‘That’s how you get a road done’

If it’s true that past action is the best predictor of future behaviour, then it’s fair to say that Joseph Klein can be trusted to keep a secret. Klein is the general manager of Deerhurst Resort, and he was the guy whose initiative got the G8 to Muskoka.

The G8 Summit will be the triumphant culmination of a high-stakes, lonesome four-year journey during much of which Klein was the only one who knew the magnitude of what was brewing. “It was an exercise in restraint,” he deadpans.

It all started in 2006, a few months after he joined Deerhurst. Like any good salesman, Klein began putting out feelers to conference organizers. Being a long-time Fairmont man, he had some pretty big names in his little black book, including some who had helped organize the G8 Summit in Kananaskis in 2002.

“I saw opportunities for this property,” he remembers, “so I made a quick phone call to a colleague who I had worked with before and said, ‘I don’t know if you’ve been here in a while...'” One visit led to a second; then the evaluation teams started coming and the questions started ramping up. By the autumn of 2007, Klein says, “it slowly crept into my consciousness that we weren’t looking at a small meeting anymore.” There are not a lot of events of this scale in Canada, and the G8 and G20 are the only ones with what he describes as  “significant” security, logistical and protocol components.

Deerhurst Resort as an ideal candidate

Deerhurst would have been one of perhaps three potential venues presented to the PMO. In retrospect, one can see why Deerhurst would be an ideal candidate. In addition to its bucolic setting in fabled and fabulous Muskoka, Deerhurst has the necessary size and infrastructure and is close to major arteries leading to Toronto, Canada’s largest urban centre. Yet Deerhurst is self-enclosed enough that the impact of the conference on the local community is relatively small. In addition, securing Deerhurst is simpler than many other locales because it owns the 780-acre grounds that surround it.Klein says he managed to keep his own counsel with the help of “a few white lies to my team.” The risky part came in mid-2007. Three years in advance of the event, and without knowing for sure what the G8 dates would be or even whether it would be awarded to Deerhurst, he had to book the whole resort, in effect, taking two prime weeks off the sales team’s table.  “I had to suggest that they had to trust me. I’m working on a conference.”

MP Tony Clement goes to bat

By early 2008, another individual was let in on the game, Parry Sound-Muskoka MP Tony Clement--though not by Klein. “It was actually the Prime Minister who approached me,” Clement recalls. “He said, ‘Look, we’re hosting the G8 in 2010, and one of the suggestions was Deerhurst. It seems to have passed all the security issues and venue qualification issues. What do you think? Do you think it would be seen as being a positive in the community?’ I said, without hesitation, ‘Absolutely.’” Clement, who was at that time Minister of Health, proceeded to go to bat for his constituency. “I added a bit of texture to the consideration of the resort,” he says. “One of the things that makes us special is the natural surroundings, and the people. I knew they’d be excited about this and would see it as an opportunity to elevate Muskoka as a region and in the eyes of the world.”

The deal was sealed soon afterward, but still discretion remained paramount. “I had to be sworn to absolute secrecy,” Clement recalls, “which was excruciating, but necessary.” Neither Clement nor Klein knew how much the other knew, which resulted in a phone call between them around that time playing out like Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?”. Klein mentioned the Summit and Clement denied knowing a thing about it. After some tiptoeing around, Clement says, “I finally said, ‘How do you know about it?’ and he said, ‘I’m supposed to know.’ Eventually we figured out that both of us knew.”

The big reveal

Huntsville Mayor Claude Doughty only learned the big news on the day the Summit was announced, June 19 2008, by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, at Deerhurst. Klein had for some years been pestering Doughty to have the road approaching Deerhurst re-paved. When Doughty arrived, Klein recalls, “he said something like, ‘Wow, that’s how you get a road done.’” All kidding aside, Klein is the first person to acknowledge that bringing the G8 to town was a group effort, whether or not the parties knew about it at the time. “The G8 wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Deerhurst, and Deerhurst wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the community,” he says. “It really is a very symbiotic relationship, and it goes back over 100 years." That’s how you get a road done, indeed.

Courtesy of Muskoka Tourism

By Tamsen Tillson

Bracebridge, ON

Published on May 21, 2010

Updated on May 27, 2010

Go to our Muskoka G8 Resource List.