Statement by the Halifax Initiative Coalition To the House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade (SCFAIT) Regarding the G-8 Agenda
May 14, 2002
We welcome the opportunity to comment on the key themes of the up-coming G8 Summit.
All circus, no substance. Canada's performance in Monterrey to set stage for Kananaskis.
March 14, 2002 – Next Monday, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, will attend the UN Conference on Financing for Development (FfD) in Monterrey, Mexico. Today Canadian non-governmental organizations release a letter to the Prime Minister strongly critical of Canada’s role in the FfD process and concerned about implications for the G8 in Kananaskis.
2-3 Feb. 2002
Summary of some country cases, their social context, and delays in debt relief:
Country
O
ttawa Premiere of the award-winning documentary "Life and Debt"
A scathing indictment of economic globalization
Ottawa - Life and Debt, winner of the Critics Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival 2001, will be shown on the same day as the World Bank and the IMF meetings in Ottawa. Life and Debt offers a clear analysis of globalization and its negative impacts, focusing on the impacts of the World Bank and the IMF on Jamaica. Canada represents the World Bank and the IMF on the Board of Directors of both of these institutions.
This film is being shown by World Inter-Action Mondiale and Halifax Initiative following the November 17th Day of Action for Peace and Justice calling attention to the failures of economic globalization.
Roger Ebert, in a review of this film for the Chicago Sun-Times, wrote: "If you're curious about why the demonstrators are so angry, this is why they're so angry."
What: Human rights abuse, debt and mega-projects - The impact of corporate globalization and the Wor
Movement criticizes irresponsibility of IMF and World Bank
Activists Issue 4 Demands & Rebuttal to World Bank’s Defense
G8’s IMPOTENCE IN REFORMING THEIR EXPORT CREDIT AGENCIES
NGOs call on G8 governments to soon adopt high level binding common environmental guidelines for their Export Credit Agencies.
Coalition calls on the G8 to address the causes of unfair globalization, not just the symptoms.
Cancel the debt, curb speculative capital, reform the international financial institutions
Why do the world banks insist on their hurricane cut?
The international financial institutions aren't letting a disaster stand in the way of debt repayment.
Derek MacCuish, Social Justice Committee of Montreal
As efforts get under way to rebuild the Central American countries hit by Hurricane Mitch, the international community faces an old dilemma. Should one deal with the devil, if there is some good in the outcome?
Thousands of people were killed in the hurricane. disaster, and most of the rest are now trying to patch their lives together in a context of profound poverty. They need food and medicine, clothing and shelter. People around the world understand this need, and are sending as much as they can, without hesitation.
