COMMENTARY: G20 summits are a recipe for chaos

This weekend, leaders from the G20 nations are gathering in Hamburg, Germany for the G20 summit and once again, the world is bracing for the ensuing chaos.

You’d be hard pressed to pinpoint any significant policy commitments from any of these meetings, but we certainly remember the protest marches and — in many cases — the riots that accompany these events.

G20 summits are a lightning rod for the disenfranchised who feel that world leaders pay little to no attention to issues such as poverty or the environment.

But summits are also a magnet for anarchists who see them as an opportunity to steal the spotlight on an international stage.

2:34 Protesters and police clash outside G20 in Hamburg, Germany

• Protesters and police clash outside G20 in Hamburg, Germany
• Police put out fires with water cannons as G20 protesters look on
• Burned BMW with ‘capitalism kills’ written on it during G20 protests
• Scuffles break out between G20 protesters, police as night descends
• Thousands of G20 protesters take to Hamburg streets ahead of summit

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We need only remember the travesty of the last Toronto G20 summit, which featured burning cars and smashed store fronts and the largest mass arrest in Canada’s history and the associated charges of police incompetence and abuse.

Sadly, that seems to be the norm for these meetings.

All we’ll see of the politicians this weekend are the staged smiles and handshakes and a vague promise that they will work together to make the world a better place.

But balance that against the protests and the anarchy in the streets and of course, the cost of such an event, and you have to ask, is it really worth it?

Bill Kelly is the host of Bill Kelly Show on AM 900 CHML and a commentator for Global News.