By Luiza Chwialkowska
National PostJune 24, 2002
Jean Chretien, the Prime MInister, will be the host for the summit meeting of the G8 leaders on Wednesday and Thursday in Kananaskis, Alberta.
WHO IS INVITED? The leaders of the Group of Eight: Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister of Canada; Jacques Chirac, the President of France; Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia; George W. Bush, the President of the United States; Tony Blair; the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; Gerhard Schroder, the Chancellor of Germany; Junichiro Koizumi, the Prime Minister of Japan; and Silvio Berlusconi, the Prime Minister of Italy.
Jose Maria Aznar, the President of Spain and the President of the Council of the European Union, will also attend.
Also invited to a special gathering Thursday on aid to African are: Abdelaziz Bouteflika, the President of Algeria; Olousegun Obasanjo, the President of Nigeria; Thabo Mbeki, the President of South Africa; Abdoulaye Wade, the President of Senegal; and Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
WHO ELSE WILL COME? Roughly 400 officials -- a small slice of the 2,500 aides and bureaucrats who normally populate such meetings. To make the gathering intimate and the conversations frank, officials will not be allowed in the leaders' meeting room. "It will be less of a circus," said a senior Canadian official involved in planning the event.
WHAT WILL THE LEADERS DO? Mostly talk. The G-8 leaders all know each other, and recently met at a meeting of NATO. As soon as they arrive on Tuesday evening, they are expected to plunge into on-on-one conversations called "bilaterals." They will mingle while eating at an "informal" reception. ("It can't be too formal because you can't suggest the summit has started if a few leaders are still traveling," the official said.) On Wednesday morning, the leaders will take breakfast privately -- likely while receiving briefings from their home countries -- before the summit officially opens at 10 a.m. Behind closed doors, they will talk all day long about the world's problems, with the most unpleasant subjects reserved inexplicably for meal times. They are scheduled to discuss the world economy in the morning, terrorism over lunch, sustainable development in the afternoon and regional conflicts, such as those between India and Pakistan, and the Middle East, over a formal dinner. On Thursday morning, they will meet with representatives of the European Union to discuss a joint plan for aid to Africa. They will present the plan to a group of African leaders who will join them for lunch. Mr. Chretien will present a final statement in the early afternoon, closing the summit.
WHAT WILL THEY SAY ABOUT THE WORLD ECONOMY? Mostly, they will update each other on their national economies. Japan is expected to spend more time than anyone else trying to explain its poor economic situation. Germany is also expected to talk about its problems.
"The rest will say they have gone through a slowdown, and now things are picking up and they are looking forward to better times," said the Canadian official.
CAN'T THEY READ ECONOMIC UPDATES IN ANY NEWSPAPER? Apparently not. "The leaders have their own ways of describing [economies]. They have inside information from their own Cabinets. They have plans for the future that have not necessarily been made public. And from what I have seen in the past, they also enjoy comparing notes and experiences," said the official, a summit veteran.
WHAT WILL THEY SAY ABOUT THE ECONOMY IN THE REST OF THE WORLD? They will likely discuss what they can do to ensure that economically troubled countries, such as Argentina, come to some agreement with the IMF and the World Bank. "They will not intervene directly. They will do it through international economic institutions," the official said.
WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE G8 TO INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS SUCH AS THE WORLD BANK AND THE INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND? The members of the G8, especially the G7, are the major powers in those institutions, which are based in Washington.
"We are the big shareholders. We have a say in decisions of the Bank and the IMF, and we can encourage and put pressure on some countries to come to terms with these institutions. We can also tell the Bank or the IMF that negotiations should go faster or that there should be better understanding of local considerations. But we will not make the decision for them," said the Canadian official.
WHAT WILL THE SUMMIT DO ABOUT POVERTY AND DISEASE IN AFRICA? At last year's G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, leaders decided the plight of Africa demanded more attention. At that meeting, a group of African leaders presented a plan, called the New Partnership for African Development, or NEPAD (pronounced nay-pad by people who don't want to call it knee-pad). The G8 agreed they liked the proposal and promised that at the Kananaskis meeting, they would present the African leaders with a response, called the Action Plan for Africa.
WILL THE LEADERS ANNOUNCE NEW MONEY FOR AFRICA? No. The Action Plan will be an agreement between the G8 and Africa about new terms for aid. It will give African countries more control over economic development money, but will target the money to the countries with the least corruption and best governance practices.
DOES THE NEW APPROACH MEAN THE G8 WILL STOP GIVING HELP TO AFRICANS WHOSE GOVERNMENTS WASTE AID MONEY? No. Humanitarian assistance will continue to all countries, while economic development money will go to those countries where it will do most good. "The G8 will always say that even in those countries where there is a dictatorship or lots of corruption, the people deserve our assistance for their health and education," said the official. "But for those countries who work hard at improving their management of resources, there will be a bonus."
WHERE WILL THE MONEY COME FROM? Earlier this year, G8 countries promised to increase their aid spending. Canada has pledged half a billion dollars for Africa. The United States has promised to increase all development assistance by five billion dollars per year, but it has not specified how much would go to Africa. The European Union has also pledged to increase its percentage of GDP devoted to foreign aid from 0.33. to 0.39, but have not said how much would go to Africa. Canadian officials estimate if the half of the new U.S. and European funds were earmarked for Africa, the continent would see an injection of US $6-billion to $US8-billion of new funding each year over the next few years.
WHAT WILL THE LEADERS DO ABOUT TERRORISM? Mostly, they will "take stock" of what they have done since the events of Sept. 11, which took place after the last summit, discuss lessons learned and make plans for the G8 as a group. The countries have been co-operating on issues related to blocking terrorist fundraising and controlling chemical and biological weapons, for example.
WHAT ELSE WILL BE ON THE AGENDA? That depends on the leaders. "I think the word debt will come up when they discuss the economic situation and when they meet with African leaders," the official said. "I would be surprised if none of the 10 people at the table mentioned the word Kyoto."
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