrated police team" for the national capital region.

More than 150 people filed into a scorching-hot gymnasium at École St-Michel on Aug. 1 to hear from police and government speakers about road closures and business compensation. They were told that Hwy. 148, Montebello's main thoroughfare, could be completely closed if demonstrations turn tense or threaten to overwhelm the village and police.

"We don't intend to close the roads at all unless they're being blocked by protesters," said Const. Mélanie Larouche of the Sûreté du Québec, the force responsible for any potential roadblocks and checkpoints.

The RCMP decisions were based on intelligence and planned meetings with protesting groups. The force created the Public Order Program in May 2001 to train the handling of large demonstrations and share intelligence and crowd-control techniques with other police agencies.

"We just do this as any other event," Cpl. L'Heureux explained after the public meeting.

Community liaison programs and dialogue with protesters have become commonplace for police over the last 15 years. And the Internet teems with websites, message boards and social networking platforms that shed light on protest organizers and their goals. That cyber-information is available instantaneously for officers on the ground with modern technology, Mr. de Lint said.

Tension between police and protesters has bubbled to the surface though, even before the leaders' arrival.

Two PGA Bloc Ottawa leaders were arrested following a downtown demonstration last Saturday, sparking angry words from their supporters.

Controversy erupted in July when the Council of Canadians' planned summit at the community centre in Papineauville, about six kilometres west of the Château Montebello, was cancelled.

A municipal official told the group the centre was needed for security operations.

And the protest areas surrounding the hotel property will likely draw comparisons to the "free speech zone" that made headlines during the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.

There, a 8,500-square-metre area, ridiculed as a "protest pen," was set between a parking lot and trailers, underneath abandoned train tracks, and surrounded by barbed wire and black plastic tarp. Most demonstrators moved to the Boston Common, much further away from the meeting centre.

A federal judge grudgingly denied a First Amendment appeal by protesters to dismantle the area, calling the realities of post-9/11 security "irretrievably sad." Neither the designated zones nor the event cancellation are new methods, Mr. de Lint said. Police cancelled union hotel reservations, rented apartments, and pressured campground owners to reject non-family visitors during international summits in Windsor and Quebec City.

"The protesters would prefer to have some kind of controversy, or else there's not much to report and the demonstration in a sense fails outside of the solidarity that can be built," Mr de Lint said.

Rural, pastoral settings present special challenges for police during summits, notwithstanding the enclosed nature of the Château Montebello compound. More private property equals less public space for authorities to block off.

Residents were told in 1981 to expect 15,000 tourists, journalists, and gawkers for the three-day G7 meeting -- the largest security operation in the country's history to that point with a price tag of $10 million.

In the end, about 2,300 officials and journalists tagged along.

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Summit Notes

U.S. President George W. Bush is scheduled to land in Ottawa at 1:10 p.m. Monday. Gov. Gen. Michaëlle Jean will greet him at Ottawa International Airport. Mr. Bush will arrive in Montebello about one hour later for a meeting with Prime Minister Stephen Harper on Canada-U.S. relations.

Mexican President Felipe Calderón arrives in Montebello at 3:20 p.m. and will immediately meet with Mr. Bush. Mr. Harper will host an official dinner that evening.

Mr. Bush will leave Montebello by 3:15 p.m. Tuesday after the three leaders hold a joint news conference.

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Truck traffic will be re-routed between Aug. 19 and 21, into Ontario on Hwy. 417 or County Road 17 via the Hawkesbury bridge, Cumberland ferry, or Macdonald-Cartier bridge in Ottawa. The OPP have warned residents in the Hawkesbury and Lefaivre areas to expect traffic delays.

Boaters will have a clear channel on the Ottawa River, though Château Montebello's marina will be blocked and some vessels may be stopped and checked.

Airspace restrictions are planned over Ottawa International Airport for Mr. Bush's arrival and departure from the airport on Monday afternoon and Tuesday evening. A restricted no-fly zone over Montebello has also been announced for the summit.

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Tours of Parliament Hill are cancelled on Sunday. The official government website gave no reason for the cancellation, but Sunday is the day protesters are gathering for a rally in downtown Ottawa.

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Montebello's mayor was deluged with phone calls from residents in July 1981, worrying they would be forced indoors during the G7 summit.

Current Mayor Jean-Paul Descoeurs is optimistic the benefits of the North American Leaders' Summit will outweigh any traffic jams or crowds descending on the village. "It won't bother the townspeople too much," he said last month. "It's impossible to get this kind of free publicity."

The federal government has procedures to compensate businesses that lose revenue during high-security summits. Reimbursements were offered after 2001 summits in Ottawa and Quebec City.