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G8 / G20 Summit in Muskoka
Hotel Accommodations in Parry Sound (distance 75 km.)
Need a Quiet Location yet close to the Action?
News release:
Huntsville G8 summit will grow to 20 nations
Canada will be the birthplace for the rise of the world's new
pre-eminent world economic institution.
The moment will come June 25-27, 2010 in an unusual gathering of
world leaders in Huntsville, Ont. Originally planned as a G8 summit, the
event will now include the full G20. That group includes the biggest
industrial countries, plus major emerging economies such as China,
Brazil and India.
Canada and South Korea will co-chair the summit.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Korean President Myung-bak Lee made
the announcement today during the G20 summit in Pittsburgh.
Harper says the meetings are "an unprecedented opportunity for Canada to
show leadership" in tough economic times.
He says Canada has been a strong participant in the summits because it
brings "a strong economic record to the table."
The G8 will continue to meet on matters of common importance such as
national security, a U.S. administration official told The Associated
Press.
The decision comes as world leaders gather in Pittsburgh for their third
summit in a year to reshape the governance of the world's economy
following the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
The transfer of influence to the broader group reflects the fact that
the richest industrial nations now lack the sway to govern the world
economy alone after their excesses sparked the turmoil that tipped the
globe into a recession.
Instead, many are now relying on China and other countries outside their
ranks to drive the recovery.
"What we are trying to do is create a system for economic cooperation
across the world," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said in an
interview with U.K. broadcasters yesterday.
"We have this one chance to make a huge success of international
cooperation."
The G20 accounts for about 85 per cent of global gross domestic product
and was created after a spate of currency devaluations plagued emerging
markets from Russia to Thailand in the 1990s. The G8 accounts for about
two-thirds of global GDP.
G20 leaders met for the first time in Washington last November and again
in April in London as they sought to rescue the economy from its slump.
At the onset of the financial crisis, central bankers used talks near
Cape Town. South Africa, in November 2007 to hatch a plan to inject more
dollars into markets.
Meanwhile, senior government sources said Canada intends to resist
European pressure to deliver a harsh regulatory spanking against the
high-rolling bonus culture that contributed to last year's global
financial meltdown.
Instead, Ottawa is working for a G20 outcome favoured by U.S. officials,
one that would regulate against risk by instituting a system of "clawbacks"
to ensure executive bonuses are conditional upon long-term financial
performance.
The issue has become a source of tension as the leaders of the world's
20 largest economies sit down today to coordinate the next phase of
stimulus measures and grapple with regulatory reform, with France
pressing for hard caps on executive compensation.
A senior Canadian official downplayed the division in a background
briefing for journalists, noting that the goals on compensation remain
the same.
In a separate development, Harper announced last night that Canada is
extending an additional $2.8 billion in loan guarantees to the African
Development Bank.
The temporary action will backstop the regional bank's efforts to revive
developing economies severely impacted by the global recession.
"Canada is the first country to have responded to a critical need of
regional banks in this innovative way," Harper said in a statement. "Our
support recognizes efforts by the African Development Bank to ensure it
has sufficient resources to respond quickly to the demands of its
borrowing members while it continues its poverty reduction efforts."
The move triples the level of Canadian support to the African bank.
Ottawa signalled Harper will be "promoting a focused agenda" calling for
continuing stimulus measures, concrete action "to keep trade flows
expanding" and emphasizing the need for stronger domestic financial
sector regulation throughout the G20.
Officials in Pittsburgh said the Canadian banking model has come under
positive inspection in recent weeks as other G20 governments look to
establish new regulatory standards that ensure financial institutions
maintain a higher ratio of capital reserves – in effect, a
Canadian-style rainy day fund to better withstand financial downpours.
"Global standards will be going up once the recovery is assured," a
Canadian official said.