Held in Toronto, on Monday and Tuesday, June 21-22, 2010, just ahead of the G8 Summit in Huntsville and the G20 Summit in Toronto, this meeting was intended as a strategy session for civil society organizations, platforms and networks from many G20 countries (and beyond) to discuss diverse perspectives on both the G20 as an institution and priorities with respect to its agenda.

As the outcome of an initial G20 strategy meeting in Washington DC in April of 2010 among various groups, the intention of this broader meeting of national, regional and international networks was three-fold:

To develop a greater understanding of the key issues on the G20 agenda as well as alternative agendas seeking to influence the G20;
To strengthen and solidify strategic connections among G20 and non-G20 countries in the lead up to the South Korean and French G20 meetings and strengthen the capacities of networks to develop their own analysis and strategies for confronting the G20;
To develop concrete ideas and proposals for collaboration with South Korean colleagues for the November Summit.

MEETING DETAILS

Final concept note - Bridge to South Korea: Global G20 Meeting
Final concept note - en Español
Final agenda
Participant's list
Presentations
- Peter Chowla - G20 and public finance policy
- Aniket Bhushan - G20 and private finance policy
Calendar of events (including events in South Korea)
Final Report | Rapport final
Final Report - en Español
Mapping of national groups and priorities
Key contacts and focal points working on G20 issues
Funders

Bridge to South Korea

To develop a greater understanding of the key issues on the G20 agenda as well as alternative agendas seeking to influence the G20;
To strengthen and solidify strategic connections among G20 and non-G20 countries in the lead up to the South Korean and French G20 meetings and strengthen the capacities of networks to develop their own analysis and strategies for confronting the G20;
To develop concrete ideas and proposals for collaboration with South Korean colleagues for the November Summit.

MEETING DETAILS

Final concept note - Bridge to South Korea: Global G20 Meeting
Final concept note - en Español
Final agenda
Participant's list
Presentations
- Peter Chowla - G20 and public finance policy
- Aniket Bhushan - G20 and private finance policy
Calendar of events (including events in South Korea)
Final Report | Rapport final
Final Report - en Español
Mapping of national groups and priorities
Key contacts and focal points working on G20 issues
Funders

Read more about Bridge to South Korea: Global civil society meeting on the G20

Fifteen years is enough - March 2010

What’s changed in the international financial system and its institutions, what hasn’t and what needs to

Executive Summary
Back in 1995, the G7 met in Halifax during a “time of change and opportunity.” The meeting took place in a context of mounting deficits and debt crises in countries in the South; in the wake of economic collapse in Mexico; and amid strong global criticism from civil society, the media and governments about the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) austere neo-liberal structural adjustment policies.

A lot has changed since then, partly in response to the Halifax G7 Summit and subsequent G7 and G8 meetings. Too many of these improvements, however, exist only on paper. Beyond the surface, the neo-liberal, market-oriented bias that guides the Bank and Fund’s agenda and thinking has not altered.

The 2010 G8 Summit in Toronto in 2010 takes place during another “time of change and opportunity.” The financial crisis has spurred many civil society organizations (CSOs) to insist on far-reaching changes to the global financial system and its institutions. Clearly, as this publication will illustrate, 15 years of refusing to deal with the manifest shortcomings of the global economic system is enough.

Read more about Fifteen years is enough - March 2010

Event: Parliamentary roundtables on the G8/G20 Agendas - April 20, 26 and 27, 2010

Parliamentary Roundtables on the G8/G20 Agendas

2010 is an important and unique moment for Parliamentarians to engage with Canadians on some of the most important global issues facing our planet and our future. On June 25^th, 2010, Canada will play host to leaders from the Group of Eight countries in Muskoka, followed by a meeting of G20 leaders in Toronto on June 26-27.

To date, there has been little discussion among parliamentarians about the themes leading up to the 2010 summits, and Canadian civil society is looking to engage members from all parties in a discussion around some of the issues highlighted in our civil society platform, An Agenda for Global Development: G8/G20 Civil Society Coalition Platform, endorsed by over 60 organizations across the country. The platform discusses specific, measurable, realistic recommendations to put poverty eradication, economic recovery for all and environmental justice at the centre of the international agenda.

To facilitate the conversation, Canadian civil society is organizing three parliamentary roundtables to discuss party perspectives on climate change, the financial crisis and the millennium development goals (MDGs). The Roundtables will occur as the G20 Finance Ministers meet in Washington, as G8 Development Ministers meet in Halifax and as Canada hosts the Africa Partnership Forum in Toronto.

Roundtable 1: Climate change
When: Tuesday, April 20^th, 2010 - 9:00 am –11:00 am
Where: Room 2-2, Booth Building, 165 Sparks Street, Ottawa

Roundtable 2: Global financial crisis
When: Monday, April 26^th, 2010 - 5:00 pm –7:00 pm
Where: Room 2-2, Booth Building, 165 Sparks Street, Ottawa

Roundtable 3: Millennium Development Goals
When: Tuesday, April 27^th, 2010 - 9:00am –11:00am
Where: Room 2-2, Booth Building, 165 Sparks Street, Ottawa

ROUNDTABLE DETAILS

Canadian G8 G20 Civil Society Platform

Roundtable Agendas

Moderator, MP and Expert Bios

Podcasts

Policy Paper: What’s missing in the response to the global financial crisis? - January 2010

Rethinking the international financial system during a time of crisis

Introduction
On October 19 and 20, 2009, the Halifax Initiative held a conference, co-hosted by The North South Institute, the University of Ottawa and the School of International Development and Global Studies (SIDGS), entitled "What’s Missing in the Response to the Global Financial Crisis?" The meeting brought together experts from a range of backgrounds to analyze the challenges facing the global economy, discuss the ways in which the international community has responded to the current financial crisis, and identify shortcomings in these responses.

Definitely NOT the G8

In June 2010, the Halifax Initiative launched the first in a series of radio documentary -type podcasts under the rubric of "Definitely NOT the G8" just ahead of the 2010 Group of Eight (G8) and Twenty (G20) meetings in Huntsville and Toronto, Canada on June 25-27 2010.

The podcasts have three goals:

to raise awareness in Canada about progressive social, economic and environmental justice issues in the international development and finance arena that are often missing from, or disregarded in, official discussions and the mainstream media;

Presentation to the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development on the G8 / G20 in 2010

Presentation regarding the principles for guiding a more democratic, representative and accountable G-20

by Fraser Reilly-King, Coordinator, Halifax Initiative Coalition
October 29, 2009

Thank you for inviting us to appear before the Standing Committee to discuss issues related to next year’s Group of Eight and Group of Twenty meeting in Huntsville, Ontario in June.

What's missing in response to the global financial crisis: Presentations and Speeches (podcasts)

Topic	Presentation	Speech
KEY NOTE: Thinking the unthinkable – The global financial crisis as an opportunity for transformative and systemic change?		Podcast
Causes of, and responses to, the global financial crisis - Chuck Freedman, Co-Director, Centre for Monetary and Financial Economics, Carleton University