36th G8 summit
Published: 01/12/2010 by Wikipedia
It will be the fifth G8 Summit hosted by Canada since 1976.[2] The locations of previous G8 summits to have been hosted by Canada include: Montebello, Quebec (1981); Toronto, Ontario (1988); Halifax, Nova Scotia (1995); and Kananaskis, Alberta (2002). The G8 Summit has evolved beyond being a gathering of world political leaders. The event has become an occasion for a wide variety of non-governmental organizations, activists and civic groups to congregate and discuss a multitude of issues.[3]
Looking forward from the perspective of March 2009, summit manager Gérald Cossette explained:
"Organizing a G8 event is like moving from a beast to a ballet. Now it’s a beast; but by the time the summit unfolds, it’s going to be a ballet."[4]
The leaders of the G8 will be flying into North Bay/Jack Garland Airport in North Bay, Ontario where they will drive down to Deerhurst Resort.
The Group of Seven (G7) was an unofficial forum which brought together the heads of the richest industrialized countries: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada starting in 1976. The G8, meeting for the first time in 1997, was formed with the addition of Russia.[5] In addition, the President of the European Commission has been formally included in summits since 1981.[6] The summits were not meant to be linked formally with wider international institutions; and in fact, a mild rebellion against the stiff formality of other international meetings was a part of the genesis of cooperation between France's President Giscard d'Estaing and Germany's Chancellor Helmut Schmidt as they conceived the initial summit of the Group of Six (G6) in 1975.[7]
The G8 summits during the twenty-first century have inspired widespread debates, protests and demonstrations; and the two- or three-day event becomes more than the sum of its parts, elevating the participants, the issues and the venue as focal points for activist pressure.[8]
[edit]Leaders at the summit
[edit]Permanent G8 participants
Canada
France
Germany
Italy
Japan
Russia
United Kingdom
United States
France would like to see China become a full member by the time the 37th G8 summit in 2011 is organized[9], while Japan continues to back India's bid.
[edit]Invited leaders (partial participation)
A number of national leaders are traditionally invited to attend the summit and to participate in some, but not all, G8 summit activities.[9]
[edit]G8+5 leaders
The G8 plus the five largest emerging economies has come to be known as G8+5.[9]
Brazil
China
India
Mexico
South Africa
[edit]Heads of international organizations
Leaders of the major international organizations have also been invited to attend in the past; and this practice is expected to continue,[9] including:
African Union
Commonwealth of Independent States
European Union [10]
International Atomic Energy Agency
International Energy Agency
United Nations
UNESCO
World Bank
World Health Organization
World Trade Organization
[edit]Priorities
Traditionally, the host country of the G8 summit sets the agenda for negotiations, which take place primarily amongst multi-national civil servants in the weeks before the summit itself, leading to a joint declaration which all countries can agree to sign. Prime Minister Harper explained at outset,
"As hosts, our government will have considerable say over the agenda. It will be a tremendous opportunity to promote Canada’s values and interests; to advocate for open markets and trade opportunities; to assist on global action against global warming; and to champion values like freedom, democracy and human rights and the rule of law."[11]
[edit]Issues
The summit was intended as a venue for resolving differences among its members. As a practical matter, the summit was also conceived as an opportunity for its members to give each other mutual encouragement in the face of difficult economic decisions.[7] However, the plausibly prescient British Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Peter Mandelson, speaking in 2009, expressed the opinion that "however long it might persist as a grouping, as a steering committee for the global economy, the era of the G8 is over. Mandelson's comment comes during a trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil.[12]
[edit]Schedule and Agenda
A tentative agenda for the 36th G8 summit will include some issues which remain unresolved from previous summits. As chair of the G8 summit when many of the commitments for African aid and development are due to be fulfilled, special attention will be focused on Canada. International anti-poverty campaigners will descend on Huntsville.[13]
The Rambouillet summit in 1975 produced no easy answers to what was then the most serious recession since the 1930s; but the main themes of what is now considered the 1st G8 summit have persisted at the top of the world's agenda—avoiding protectionism, energy dependency and boosting growth.[14]
[edit]Citizens' responses and authorities' counter-responses
[edit]Protesters and demonstrations
Protest groups and other activists are expected to make a showing at the summit.[1] Forward planning for this specific G8 summits began in advance of the 2008 Hokkaido summit. Activist organizations anticipate that early planning can result in greater networking effectiveness for G8 summits.[15]
Not all demonstrations are expected to focused in opposition to some issue. At the 2005 Scotland summit, for the first time the tens of thousands of people protesting outside were actually supporting the summit's agenda of African aid;[5] and some activists traveled to Hokkaido in 2008 for the same purpose.[16]
Not all demonstrations will originate from outside the local community. For example, one 2008 letter to the editor of the Huntsville Forester suggested that the way in which local communities plan for 2010 could be seen as an "incredible opportunity to demonstrate for change in the world:"
"The summit will bring a lot of activity and money .... So, how will we, as a network of communities, move into it? Will the money drive us? Or will we take a larger position by looking to create future-friendly businesses that will continue to thrive long after the summit is over? Will we choose greed or balance as the underlying intent? Intention matters. As the first plans and preparations are being laid, this might be a good time to take steps such as networking with outlying communities and forming focus groups to define some of these goals."
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