Sherpa’s Blog
Welcome to the Sherpa’s G-8 blogs in this international year for Canada. The purpose of this unprecedented series is to shed light on the G-8 process from an insider’s perspective. The aim is to take you, the reader, inside the action by offering details that illuminate the setting and messages that flow from our consultations. As the Prime Minister’s personal G-8 representative, I communicate with high-ranking government officials from the other member countries. It is my pleasure to share my insights with you.
It has been a few weeks since the Muskoka 2010 G-8 Summit and the G-20 Toronto Summit, and I think it is worthwhile to look back at what was achieved at these two important meetings of world leaders…
One of the more interesting aspects of being Canada’s Sherpa for the Muskoka 2010 G-8 Summit is that I get to hear input on the issues from across Canadian society—not just from bureaucrats, but from political, business and civil society leaders…
In mid-March, Prime Minister Harper spoke publicly to a meeting of Sherpas in Ottawa, opening a new window onto the Sherpa process. His message centered on the role of the G-20 in dealing with the most severe financial and economic crisis facing the world since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Prime Minister reminded us, among other things, that the G-20 will be judged by its capacity to minimize the impact of the global economic crisis and favour a more rapid recovery. His message resonated within the group, and I believe, with the wider public…
I recently returned from Yellowknife, on the doorstep of Canada’s Arctic in the Northwest Territories, where I hosted my G-8 Sherpa counterparts for our first of three meetings. The northern venue, where temperatures dipped to minus 40 degrees, was a wonderful way to introduce our guests to the diamond capital of Canada and the starkly beautiful Canadian north, land of the midnight sun and the Aurora Borealis. We were touched by the hospitality of our northern hosts and the pride they have for their communities and their country. It was overcast much of the time—a rare occurrence at that time of year in Yellowknife—so we didn’t get to see the Northern Lights, but they somehow materialized in our souvenir group photograph!
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