A delegation of Canadian business leaders will press their foreign counterparts to liberalize trade and abandon plans for a global bank tax, just before the Prime Minister takes up the same challenge at the Group of 20 summit.
In partnership with the government, the Canadian Council of Chief Executives (CCCE) is co-ordinating and hosting a G20 business summit – dubbed the B20 – that will begin on the eve of the June 26-27 leaders’ summit in Toronto.
Former finance minister and deputy prime minister John Manley, who is now chief executive officer of the CCCE, and Perrin Beatty, head of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, will be representing this country along with four Canadian CEOs who have yet to be named, according to people familiar with the meeting.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has written the other Group of 20 leaders to tell them about the B20, and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has asked each of his counterparts to send two top business leaders to the gathering.
The initiative speaks to the importance the G20 is placing on discussions about financial reform and the global economy, and to politicians’ desire for the private sector to be involved in solutions to the major problems confronting them.
The global CEOs will make themselves available June 26 to questions from the G20 finance ministers, who are expected to tap them for information on subjects ranging from hiring intentions and investment plans to potential consequences from the financial instability in Europe. The finance ministers will effectively be seeking the most current economic and industry data, in addition to advice. And the advice will flow in both directions.
It’s the next evolution of the summit of business leaders that the British government hosted at 10 Downing Street two weeks before the G20 leaders met in London in the spring of 2009. At that smaller gathering, attended by Paul Desmarais Jr. of Power Corp. and 20 of his global peers, the business leaders were made available to a number of British government ministers. That meeting sought to give the global business community a voice at the G20 but it was channelled through the British prime minister.
“It is important for the business community to contribute when asked as we strive to work together to build a stronger world economy,” Mr. Desmarais said last week.
In South Korea, preparations got under way earlier this year for a business summit that will coincide with the G20 leaders summit in Seoul in November.
While the business minds who descend on Toronto are expected to be a sounding board for G20 finance ministers, they will also have an opportunity to air their own concerns. The foreign business leaders are also expected to face pressure from the Canadian business delegation on issues that business leaders and politicians in this country want to put at the top of the global agenda, including fears about protectionism and a global bank tax. On the latter, the argument will be that such a tax would ultimately be passed on to consumers, and that Canadians should not be paying the price for the mistakes of foreign banks.
The list of attendees has not be drawn up yet, but organizers are hoping they will represent a cross section of industries, and the Canadian delegation will be chosen to reflect that.
The business gathering will begin with a dinner June 25, but will substantially take place the following day, during which there will be a series of meetings and discussions.
