Letter to Ministers Flaherty and Cannon re debt cancellation for Haiti - February 1, 2010

Hon. James Flaherty 
Minister of Finance
Department of Finance Canada
140 O’Connor Street 
Ottawa, ON  K1A 0G5		 Hon. Lawrence Cannon
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
125 Sussex Drive    
Ottawa, ON  K1A 0G2

1st February 2010

Ref: Immediate debt cancellation for Haiti

Dear Ministers Flaherty and Cannon,

We are writing to commend the government’s efforts to date to mobilise emergency assistance for disaster relief in Haiti and for speaking to the urgency and importance of debt cancellation for the country. The call to cancel Haiti’s remaining multilateral debt, including last week’s highly concessional $102 million loan from the IMF, benefits from a strong Canadian voice. We urge you to keep demonstrating such leadership in the government’s interventions at the Bretton Woods Institutions, and at Haiti’s largest multilateral creditor, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Letter to Minister Flaherty Re: Cancelling Haiti's bi-lateral and multi-lateral debt - June 12, 2008

12 June 2008

Hon. Minister Christine Lagarde Hon. Minister Giulio Tremonti,
Hon. Alistair Darling, Chancellor of the Exchequer
Hon. Minister Peer Steinbrück Hon. Minister Jim Flaherty
Hon. Henry Paulson Jr., Secretary of the Treasury
Hon. Minister Fukushiro Nukaga Hon. Minister Alexei Kudrin

Re: Open letter to G8 Finance Ministers calling for immediate debt cancellation for Haiti

The undersigned civil society organizations from the Group of Eight (G8) nations and other European organizations urge all G8 Governments to support immediate multilateral and bilateral debt cancellation for Haiti or a moratorium on all debt service payments until such a time as the debt is cancelled.

Letter to Canadian IMF Director Re: Proposed New Debt - December 18, 2002

Letter to Canadian IMF Director on Proposed New Debt Restructuring Mechanism

Mr. Ian Bennett
IMF Executive Director for Canada
Fax: 202-623-4712
Re.: IMF board meeting on SDRM on December 18, 2002

Dear Mr. Bennett,

On December 18, the Board will discuss the IMF’s most recent version of an insolvency procedure for states, labelled the “Sovereign Debt Restructuring Mechanism” (SDRM).

Letter to Minister Manley Re: Southern Africa food crisis - July 19, 2002

The Honourable John Manley
Minister of Finance House of Commons
Ottawa, K1A 0A6

July 19, 2002

Dear Minister Manley,

Southern Africa is facing its worst food crisis in over a decade, with millions of people facing starvation. The UN World Food Programme has launched an emergency appeal for assistance, and Canada is responding promptly and generously.

As development, human rights, church and environmental organizations, our concern extends beyond the need for emergency aid. We are dismayed to see millions of dollars continue to be taken out of the region by creditors like the World Bank.

Open letter to the G7 finance ministers - June 1, 2002

Open letter to the G7 finance ministers

When the G7 heads of government met in Halifax in June 1995, leaders made a commitment to a series of measures to reform the Bretton Woods Institutions. The G7 called for the provision of multi-lateral debt relief for the poorest countries, the promotion of environmentally sustainable development and the reduction of poverty.

Seven years later, these promises are unfulfilled. The crisis of legitimacy confronting the World Bank and the IMF at the 50th anniversary of their creation led to the G7 to take up the reform of the international financial institutions (IFIs) in Halifax. As the G7 finance ministers return to Halifax, this question of legitimacy continues to haunt the institutions.